Oxidised Rodinal

Gary Holliday · May 25, 2006

I have a half bottle of dark brown undiluted Rodinal. Is this usable? Buying a new bottle involves a costly delivery charge.

david b · May 25, 2006

How important are the photos you are developing?

As for the rodinal, it tends to last for a very long time. Got a test roll?

Gary Holliday · May 25, 2006

That sounds like it's not recommended. But I thought Rodinal being indestructable, it would be fine. I'll buy a new bottle.

Claire Senft · May 25, 2006

Shoot a few test photos and develop them. Rodinal can look worse than its gran and still work normally.

gnashings · May 25, 2006

How old is it? I have used a bottle that was half full when given to me - and apparently spent at least several years kicked under a bed and given up for lost. It had the rich colour of Coke. It worked exactly as every other bottle I have had since - new, old or in between. I would say its not much of a risk unless you suspect its older than you. But then again, you will need more sooner or later - use the new stuff for important shots, test the old stuff on something else. Although if I was to bet money, I would put it on the old brown stuff being just fine.

John Bragg · May 25, 2006

Hi Gary, Rodinal does not deteriorate like other developers in relation to its colour. By all means run a test roll, but rest assured, the stuff truely does last. I am using a 10 year old bottle at present with no loss of potency. I nearly threw it out on several occasions, and I am so very glad I didn,t....... !!!!!
Best wishes, John.

Canuck · May 25, 2006

It should work. I've used half bottles like that before over the years and not one failed on me. Maybe its just me

Gary Holliday · May 25, 2006

The shots are one off masterpieces and I've no time or patience for test shots I suppose I should just play it safe.

Edit: having read the other replies since posting what the heck. Didn't they find a bottle from a bombed out building in WWII and it was fine?

John Bragg · May 25, 2006

At 1:50 dilution, you have enough for 25 films there at least. It does really seem to go against all reasoning to use brown developer, but Rodinal is the happy exception to the rule !!

gainer · May 25, 2006

Rodinal does indeed appear to be immortal with regard to oxygen. Of course, we are not immortal enough to test that hypothesis, but you can easily and quickly test its current potency. Even if you don't use 35 mm, get a roll, or cut a sheet into small strips and keep then in a light tight container. Such a strip should turn dark in short order in room light in working strength stuff. I said to keep it in the dark because extreme exposure to light will cause saturation and actually reduce the rate of blackening.

Let me ask why you would not want to test even the new bottle? There have been cases where off the shelf sealed bottles of some things are bad from the start. It only takes a teaspoon of stock in a cup of water and 2 minutes to ease your worries. If you want to do an experiment, buy the new bottle and do the same snip test on old and new simultaneously. I can just about guarantee you wont throw the old one away.

Cheers.

gainer · May 26, 2006

Another small point. Most developers have at their origins a stuff that dyes are also made of. As a simple experiment, leave a few drops of Rodinal stock exposed to air. When it gets good and black, mix it with water and see how much water you must add before you can see through the mixture. Now see if this mixture will blacken a snip of film.

Oxidised Rodinal

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