Photographers Formulary 130 paper developer very dark

DREW WILEY · Jun 3, 2024

With 130 developer, it's GLYCIN, period. Making a substitution or adding a typo would turn it into something else, and turn the original thread into something else too.

Automated spell check is both a blessing and a curse, depending - mostly a curse.

GregY · Jun 3, 2024

xkaes said:
There are a few B&W formulas that call for Glycine. I hope they didn't mean Glycin -- and vice versa

but the chemical in Photo Formulary 130 is glycin ....... no "e"

Michel Hardy-Vallée · Jun 3, 2024

Returning to the OP, the issue is whether the darker colour is a problem. In my experience, I would say no. I use 130 a lot, and it evaporates earlier than it goes bad.

The darkest I've seen 130 is when I let it sitting in trays for a couple of days (it was the pandemic and things were hectic, so this was a bad solution to a minor problem). It still worked, but it stained the paper base so I threw it away.

If you want to learn more about your developer, it could be worth buying a step wedge and use it for monitoring its activity. You'll see very quickly whether your contrast or your densities change between developer batches and/or over its lifetime.

eli griggs · Jun 3, 2024

One of the things I like about "Glycin" in Ansco 130 is that, once mixed, it'll last for years.

xkaes · Jun 3, 2024

Is that why some people like it?

eli griggs · Jun 3, 2024

I'll say that's a big part of it, second in importance only to the beautiful deep blacks it makes, which are second only to Amidol.

At least for me!

arnie k · Jun 4, 2024

I heard back from PF.

The prior suppliers of p-aminophenol, 1 of the chemicals we use in making Glycin, no longer manufactures it.
We have gotten our last supply from manufacturer in India. It comes to us a very different color than our prior supplies.
This color difference is passed onto our Glycin product.
The chemical structure of p-aminophenol is the same and works just like prior batches, but the current manufacturer uses different chemicals than what was used in the product made here in the states.
The market has changed so much over last few years, there is an issue of different manufacturers producing the same chemicals and reactions but with different appearances. The Metol and Hydroquinone are also different in appearance as it all changed when Kodak changed its supplies of Photo chemicals.

As I noted my developer is very dark brown so I may try it but will most likely toss it. PF also noted that they may replace the batch and asked where I bought it, B&H, I have not heard back on that but it is only a $30 problem so I am not going to lose sleep over it, but I appreciate the gesture.

DREW WILEY · Jun 4, 2024

This will need to be monitored. I remember when some Chinese amidol got into photographic distribution, including at PF, and it was contaminated with something, possibly nickel, which made it miserable to work with. I have a pretty good reserve of still white PF glycin powder in the freezer. But if there has been a resourcing of certain needed ingredients, let's hope the glycin really does function the same.

eli griggs · Jun 4, 2024

DREW WILEY said:
This will need to be monitored. I remember when some Chinese amidol got into photographic distribution, including at PF, and it was contaminated with something, possibly nickel, which made it miserable to work with. I have a pretty good reserve of still white PF glycin powder in the freezer. But if there has been a resourcing of certain needed ingredients, let's hope the glycin really does function the same.

Amen!

Mike Lopez · Jun 4, 2024

DREW WILEY said:
This will need to be monitored. I remember when some Chinese amidol got into photographic distribution, including at PF, and it was contaminated with something, possibly nickel, which made it miserable to work with.

I still have nearly a pound of that garbage in my basement. It'll never get used again. (It came from PF).

DREW WILEY · Jun 4, 2024

I forgot where I put my jar of it. But I soon thereafter acquired a pound of the excellent Euro amidol from Artcraft in NYC.

juan · Jun 4, 2024

I have a huge supply of the Chinese stuff, too. I found that washing the print in a big tub with an underwater aquarium pump to keep the print and water in motion eventually removes the yellow stain. PITA.

DREW WILEY · Jun 4, 2024

It's was hard to see the image developing in the tray due to all that orange; and it took an awfully long time to wash the stain out. Things like this are happening in the pharmaceutical trade too. The medicinal ingredient in a new generic pill might be the same, but the allegedly inert fillers can differ, leading to many incidents of certain people being allergic to those, or having unforeseen interactive side effects.

My hunch is that the generic amidol was being batched up in a big metal vat that wasn't chemically inert. Since amidol also has potential medical applications, this kind of carelessness could cause real harm if the product wasn't analytically tested for purity first. Whether nickel residue was actually detected or not by someone I can't say; but that was the rumor.

john_s · Friday at 9:39 PM

arnie k said:
I heard back from PF.

The prior suppliers of p-aminophenol, 1 of the chemicals we use in making Glycin, no longer manufactures it.
We have gotten our last supply from manufacturer in India. It comes to us a very different color than our prior supplies.
This color difference is passed onto our Glycin product.
The chemical structure of p-aminophenol is the same and works just like prior batches, but the current manufacturer uses different chemicals than what was used in the product made here in the states.
The market has changed so much over last few years, there is an issue of different manufacturers producing the same chemicals and reactions but with different appearances. The Metol and Hydroquinone are also different in appearance as it all changed when Kodak changed its supplies of Photo chemicals.

As I noted my developer is very dark brown so I may try it but will most likely toss it. PF also noted that they may replace the batch and asked where I bought it, B&H, I have not heard back on that but it is only a $30 problem so I am not going to lose sleep over it, but I appreciate the gesture.

p-aminophenol powder goes brown quickly which I think is why the formulas for Rodinal use a different compound of it. I had a jar of p-aminophenol from Merck which was almost white at first but after a while became brown then worse. So maybe PF's supply of it is just old or badly stored? Being a simple compound i thought it would not be hard to source, but maybe that's not the case.

Photographers Formulary 130 paper developer very dark

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