PMK Part B going bad?

I have a PMK kit from Photographer's Formulary that's about 1 1/2 years old and I noticed some "brown(ish) residue" floating at the bottom of the Part B bottle. Should I be concerned? Does it indicate that my Part B is going bad? I developed a few sheets of 4x5 this morning and the developer seems to be working fine.

Thanks for any insight provided.

michael_r said:

My assumption would be that any discoloured residue would be impurities and I wouldn’t worry about it at this stage

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This can also occur if the same syringe is used to pull up part A first and then Part B. A little A ends up in B and oxidizes.

koraks said:

This can also occur if the same syringe is used to pull up part A first and then Part B. A little A ends up in B and oxidizes.

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I've used pyro developers for a very long time and I'm keenly aware of avoiding cross-contamination; it's not that. Like michael_r, I would have thought the Part B would last the longest of the pair. As I said, the developer appears to still be working fine. I have emailed PF for their input.

Thanks for the replies.

Alan,

I've had PMK part B precipitate a lot of material out of solution before, likely because of cool storage conditions. If I can't get things to go back into solution, I'll mix up a new part B from scratch (I've got Kodalk and Sodium Metaborate on hand - yes, they're the same thing, but the old Kodak Kodalk bottles are vintage and still work just fine).

And, yes, for some reason, once the part B precipitates a lot of material, for whatever reason, I sometimes cannot get it back into solution.

If you notice any kind of reduction in developer activity, I'd recommend mixing a new part B.

And, if there is any kind of solid precipitate in part B, either carefully decant or filter it when using to avoid particulates in your developer.

Best,

Doremus

Just swish it around a bit. No big deal. Likewise, sometimes in cold weather, the B component can seem to re-crystallize a bit. In that case, just warm up the bottle first, and stir it before combining with the A component. And yes, if necessary, filter. But I've never needed to do that.

Living in the desert southwest, my darkroom is never cold. Therefore, I doubt I'd ever have to be concerned with components crystallizing out of solution, etc. Whatever the "brown(ish) sediment" is doesn't seem to be affecting anything so I'm not going to worry about it. If it becomes an issue, I'll just mix a new batch of Part B and move on.

Thanks for all the advice and suggestions.