Replenishing Developer and how to keep it stored

kanishka · Mar 1, 2016

Hi! I'm making my first steps developing C41 in my home.
I have working tank solution and Kodak flexicolor LORR Replenisher.
I'm developing 120 film in a paterson tank, so I need 500ml for 1 roll.
I was wondering how many rolls can I develop with the working solution and then how much replenisher I have to add.
Also I wanted to know which is the best way to store all the chemicals when they are mixed.
I was told to fill a plastic bottle to the top and put it at low temperature. Is this right?

kanishka · Mar 4, 2016

Someone could assist me with this??

RPC · Mar 5, 2016

I store chemistry in glass bottles filled to the top (allowing an 1/8 inch or so to allow for expansion) and sealed tightly. This is especially good for the developer for long life. I store at room temperature and still get long life (many months, even years).

I use developer one-shot so don't have any replenishment information. Have you checked out Kodak's site? They have much information concerning the use of their chemistry.

mnemosyne · Mar 6, 2016

kanishka said:
Hi! I'm making my first steps developing C41 in my home.
I have working tank solution and Kodak flexicolor LORR Replenisher.
I'm developing 120 film in a paterson tank, so I need 500ml for 1 roll.
I was wondering how many rolls can I develop with the working solution and then how much replenisher I have to add.
Also I wanted to know which is the best way to store all the chemicals when they are mixed.
I was told to fill a plastic bottle to the top and put it at low temperature. Is this right?

I don't think its practical to use replenishment for C41 home processing. Tolerances with C41 are tight, and replenishment is meant for pro labs with a regular throughput of a certain amount of film and the ability to run test strips and evluate them (densitometrically) to determine the correct replenishment rate.
For home use I would definitely suggest to use the developer one shot. Good storage options for the developer: wine bladder (bag in box), glass bottles or bottles of PET. When using bottles use something like protectan to keep oxygen out in partially filled bottles.

I would store C41 chemistry in a cool, but not in a cold place. There should be information on this in the Kodak tech sheets.

kanishka · Mar 12, 2016

Thanks for the answers.
Here where I live don't sell one shot developer so I'm trying to learn how to do it with replenisher.

markbarendt · Mar 12, 2016

Replenished works fine as long as you have decent volume going through.

Use a good plastic bottle and keep the working solution as full as you can.

jsmithphoto1 · Apr 1, 2016

I "replenish" all the time with my C-41. The first time I ever developed color film (2007), I ordered the powder kit from Freestyle. It said to add 15 seconds to each roll after the first. So, back in 2014 I purchased Kodak Flexicolor developer and decided one-shot would be a little expensive and thought I would use this same system. Hasn't failed me yet. However, I had a thought not too long ago... if there are replenishment rates for this developer, then I should try to go by that theorem with the 1-liter batch I mix up each time at 3:15 instead of increasing times 15" each roll. Again, hasn't failed me yet. BUT... I do NOT go over 4 or 5 rolls per liter! That is just the extent of my safety cushion. I am sure you could get more out of it staying at 3:15 since it is a replenishable product.

PS... I did try to upload a couple of examples of my film processed in "replenished" C-41 but I keep getting the error message "Image File Too Large" no matter how small it is I am not trying to publish my site on here or anything, but I uploaded a couple of examples to facebook.com/ITEphotographic since I can't upload them here.

Mr Bill · Apr 1, 2016

kanishka said:
I have working tank solution and Kodak flexicolor LORR Replenisher.
I'm developing 120 film in a paterson tank, so I need 500ml for 1 roll.
I was wondering how many rolls can I develop with the working solution and then how much replenisher I have to add.

Hi, what you want to look up is Kodak's Z131 manual; section 3 is the part that you probably want. It's available online, just do a search.

The replenishment rates are in table 3-2, it looks like somewhere between 25 to 38 mL of LORR replenisher per roll of 120 film, depending on the kind of film.

Like others have pointed out, you really want to have a way to check on how "active" your developer is - the actual replenisher rate depends on how much exposure is on your film. For example, if you do mostly night shots, where the film is mostly blank, almost no developer replenisher is needed. In this case, if you follow the published guidelines, your developer will gradually get too strong.

In commercial photofinishing the standard method is to periodically process what they call "control strips" supplied by Kodak, for example. This strip is then compared, using an instrument called a densitometer, to an already-processed "reference strip." If you find that the strip you processed is being overdeveloped, for example, then you would reduce your replenishment rate, and vice versa.

J Smith stays on the safe side by limiting developer use. But commercially, with "process monitoring" (along with recirculation and filtration), you can run a system indefinitely - for years and years. Now I don't know how well this works in a small hand tank like yours - you'll have (relatively) much more oxidation and evaporation. So you should either be very careful or do as J Smith, limiting the usage. Best wishes.

EdSawyer · Apr 1, 2016

Just as an FYI, you can easily use that 500ml more than once, even without replenishing it. I use a Phototherm SSK4 and run 4 rolls of 120 at a time in 405ml of developer (and I use it one-shot but could replenish, I just choose not to bother). So, 1 roll of 120 in 500ml can easily be re-used at least 3-4 times I'd think, as it is, without even replenishing at all.

MattKing · Apr 1, 2016

jsmithphoto1 said:
PS... I did try to upload a couple of examples of my film processed in "replenished" C-41 but I keep getting the error message "Image File Too Large" no matter how small it is I am not trying to publish my site on here or anything, but I uploaded a couple of examples to facebook.com/ITEphotographic since I can't upload them here.

You need to resize your photos - if they are resized down to no more than 1200 pixels on the longest side the forum software will usually take it from there.

jsmithphoto1 · Apr 1, 2016

Hmmm... I went to 1500x1000 pixels, 72 ppi, and saved as "1" instead of "12". Worked! lol thanks!

Gerald C Koch · Apr 1, 2016

As a general rule store developer at room temperature. Using a lower temperature may result in various chemicals coming out of solution. It can sometimes be very difficult to get them back into solution.

GRHazelton · Apr 1, 2016

RPC said:
I store chemistry in glass bottles filled to the top (allowing an 1/8 inch or so to allow for expansion) and sealed tightly. This is especially good for the developer for long life. I store at room temperature and still get long life (many months, even years).

I use developer one-shot so don't have any replenishment information. Have you checked out Kodak's site? They have much information concerning the use of their chemistry.

Can we assume that you add marbles or some such to raise the level as you use the chemicals? Or are the bottles sized for the tank size so that the bottle is fully emptied?

RPC · Apr 2, 2016

I store chemistry in glass canning jars which come in sizes of half-pint, pint, quart and half-gallon. When I develop a roll of film I use about a pint of solution, so if it is used from a larger size, I dump what is left into sizes appropriate for the remaining solution so that it will fill up the jar(s). For example, if I took it from a half-gallon jar, the remainder would fill up a quart and pint jar, or three pint jars. I use developer one-shot but bleach and fix I re-use once, so return them into separate jars for re-use. I don't worry too much about filling bleach jars since oxygen does not harm bleach.

davedm · Apr 2, 2016

jsmithphoto1 said:
Hmmm... I went to 1500x1000 pixels, 72 ppi, and saved as "1" instead of "12". Worked! lol thanks!

Actually, the biggest drop will be from 12 to 10. Lower than that will give poorer looking JPEGs.

kanishka · Apr 2, 2016

Thanks for all the info! I will try and post the results.

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