Rodinal version with best shelf life

[Pseudodionizy]

Hello there! Now, of course I've heard the stories about the infinite shelf life of Rodinal - but it turns out, it doesn't apply to all chemistry that is sold as Rodinal/R09/such substitutes. In particular I've heard about Fomadon R09 getting bad after just one, two years (I have a bottle of that one opened about a year ago... will have to test it but I'm not exceedingly hopeful about it). Are you familiar with any brands of Rodinal that actually have that famous long shelf life? Adox seems promising to me, but if you have any other ideas, do let me know

 

[koraks]

Cant you just buy a smaller bottle and use it up within 6-12 months or so? That way you don't have to worry about a super long shelf life.

And yes, Adox Adonal does last long. I think that's equivalent to the original Rodinal. Some other concentrated developers are long-lived as well; original HC110 comes to mind, but also Pyrocat HD in glycol.

 

[MattKing]

The longevity is also related to the containers used for it - some of the historically long-lived stuff was in dark amber glass bottles with robust rubber equipped lids.

 

[ags2mikon]

You are correct Matt. I remember the old glass rubber stoppered bottles from the 60's and that stuff had a half life of decades. As the plastic bottles arrived it began to degrade faster.

 

[eli griggs]

Adox formula, anyone?

Glass, Boston Brown Bottles with good inert lab caps should be a blessing, no?

 

[ags2mikon]

I try to keep a supply of amber boston rounds in various sizes to re bottle incoming chemicals. Just clearly label them.

 

[bdial]

I’m near the end of the bottle now, but the Adox Rodinal I’ve had has lasted well. It’s at least 2 years old and works fine. Stored in the plastic bottle it came in.

 

[retina_restoration]

I used to buy the R09 version of it, but it went bad in about 18 months once opened.
I currently have the Adox Rodinal version and it's still working "as new" at the 3 year old point.

 

[jimjm]

I have a bottle of the Adox that's now about 12 years old and half-full. I recently used it for the first time in several years after recanting it to a smaller glass bottle and the results were great.

 

[abruzzi]

I used to buy the R09 version of it, but it went bad in about 18 months once opened.
I currently have the Adox Rodinal version and it's still working "as new" at the 3 year old point.

I've used the R09 Rodinal and had the same experience--about 18 months then nothing.

 

[Pseudodionizy]

Thanks for your responses guys! It looks like the Adox Rodinal is the way to go, and I should probably get some brown glass bottles as well. I've managed to find some with ground-glass necks and stoppers, would they work well enough or are rubber stoppers preferable?

 

[dcy]

Man... I am so happy that I got Adox Rodinal and not the R09 imitation. I've only had mine for about 14 months, so I wouldn't have known if I had bought the bad one.

 

[koraks]

I got Adox Rodinal

Keep in mind that the same stuff is sold as Adonal in Europe. It has to do with the right to use the Rodinal name. Adox can do that in the US, not in the EU. Same product, different name. Adox Adonal = Adox Rodinal = AFAIK as close to the original Agfa Rodinal as you can buy today.

 

[MattKing]

Keep in mind that the same stuff is sold as Adonal in Europe. It has to do with the right to use the Rodinal name. Adox can do that in the US, not in the EU. Same product, different name. Adox Adonal = Adox Rodinal = AFAIK as close to the original Agfa Rodinal as you can buy today.

"original Agfa Rodinal" is probably more unspecific than you think.
Over the years, there have been all sorts of slightly different versions of what can rightly be referred to as "Rodinal", including some differences within the versions of Agfa Rodinal.
The R09 version is probably closer to the stuff that pre-dated the Agfa version of the 1970s, where much of the longevity lore arose from. And at least some of that came from what turned out to be packaging choices.
FWIW, the R09 version is sold as Blazinal in Canada.

 

[dcy]

The R09 version is probably closer to the stuff that pre-dated the Agfa version of the 1970s, where much of the longevity lore arose from. And at least some of that came from what turned out to be packaging choices.
FWIW, the R09 version is sold as Blazinal in Canada.

I wonder if I should move my Adox Rodinal to a glass bottle. So far I've kept it in its original plastic bottle.

 

[MattKing]

The caps and their seals are the most important component.
As much as I appreciate chemical longevity, if you aren't using a small bottle up in a year, your not using it enough!

 

[koraks]

I wonder if I should move my Adox Rodinal to a glass bottle. So far I've kept it in its original plastic bottle.

It's fine as it is. The only option you could consider is to decant the stuff into smaller bottles so that most of it ends up in a bottle that's entirely full with no air on top, and only the bottle-in-use is halfway empty. This will limit the rate of oxidation. What @MattKing says is correct - proper sealing of the bottle is more important than the material as such, given that Adox have selected a suitable material for their bottle to begin with.

 

[eli griggs]

I try to keep a supply of amber boston rounds in various sizes to re bottle incoming chemicals. Just clearly label them.

They are nice storage.

 

[miha]

Keep in mind that the same stuff is sold as Adonal in Europe. It has to do with the right to use the Rodinal name. Adox can do that in the US, not in the EU. Same product, different name. Adox Adonal = Adox Rodinal = AFAIK as close to the original Agfa Rodinal as you can buy today.

Just being pedantic here, but Adox can do that in the EU as well, the only exception being France.

 

[BMbikerider]

Hello there! Now, of course I've heard the stories about the infinite shelf life of Rodinal - but it turns out, it doesn't apply to all chemistry that is sold as Rodinal/R09/such substitutes. In particular I've heard about Fomadon R09 getting bad after just one, two years (I have a bottle of that one opened about a year ago... will have to test it but I'm not exceedingly hopeful about it). Are you familiar with any brands of Rodinal that actually have that famous long shelf life? Adox seems promising to me, but if you have any other ideas, do let me know

There is anecdotal evidence, where about 20 years after the 2nd war had finished they were in the process of restoring/rebuilding the German city of Dresden and when excavating the site of a photographers shop, an opened bottle of AGFA Rodinal was found and when tested it was still as effective as new. Now I don't know if this is true, as I said it was anecdotal, but have no reason to disbelieve it.
I have in the past used the Agfa version and because of the longevity and quite weak dilutions I used in those days it took me 2 years to finish it and there was no degradation. be mindful that as it gets older like most developers they go brown but apparently Rodinal does not loose it's effectiveness.

I have bought a 500cc bottle of the ADOX version which is publicised as exactly the old same old Rodinal formula. I have yet to use any of it, but when I open the bottle it will be decanted into 5 x 100cc brown glass bottles with an airtight screw cap. As I don't do as much B&W work now as I used to, that should last me many years, so why not do as I do and split it into 5 x 100cc bottles you will find this method works.

I use the same procedure with Ilford Multigrade developer. Being a miserly sort of person I buy the largest quantity of MG developer as I can which is 5 litres. I decant that into 10 x 500 cc bottles for storage. One of the bottles I then decant into 5 x 100cc glass bottles with neoprene seals. (I use the same for the Rodinal because anything else is not completely airtight) I bought the last 5 litres about 2 yrs ago and have about 1/2 left. When opened the colour of the contents is still the very pale champagne colour as when it was made. RA4 dev also gets the same treatment. Glass bottles with neoprene seals is the answer.

 

[Saganich]

This reminded me that I bought a bottle 20+ years ago and only used it a couple times...LOL..probably still just fine.

 

[cjbecker]

This reminded me that I bought a bottle 20+ years ago and only used it a couple times...LOL..probably still just fine.

I just developed some film in my old mostly full bottle of Agfa rodinal that was last used in 2008. Worked as normal. It is in the white agfa bottle.

 

[ags2mikon]

I found that the white Agfa bottle worked better than the translucent ones did.

 

[sednoid]

This reminded me that I bought a bottle 20+ years ago and only used it a couple times...LOL..probably still just fine.

Last year I found a bottle of ORWO R09 (the East German equivalent) from the 80s among my dad's old photo things. It sat in the attic for over 30 years, under an uninsulated roof which means it got cold in the winter and hot in the summer which I'd expect would be more likely to kill it than just the passage of time. But it works perfectly fine. It's very dark but doesn't even have any crystals or sediment on the bottom. Indestructible stuff.

 

[miha]

@sednoid this is an amazing find!