Shelf lives of HC-110 and Microdol-X?

[Tony-S]

I'm sure someone here knows! These are concentrates.

 

[pschauss]

I just finished using a bottle of HC-110 that I had had for more than a year. The last roll I did with it came out just as well as the first.

 

[Tony-S]

I just found a bottle of each in a cabinet and I suspect they're more than 10 years old. I'm hoping they're like Rodinal and Candycorn!

 

[Mark Crabtree]

I'm sure someone here knows! These are concentrates.

HC-110 concentrate seems to hold up forever. I've got a partial bottle that someone gave me years ago and it still seems fine. It must loose activity, and I would imagine a bottle with a lot of air in it would fare worse, but I've never seen anything else that hold up so well (especially after being opened).

The only Microdol-X I'm familiar with is powder. Ancient stuff I have in cans has always been fine. The foil packages can be hit or miss. Once mixed it looses activity over a matter of months, like most developers.

 

[Mark Crabtree]

I just found a bottle of each in a cabinet and I suspect they're more than 10 years old. I'm hoping they're like Rodinal and Candycorn!

The color of the HC-110 will give you some idea. It was a medium amber brown (IIRC) when new. Mine is quite dark now, but seems to work fine. You can also look at how much the sides of the bottle have been pulled for a clue also.

I probably don't need to mention that developer is cheap, and it would probably be unwise to risk good negatives to developer of unknown condition.

 

[brucemuir]

I have some HC-110 that is getting quite dark, been half full for at least 5 years and this bottle itself is closer to 6-7 years old.

I did 2 rolls of Legacy Pro 400 day before yesterday and they looked good.

I did NOT check densities and have not printed these yet but contrast and density looked normal.

 

[MattKing]

HC-110 concentrate seems to hold up forever. I've got a partial bottle that someone gave me years ago and it still seems fine. It must loose activity, and I would imagine a bottle with a lot of air in it would fare worse, but I've never seen anything else that hold up so well (especially after being opened).

The only Microdol-X I'm familiar with is powder. Ancient stuff I have in cans has always been fine. The foil packages can be hit or miss. Once mixed it looses activity over a matter of months, like most developers.

HC-110 is somewhat unique. It isn't air that causes it to deteriorate, it is water!

Unless it looks like molasses (dark brown) it probably is fine.

As for the Microdol-X, I don't think it ever came from Kodak in bottles.

 

[Nicholas Lindan]

Microdol-X did come in brown glass quart bottles. It wasn't a concentrate but the regular working dilution that could be further diluted 1:3 for 1-shot use.

If the Microdol-X is anything other than water clear it is best to chuck it.

 

[Gerald C Koch]

Kodak hasn't made Microdol-X as a liquid for many years. Even if it is in a sealed bottle discard it. How many times need it be said, developer is cheap and film is expensive.

 

[2F/2F]

HC-110 seems to be in the Rodinal department as far as shelf life.

As soon as you dilute it with water, it oxidizes more quickly, however. Even so, I've had 8 month old stock solution work perfectly for Delta 3200 at 4000 (a two stop push from the film's actual speed of 1000) when stored in a half full 8 oz. amber glass bottle. If it worked perfectly after 8 months, who know how long it would remain usable as a stock solution, especially in a full bottle?

I usually mix up small batches of stock solution, instead of the whole bottle, just to be safe. But I would not worry about shelf life with HC-110. Just take some precautions, like decanting the syrup and stock if the bottle is at or below the halfway mark.

 

[Neanderman]

Microdol-X did come in brown glass quart bottles.

Oh, wow! That's a flashback! I remember that!

 

[Steve Goldstein]

FWIW, I just developed some film (120 FP4+ and 4x5 HP5+, all tests so nothing irreplaceable) in HC110. The stock was mixed from concentrate in August 2009 and stored in full quart-size brown glass bottles since then. The stock colorwas light yellowish as I remember it, and the negatives appeared fine and eminently usable for my needs (I haven't done detailed sensitometric analyses, and won't). Frankly, I didn't expect this stuff to work so well, but was feeling lazy and didn't want to mix up anything from scratch, so figured I'd give it a try...

 

[hpulley]

HC-110 always impresses me. In syrup or in stock it lasts so long, it is so cheap and you know what? It gives good results with old film and new film, traditional emulsions and new ones.