TMAX developer, exhausted?

[codejoy]

How can i tell if my developer is exhausted? In class it was a one shot thing, we would throw out the developer after developing a roll of film. For me I have kept reusing it, doing one spool of 120 at a time. I have done a total of about 5 rolls or so, maybe 6 of 120. Threw it out once cause the color of the developer after developing was aqua (it was arista film). So, now I have two rolls of 35 mm I shot that I really really wanna develop, but I poured out the developer and its still a bit aqua (ya there was one roll of arista I developed i didnt throw out but put back in). and it has no real smell to the developer...this mean its exhausted? I already loaded my 2 rolls of film into my canister and was ready to go, but dont want to mess these rolls up sooooo I am scared to try it, will the rolls stay in my developing canister while more tmax developer is sent out to me? (its a 1:4 dillhution).

Any insights, thanks.. ha ha im in b&w limbo today!

-Shane

 

[brofkand]

As long as you don't open the lid or pour anything in there, they'll be fine in the canister.

 

[codejoy]

thanks, so I probably should just order more tmax...

 

[Konical]

Good Evening, Shane,

If you're using a SS tank, better stick a bit of masking tape across the top and partly down the side of the tank, just to keep the lid from accidentally being knocked off. It won't hurt also to label the tape with the film type, to jog your memory when you get back to processing. The film can stay in the tank more or less indefinitely without any ill effects.

Konical

 

[MikeSeb]

Save yourself the anxiety; simply use developer one-shot regardless of dilution. It is dirt cheap, and the time and effort expended to make the images is worth too much to chance on exhausted developer.

 

[brofkand]

I agree with Mike, use a one-shot developer. Unlike fix, there's no way to check for developer exhaustion. What if your developer is exhausted, and the roll you just developed had images you needed for a class project? Wasted.

 

[codejoy]

k, which specifically is a one shot developer? Tmax? and then secondly, how can you check for fix if it is exhausted.

I should note I have been reusing the hell outta my paper developer too, seem to be doing fine though some brown sediment builds up in the tank that a few shakes usually helps to clear slightly...

 

[MikeSeb]

Any developer is a one-shot developer; use whatever quantity is needed for the rolls/sheets of film you're developing, then toss.

There are solutions you can use to check your fixer; if exhausted, a precipitate forms when you drop the check solution into a fixer sample. Can't remember what the solution is called--maybe "Hypo Check"? Jogs the memory--edwal "hypo check" I think it is.

I do all my film processing in a Jobo, in which all chemical solutions are one-shot by design. This is so much simpler than trying to keep track of reuse of your chems. Homebrewed D-76H is dirt cheap, Xtol not much worse ($0.25-0.40/roll) and fixer even cheaper (flexicolor, which I buy in 5 gal bulk packages to make 25 gal of solution, and which is great for B&W or C-41, and nearly alkaline at pH ~6-6.5), so I see no reason to reuse anything, even if I were not using a Jobo.

Chemical reuse--unless you're a high-volume replenished operation--is to me a false economy, considering the investment of time and effort we all make in our images.

 

[codejoy]

Well I don't mind the one shot deal if I had chemical jugs that would hold enough to keep using and using (not reusing). I think all my jugs right now hold about a gallon or so, which a gallon of the paper developer goes pretty quick in an 11x14 tray if im dumping it out after I am done. Though for the liquid chemicals (like the kodafix I use), mixing up a 1:7 solution a gallon at a time is pretty easy (about half the bottle of kodafix) and for film one bottle makes one gallon, but the amount used is pretty minimal too 575 ml a shot I think. Though the powder dektol mix, that would be more difficult so I bought just the bag that makes 1gallon of solution, which again would go pretty quick for paper developing without reuse I think. Then the second question is where and how to dump the fixer when I am done...

where do you guys get your storage containers from?

 

[Konical]

Good Afternoon, Shane,

With T-Max Developer, as well as with most other liquid concentrates, mixing directly from the concentrate immediately before each use is an easy way to be highly consistent with your developing. It also eliminates the bother of storing large jugs and sometimes forgetting how long ago the mixing took place. It's probably true in general that preparing developers from powdered chemicals is cheaper, but I process film intermittently and certainly not in an established pattern. For me, this makes T-Max Developer and HC-110 the developers of choice for most purposes. These concentrates have a very long life. The only special equipment needed for mixing from concentrate is a small graduate. I use one with a capacity of about 3/4 oz. for HC-110 and a slightly larger one for T-Max.

Konical

 

[codejoy]

Ya it seems like the powdered chemicals you have to mix up and store. Where as the liquid concentrate you can mix on the fly so to speak? In which case that would be ideal I could just mix it in my cylinder and pour it into the tank and be done with it! So for like 550 ml a 1:4 solution would be 137.5 ml of tmax developer and the rest water? Seems simple enough...plus I can stock up on developers and save some shipping charges. Thanks for the responses guys, nailing down a good workflow makes the whole process more enjoyable and economical.