Tmax developer the color of Coca Cola when mixed

[artphotography]

I have Tmax developer that I bought 18 months ago and mixed 1 liter back then. The remainder of the concentrate was stored in a cabinet. The other day, I mixed another liter from concentrate. The diluted Tmax developer solution is the color of Coca Cola (before developing any film). I don't develop film very often and I don't recall if this is something normal for newly mixed dev. Does the darker color indicate anything abnormal?

 

[MattKing]

Most likely it has oxidized to the point of unusability.
Can you share a photo of that part of the label that shows where it was manufactured?

 

[ic-racer]

Don't mix it until you are ready to use it. Use small graduated cylinders or syringes or pipettes to make just what you need to process the film right before you use it. For example one roll of film (140ml) you would pour 28ml of T-max developer into a graduated cylinder and top up with water to make 140ml total.

 

[pentaxuser]

Have you tried an exposed leader test to see if the developer has deteriorated to an unsatisfactory point ie, the leader is at least not turning the leader black to the point that an incandescent bulb's filament does not become dim the point of beíng easily seen through the leader?

pentaxuser

 

[Hunter_Compton]

Like HC-110, has T-Max changed recently from a more syrupy concentrate to a water based one? as I have a couple of gallons of T-Max that were given to me when a school darkroom closed over a decade ago. I store it in the original gallon containers with no special handling and although it's turned a light amber color, it still mixes and works fine. So I'm surprised to hear shelf life of the concentrate is that short.

Even on the datasheet, it mentions that the working solution will keep in a tightly capped container for 6 months and the concentrate for two years.

https://business.kodakmoments.com/sites/default/files/wysiwyg/pro/chemistry/j86.pdf

 

[Rich Ullsmith]

Same with some pounds of dektol I got. Looked like coke. Works.

 

[MARTIE]

Like HC-110, has T-Max changed recently from a more syrupy concentrate to a water based one? as I have a couple of gallons of T-Max that were given to me when a school darkroom closed over a decade ago. I store it in the original gallon containers with no special handling and although it's turned a light amber color, it still mixes and works fine. So I'm surprised to hear shelf life of the concentrate is that short.

Even on the datasheet, it mentions that the working solution will keep in a tightly capped container for 6 months and the concentrate for two years.

https://business.kodakmoments.com/sites/default/files/wysiwyg/pro/chemistry/j86.pdf

Same here with T-Max RS. I've still got 12L. I use it comfortably at 1:7 and 1:9 dilutions and 1:15 is possible but half the film speed.

 

[Scott J.]

Most likely it has oxidized to the point of unusability.
Can you share a photo of that part of the label that shows where it was manufactured?

If the bottle was purchased 18 months ago (i.e., mid-late 2023), it would have been sold at the tail end of the Sino Promise era. My understanding, though, is that at that time, Tmax developer (and other Kodak-branded black and white chemistry) was being manufactured in the U.S. by Photo Systems Inc., not China. So in this case, we probably can't blame the anomalous color on poor quality control by Sino Promise.

For what it's worth, I have an open (but capped), 3/4-filled bottle of the same developer that was purchased in February 2024 (roughly six months after the OP purchased his bottle), and the concentrate is still clear and colorless, like new. This purchase was made shortly after PSI (re)released its first tranche of film chemistry on Cinestill's website after signing the licensing agreement with Kodak.

It seems unlikely that PSI would have made a major change to the manufacture of Tmax Developer between mid-2023 and early 2024 that could account for what the OP experienced. I'd be interested to hear how the concentrate was stored (temperature, humidity, sunlight, etc.), as this might help others diagnose or avoid similar problems.

 

[MattKing]

I asked to see the label for a number of reasons, including the possibility that the developer had been sitting on the retailer's shelves for a long time.
If, as an example, the label indicated that the developer was distributed by Kodak Alaris but made in the USA, it could already be 4-5 years old before it reached the OP.
Admittedly, I'm not sure about whether Kodak Alaris ever had T-Max developer made in the US - when Tetenal went under and everything was so disrupted, there was a fair amount of chaos with respect to sourcing and product lines.

 

[Scott J.]

Admittedly, I'm not sure about whether Kodak Alaris ever had T-Max developer made in the US

They did, for a little while. See here.

 

[MattKing]

They did, for a little while. See here.

That label though is from after Sino Promise took over.
It was during the latter parts of the Kodak Alaris era that the disruption happened - with some production still showing as being in Germany, and some in the USA, and in a couple of cases in both locations, with the one you got depending on the market it was being distributed into.

 

[Scott J.]

But presumably "Made in the U.S.A." actually means it was manufactured there, no? The OP appears to be in the U.S., so my guess is he got a "late-era Sino Promise" bottle of Tmax developer that, while still vaguely implying Chinese ownership, was technically made in Dexter, Michigan by PSI. That whole time period was very confusing for Kodak chemistry.

 

[brbo]

I have a 3/4 bootle of T-Max with exp. date 04/2024, produced in Germany. I opened the bottle more than a year ago and the developer now has a slight yellow tinge. As I recall it was colourless before I opened it. I rarely use it (basically only for TMZ) and use Protectan.

 

[MattKing]

But presumably "Made in the U.S.A." actually means it was manufactured there, no? The OP appears to be in the U.S., so my guess is he got a "late-era Sino Promise" bottle of Tmax developer that, while still vaguely implying Chinese ownership, was technically made in Dexter, Michigan by PSI. That whole time period was very confusing for Kodak chemistry.

Yes.
But if it is from the era I mentioned. it is old, and therefore much more prone to be problematic.
My sense is that the current, USA manufactured product is similar to HC-110 (or HC, as Photo Systems has renamed their product), in that it is unlikely to exhibit the same, somewhat unintended extreme shelf life longevity that the Germany produced T-Max developer exhibited.