Useful stock solutions

My stock solution of Metol has changed color and is now like (coffee) brown. I was mixing a new badge of developer and saw that the Metol solution was a little thick but nearly transparant with some colorisation at the top of the liquid. I put the bottle in some warm water and after a while the color changed to brown. I made this stock solution in mid December last year. Is this a sign that the solution is gone?

Color is not always a reliable indicator. Some clear solutions can be useless, like dead XTOL, and some black solutions can be very active, like old Rodinal. Keep a roll of 35 mm film just for snip tests. Cut an inch or so, develop it in room light no more than 2 minutes in working strength solution. If you do this when the developer is fresh, you will be able to tell if it is getting weaker, and will certainly not be caught with blank negatives. Underdeveloped is one thing, undeveloped is disaster.

PS
If you have sulfite on hand, a teaspoon of it in half a cup (about 125 ml) of water plus a ml of the Metol stock (a child sized medicine dropper is handy to have around) will be close enough to D-23 for a snip test to see if the Metol is still active.

gainer said:

PS
If you have sulfite on hand, a teaspoon of it in half a cup (about 125 ml) of water plus a ml of the Metol stock (a child sized medicine dropper is handy to have around) will be close enough to D-23 for a snip test to see if the Metol is still active.

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Thanks for your reply. I will try this today and see what happend.

I'am just coming out of the DR and tested the metol stock solution as you discribed and it seems to be oké. No more worries about the brown coloring.
Thanks again this method was very simple and helpfull. I will keep it in mind for later use.