What is the Tray Life of Polysulfide toner?

[Shangheye]

I have been toning recently but have found myself throwing the solution away soon after putting 6 or 7 prints through it in one dark room session (I tone outside the dark room). Does diluted toner have a specific Tray life? Since the volume I am using is set by the print size, it sometimes seems a waste when I have not made full use of the solution and throw it out. How long would it keep and what storage conditions are best? All advice appreciated!

Rgds, Kal

 

[Claire Senft]

I do not know. I see that the capacity of the toner is 35 prints per liter. Make an extra print (two prints) and tone one with your next batch. Put the used toner into a container and tone the second print a couple of weeks later. Do they look identical?

 

[Monophoto]

I may be totally wrong, but I had always understood that toners worked to depletion, and therefore had no actual 'shelf life'. My practice has been to hold on to partially used toner for extended periods - I'm generally not looking for a dramatic color change, so my toners are used very heavily.

I will say that toners work better when warm, and since I usually mix fresh toners with warm water, fresh toners tend to work far more rapidly than toners than have been sitting on the shelf at room temperature. Yes, I know that the solution is to warm them up, and sometimes I do that. I use one of those old immersion heaters that were sold to make single cups of tea.

 

[CBG]

If you have been using something like Kodak Polysulfide Toner, you can rejuvenate the bath somewhat by adding sodium carbonate when it gets cloudy.

From: www.apug.org/forums/forum227/49572-kodak-t-8-sepia-toning-polysulfide-toner.html

"Approximate life of toning bath is about 150 8x10 prints or equivalent per gallon. When the bath begins to be cloudy, the life can be extended by the add of the same quantity of carbonate as in the formula."

 

[Rich Ullsmith]

I don't know how many prints I put through, but I have used the same bottle of polysulfide on two occasions several months apart. Seemed to work fine.

 

[Shangheye]

OK, seems to me from the above that the tray life should be good for more than one session. Will take up the suggestion of doing the two print test the next time I'm printing. Thank you all! Rgds, Kal