Will my chemicals be off?

[MamiyaJen]

Sometime last August I bought some Dev, Stop and Fix and put them in small containers like these http://www.ag-photographic.co.uk/25l-plastic-storage-container-856-p.asp. Since then I've only had time to develop a couple of films at home what with uni projects taking up all my time. While not in use they've been stored in a dark cupboard.

I've had a smell and they don't smell off so i'm wondering if they'll be ok to use. I don't want to ruin my film by using them if they are. What do you think?

 

[Peltigera]

Stop bath and fixer are likely to be ok. I doubt the developer is. It depends on how air was in the container with the developer - if it has oxidised, it will have gone brown. Personally, I would not risk the developer - it is cheap enough - a litre of ID11 is less than the price of a roll of film.

 

[Gerald C Koch]

Developer should always be stored in either glass. PET or PVC bottles.

 

[pentaxuser]

These containers look like the same kind that liquid developers come in anyway. As long as they were filled up to the neck then even without any further gas protection such as Protectan the area of liquid exposed to air and the amount of air is very small.

Cut off the exposed leader of the film and develop that in a small open container for the length of time the film needs. If the leader goes black to the extent that the light from the element of an incandescent looks very dull when viewed through it then you can conclude that the dev still works.

pentaxuser

 

[GRHazelton]

Just recently, feeling that I needed to mix some more D-76 solution, I rummaged around under the sink and came up with a liter plastic bottle of D-76 stock solution dated 3/24/10. Oops! I used on a non-critical cassette, results were fine! I had squeezed as much of the air out of the bottle I could, and the solution was clear, not brown. I don't really recommend this long storage, but Kodak's recommendation of a 6 month storage life seems a bit overly conservative.