Yaroka wrote:
Greetings, Analogies! :rolleyes:
I’ve found a 5-litre can of ADOX Adofix P and three 1-litre bottles of XTOL here. Back then, I mixed both the fixer and the developer with powder in 5-litre batches, poured the fixer into a canister and the developer into 1-litre light-proof containers, filling them so full that they actually overflowed. Both were bottled on 17 June 2016 and stored in the cellar and garage. When I shake the bottles, I can’t hear anything, so there should be virtually no oxygen trapped inside.
The fixer looks slightly bluish and the developer slightly yellowish.
Long story short: Should I still use this stuff?
Thank you! :blush:
Hello,
The long-term shelf life of photographic chemicals depends very much on the specific storage conditions: In this case: Were the light-tight containers made of plastic? If so: Most plastics allow oxygen to diffuse through over time, which has a negative effect on the shelf life of the photographic chemicals. Then some of it was stored in the garage. Depending on the design, temperatures there can get quite high in summer, which also has a negative effect on long-term shelf life.
And XTOL in particular is very sensitive when it comes to storage conditions. Even under ideal storage conditions (dark glass bottle, fully filled, cool location), XTOL generally does not last much longer than two years in the stock solution.
The remaining activity of the developer and fixer can be tested using the film leader: Is the start of the film still fully blackened by the developer (high Dmax)? Fixer test: Does a film strip become completely clear within the normal clearing time?
But even if the tests were to yield satisfactory results, our recommendation would be to use fresh chemicals for important films, just to be on the safe side.
And there is by no means any certainty that the old chemicals will still be working in one, two or more months’ time.
ADOX – Innovation in Analogue Photography.
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