Best Dev Containers?

[JChrome]

I was about to soup some D3200 in some D76. Grabbing my Dev I noticed that my container had shrank in on itself (like negative pressure in a water bottle). Really odd I thought. So I pulled it out and found Dev running underneath. She sprang a leak!

Thankfully the negative pressure kept it from shooting out too much. And I got her in the tub.

After two years of loyal service, Bessie the gallon water jug kicked the bucket.

So should I go for the brown gallon jugs? I suppose after years of putting 130 degree Dev in the plastic couldn't have been good...


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[kxl]

I use 1-liter dark plastic bottles, so only stock solution in the bottle in current use is exposed to air.

 

[Nokton48]

I use two-litre soda bottles. Come in different colors and very tough.

 

[Sarcophilus Harrisii]

I use two-litre soda bottles. Come in different colors and very tough.

So do I. You can bleed all air out of them, meaning the developer (I mostly use ID-11) will last longer than Ilford's own suggested storage times. I have got a year, or nearly a year, out of mixed ID-11, that worked fine when it was used. Most of the bottles I use are clear. I simply sourced a large plastic tub from a discount store in which to keep my chemicals, processing tanks, and reels, etc. They had a variety of colours. I chose black. The reason is obvious.
Cheers,
Brett

 

[Rob-F]

I have been using green 25 ounce scotch bottles (single malt). I use them because they come with corks. I would use brown one quart Corona beer bottles, but it is difficult to find corks to fit them. The original caps are not re-useable. While 25 ounce may seem hard to use, five of them will hold one gallon of D-76. To hold five liters of XTOL takes six of these, plus a smaller bottle to hold the extra few ounces that don't quite fit. But when I mix that much fresh developer, I'm going to develop a roll or three anyhow, so I'm back to five bottles in no time.

I'm sure brown bottles are best, but since they are in the dark most of the time, does it really matter? If it does, one could keep them in a cardboard box under the darkroom sink, no? Or in a Rubbermaid storage box.

 

[presspass]

After having developer go bad in plastic, I switched to brown glass about 10 years ago. The developer now lasts well past the accepted use date. Fixer, etc., still goes in plastic, but developer always in brown glass.

 

[Fotohuis]

Plastic with developer and fixer is affected after some time. Even the HD PE from Jobo bottles are going to leak. So what for long storage is the best: Schott glass with coating, professional labority bottles. Even when they break they are not immediately are leaking. Expensive but for chemicals the best.

 

[Dwig]

After having developer go bad in plastic, I switched to brown glass about 10 years ago. ...

Years ago when I shot film I did the same.

My method was to mix a batch of developer, usually gallon stock, and decant it into small glass bottles full to the brim. The bottles served as "one shot" mixes. The bottle size was chosen so that the whole thing was used, with any necessary dilution, in one processing batch. That way, I never had partially filled bottles to deal with.

 

[presspass]

Great idea, Dwig. I have some small bottles I once used to hold HC110. Tonight, I'll see if they will hold enough D-23 for a 1:1 dilution. Thanks.

 

[nikon_sam]

I keep my ready to use Kodak Fixer in an Arizona Iced Tea gallon bottle...I keep it in my photo closet (dark) and never had any problems with it...no leaks, splitting or Fixer expiring prematurely...

 

[Ronald M]

Glass bottles always best. Get the kind with inverted cone seals in the cap.

Decant newly mixed developer into one time use size bottles.

Nikor stainless tanks not perfect, but work for decades. Same with real Nikor reels.

Plastic falls apart because the material is unstable.

 

[Greybeard]

I use the brown glass "growler" bottles that some microbrewery beers are offered in and replace the original aluminum cap with a plastic cap from a bleach bottle (common thread). These are quite heavy-walled and durable.

These have a one quart capacity which I find to be an advantage when I make up several quarts, I can fill the bottles to the very top to exclude air.

The intrinsic advantage of being able to drink the original contents should be obvious.