Spoiled Developer, what happends?

[bippi]

Hi,

I just developed a roll of delta 100 in ilfosol S. Developed it in solutions of 1+9 and development time 6.00 minutes. And when I took it out of the development tank the film was clear, nothing at all developed. So why does this happened? Could it be that my developer liquid was old (2-3 months old) and was there spoiled or ruined? What else could have made this happen?

-Bippi

 

[vieri]

Hi,

I just developed a roll of delta 100 in ilfosol S. Developed it in solutions of 1+9 and development time 6.00 minutes. And when I took it out of the development tank the film was clear, nothing at all developed. So why does this happened? Could it be that my developer liquid was old (2-3 months old) and was there spoiled or ruined? What else could have made this happen?

-Bippi

If the film is completely clear as in transparent, it probably hadn't been exposed at all. Ilfosol S would work fine after 2-3 months unless you left the bottle completely open - as well, you'd probably have something on the film anyway (I wouldn't imagine it to be completely inert even when exhausted).

 

[kaiyen]

If it hadn't been exposed but the developer was good, you'd get at least the markings along the edges. But if it's clear all the wary, from edge to edge, nothing at all, then the developer died or you poured in fixer first by accident.

 

[bippi]

Hi

Thanks for all your answers. Yes it´s all clear nothing at all not even the name of the film on the border. So does that mean that the developer died on me ?

 

[sienarot]

That would not shock me. Ilfosol S has a notorious reputation for dying suddenly in just a span of a few months. What colour was the developer? If it's fresh, it should be a very bright yellow. If it is a brown colour, it is exhausted.

 

[rich815]

....or you poured in fixer first by accident.

I did that once! Bummer. My pulitzer was on that roll too.

 

[rxmd]

If in doubt, test developer by throwing in a piece of film in daylight.

 

[David Goldfarb]

Did you mix it fresh from stock that was a couple of months old, or did you use developer that was diluted 1+9 a couple of months ago?

If you mixed it a couple of months ago, then it wouldn't be so surprising that it had gone bad. 1+9 is a one-shot dilution for most film developers and should be mixed right before use.

If you mixed it fresh from stock and discovered the developer was dead, you might think about whether it had been exposed to high heat at some point in the last few months. This happened to me once when we went on vacation for a couple of months and I got blank sheets from my Acufine, which I usually use as a tank developer that I replenish, and seems to keep pretty well. I later learned that the air conditioning in the building had gone off for three days while we were away, so the temperature in the apartment could have gone up to 100 degrees F.

 

[bippi]

That would not shock me. Ilfosol S has a notorious reputation for dying suddenly in just a span of a few months. What colour was the developer? If it's fresh, it should be a very bright yellow. If it is a brown colour, it is exhausted.

Damn, I thought that the color was a little odd but decided do go ahead anyway. Yes it was brown colored. So Can I trust that if the Ilfosol S is brownish looking then it is dead?

But yes I made it fresh from stock, but the bottle was almost empty and I did not use it for 2-3 months, might also be that the bottle had a lot of room for air.

 

[sienarot]

Yup, Ilfosol S is like toilet water: If it's yellow, let it mellow. If it's brown, flush it down!

Oops. I've said too much.

If you like the results Ilfosol S gives you, they have a new developer out that is supposed to have a longer shelf life, Ilfosol 3.

 

[David Goldfarb]

But yes I made it fresh from stock, but the bottle was almost empty and I did not use it for 2-3 months, might also be that the bottle had a lot of room for air.

Yeah, that would do it. If you want to keep it longer, some techniques are simply to squeeze air out of the bottle, add marbles to the bottle to keep it full, or decant the developer into smaller bottles when it's new.

 

[titrisol]

You can always make a quick test before development
Take the leader of a 35mm film and dip it in the working solution, note the time it takes to become dark gray (not black). The development time should be 5x that one

If it does not turn gray/black at all your developer is dead and you will not destroy a roll of good film

 

[bippi]

You can always make a quick test before development
Take the leader of a 35mm film and dip it in the working solution, note the time it takes to become dark gray (not black). The development time should be 5x that one

If it does not turn gray/black at all your developer is dead and you will not destroy a roll of good film

So If does not turn grey/black then get a new developer. So this is the test I should use before I start?

Thanks again for all your inputs.

 

[Austerby]

If you develop film infrequently then you will always have a problem with the unused remainder oxidising over time. The prevention is to remove the exposure to oxygen - I use vacu-vin stoppers in bottles and remove the air. These are not perfect and do leak over time. Some developers are more prone than others to this - eg Rodinal is reputedly long-lived whereas your Ilfolsol II is notoriously short. I believe Ilford's LC29 developer has been designed for infrequent users, though have no personal experience.

Alternatively, shoot more film and develop more often!

 

[titrisol]

Precisely!

So If does not turn grey/black then get a new developer. So this is the test I should use before I start?

Thanks again for all your inputs.

Now someone stated long life developers, like Rodinal, HC110, Ilford LC29 and others are your best bet if you develop infrequently.

 

[SolaresLarrave]

For infrequent developers, T-Max also has a long shelf-life.

Once, a while ago, I poured D-76 into a tank. The developer looked curiously yellow and smelled a bit stronger than usual. It had been abandoned in an accordion bottle for about two months... but it still did the trick! 🙂

I've abandoned D-76 ever since. Now I dilute T-max (1:4) every time I use it.

 

[Fotohuis]

Ilfosol-S is known about the very short shelf life. The active developer compound is Ascorbic Acid. The oxydizing process can be very quick: 2-3 months and this developer is completely death.

Developers in a stock solution for longer life time:
Rodinal (at least 10 years) even dark brown to black it will work. Based on para-amino phenol and suitable for slow and medium speed classical films.
With most films you will have some effective speed loss with Rodinal. Best features: High sharpness and acutance but pronounced grain.

Diafine: 2-bath developer, speed enhanced and gives 2/3-1 F stop extra speed. 1 1/2 year at least for the liquid made stock solution. You will have a fixed developer time and in a wide range it is temperature independend. Use a water change between the developer (part #2) and the fix because the pH of the developer (# part 2) is very high.

Some 2 component staining developers: e.g. FINOL (Moersch), lifetime 2-3 years, based on a pyro component. It gives a staining in your negatives which is suppressing the grain. Use a weak acid stop (1%) and an alkaline fix to keep the stain in your film when using these type of developer.

An average lifetime of a stock developer or liquid solution in use is in general 4-6 months.

Best regards,

Robert

 

[bippi]

Thanks for this input Robert, have you any experience with ilford id11?
Apparently the only developers available in Iceland are Ilfosol S and ID11.
I was thinking of ordering from Adorama Kodak XTOL but it´s only available in powder which makes 5 liters, anyone who knows about the shelf lifetime of XTOL blended in stock solution?

 

[kaiyen]

ID-11 is Ilford's D76.

If you store XTOL in 1L bottles instead of a big 5L one, then it'll last. But it is also an ascorbic acid developer and can go bad suddenly, but this time with no color change. But use smaller bottles and you'll be fine.

 

[bippi]

If it hadn't been exposed but the developer was good, you'd get at least the markings along the edges. But if it's clear all the wary, from edge to edge, nothing at all, then the developer died or you poured in fixer first by accident.

So Kaiyen, what about the ID-11 would that developer have similar shelf life as the XTOL?