XTOL 'discontinued'? B&H error?

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

Yes, Chris, they do. They're called box wine and they come with a free auto-vacuum system that prevents early degradation from air!

I'd think the wine would contaminate the bag. In any case, I don't drink alcohol, so the wine box would be a rather costly container for me.

 

[KM-25]

Chris, I bought a 5L graduate from a school lab supply company called Nasco, works great for mixing. I then pour the mixture into 2 x 2L containers, one air evac and a 1L air evac. This works really well.

Btw, my shipment from Freestyle showed up today, I am now topped off to a comfy 50 x 5L bags.

 

[Trius]

I'd think the wine would contaminate the bag. In any case, I don't drink alcohol, so the wine box would be a rather costly container for me.

Chris,

I know you don't drink alcohol. I don't purchase box wine myself, but get empties, they are easy to obtain, and free.

Cleaning the bladder is not an issue. There are a few threads here about the whole process. Basically --

1. Remove inner bladder from box
2. Remove valve from bladder
3. Wash out the bladder and rinse thoroughly
4. Replace bladder into box
5. Fill bladder with fresh XTol
6. Replace valve
7. Serve at proper temperature, pairs well with a variety of monochrome film
8. Enjoy for months!

Earl

 

[loquax ludens]

You can buy brand new Mylar bags made for liquid dispensing in various sizes.

Here is a 2 gallon size on ebay: http://www.ebay.com/itm/20-Mylar-2-...375?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2ec053e1c7

Here is a 5.5 liter bag, out of stock currently, but you can often find them at homebrew wine and beer supply stores: http://store.homebrewheaven.com/55-liter-wine-waiter-bag-p86.aspx

 

[Fotohuis]

Apart from Xtol (5 ltr.) you can use the simmilar Fomadon Excel W27 developer (Foma, Czech Republic) . It's coming in a 1 ltr. package. Good news for 35mm users, bad news for LF and big volume users for this type of developer. It's also pretty cheap.

 

[Trius]

I believe Ilford's equivalent is DD-X, at least giving very similar results, if not chemically identical. I haven't used it a lot, but I have used it for Pan-F+ and it was really nice.

Easily available in many locales.

 

[Trius]

Also, one could mix up Mytol.

 

[Chuck Albertson]

The problem is that in the USA you cannot buy 5L containers to store it in. Do they sell 5L jugs in Europe?

Kodak itself used to sell empty 5L jugs for labs to store E-6 chemistry in. I bought a couple a few years ago, and they still work well.

 

[sepiareverb]

The problem is that in the USA you cannot buy 5L containers to store it in. Do they sell 5L jugs in Europe?

http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/item.aspx?itemid=22689&catid=816

http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/item.aspx?itemid=26049&catid=611

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/88372-REG/Doran_Plastic_Storage_Tank_2.html/mode/edu

I used to use XTOL, and always mixed it up in a bucket and decanted it into 5 1L bottles. I eventually decided it delivered somewhat mushier negatives than I liked with small format film.

 

[loquax ludens]

I'm surprised that this has not been mentioned yet, but another good option for storing developer is a 2 gallon (7.5 liter) tank with spigot and floating lid. I just bought one of these for RA4 dev.

Doran Plastic Storage Tank (2 Gallon) with Floating Lid and Fast-flow Faucet

The floating lid keeps oxygen away from the surface of the developer. There's also a loose fitting lid at the top, so you can spray some canned air (usually difluoroethane) or butane (caution, flammable) in on top of the floating lid to displace some of the oxygen for better protection.

 

[kxl]

XTOL is now available again at Freestyle.

XTOL is pretty much the only developer I ever use anymore, so if the supply ever completely dries up, I will start mixing up Mytol.