Is Clip Testing Reliable For Testing Film Developer?

[Ian-Barber]

My goto developers are usually HC-110 which I have had since 2014 (syrup type) and Pyrocat-HD which was supplied by @Ian Grant and has been sitting on the shelf since about 2017.

Always in the back of my mind is whether these developers will still be active enough to work as intended so my question is...

If I were to simply expose a piece of film to the daylight and then drop it into some developer for the normal development time would this be a sufficient test to confirm the developer is still good to use or not.

 

[Ian Grant]

If Pyrocat HD Part A has oxidised you will have a significant colour change. You need to expose a bit of film correctly to test development, a few frames of 35mm are enough.

Ian

 

[Ian-Barber]

If Pyrocat HD Part A has oxidised you will have a significant colour change. You need to expose a bit of film correctly to test development, a few frames of 35mm are enough.

Ian

Thanks @Ian Grant I can certainly do that, it will give me a chance to test out the Leica. In your experience, does the developer die slowly or can it work one day and not the next

 

[Ian Grant]

Pyrocat HD relies on Sodium Metabisulphite preventing the Pyrocatechin from oxidising, the Metabisulphite slowly decomposes to Sulphite, so initial deterioration only begins when there's a very low level of Metabisulphite left, then it's sudden.

Ian

 

[thronobulax]

My goto developers are usually HC-110 which I have had since 2014 (syrup type) and Pyrocat-HD which was supplied by @Ian Grant and has been sitting on the shelf since about 2017.

Always in the back of my mind is whether these developers will still be active enough to work as intended so my question is...

If I were to simply expose a piece of film to the daylight and then drop it into some developer for the normal development time would this be a sufficient test to confirm the developer is still good to use or not.

I have original Kodak HC-110 considerably older than than this and it works just fine. I did make the concession of moving it from the original plastic containers to glass bottles earlier this year just as an extra precaution.

As of a year or so ago, I've taken to mixing Pyrocat-HD part A with glycol rather than distilled water. However, there is anecdotal suggestion that this may be overkill. I will say that I've used Part A well over a year old - whether mixed in water or glycol - and never seen a developer failure.

As an aside, I have PMK Pyro - again moved to glass from the original Photographer's Formulary plastic bottles - in the neighborhood of your 2014 developer, and it works quite happily to this day.

 

[bandeau_rouge]

The general rule of thumb being here, the more "non eco friendly" developers have a habit of LASTING. Like Rodinal.