1 year old developer

[Henri Venable]

Hey all, I got into film processing a year ago but with college and studying abroad I haven't been able to do it as consistenly as I would have liked. Anyway, I have one more roll of Delta 100 and since no one develops Delta around here (or so they say) I was wondering if it would be possible to use 1 year old ID-11 solution (just to be clear, it was mixed a year ago - it hasn't been a powder for some time).

Does anyone have any ideas as to how to adjust the length of development to account for any loss of potency? Fresh ID-11 at stock strength develops Delta 100 in 8.5 minutes so I thought maybe doubling that (to 16 minutes) might give me some results. Any thoughts?

Whatever happens I'll try and post up the results if anyone's interested.

[panchro-press]

I'd dump it. Why risk a roll of film and the work of making the photographs on it to a year-old developer?
Even if it's not shot, it's certainly beyond its optimum.

Dave

[bdial]

If it's bad, even doubling the time probably won't get you where you want to be. Assuming you're using 35, you could test it with some of the leader, it should turn it black in a couple of minutes or so.
If the bottle was full to the top, it might be good, if it's not full to the top, I'd probably not bother even testing. If you'll be processing infrequently, consider using a developer like Kodak HC-110, Ilford's equivalent, or Rodinal. The concentrate form of these will keep almost indefinitely.

[kevs]

Hi Henri,

It depends how your ID-11 has been stored. If it's full-strength solution, stored in air-tight bottles and still looks clear, it will be fine. If it has oxidised (turned brown), it might have deteriorated beyond use. Having said that, I stored some full-strength ID-11 in a 1 gallon bottle for 2 years, tested it and it was fine at 3:1 dilution without compensation, despite having turned light brown. I've since decanted it into 1 litre pop bottles. If you diluted it before storing, it's probably best to throw it away.

If the film is valuable, you'd be wise to test the dev using an unimportant one.

All IMO, and IME, or course.

[RalphLambrecht]

Please don't assume that ID11 loses its strength over time. The opposite is the case. It gets stronger (long story, has to do with a rise in ph and the ). So if anything, develop for less the standard time, but to be certain, work with fresh chemicals.

[Henri Venable]

Thanks for the responses guys. The film is not at all valuable. It's just a bunch snapshots I took around town. So no worries about losing some Ansel Adams quality photographs (psh...I wish). The developer has been stored in an air-tight bottle at full strength solution but I'll be sure to check the colour as well as test it on the film leader before I continue. Thanks for the suggestions.

[Curt]

If it's roll film you could do a snip test.

[Bill Burk]

I don't know about ID11 but as Ralph says it might actually be faster-acting with age. I often exceed the shelf life recommendations of D-76 with no ill-effects. Only once did I find it totally inactive so I lost a roll. So I'd recommend taking just a piece of film and dropping it in your developer just to watch it turn black. If it does that, then you know the developer isn't "bad". Then to follow Ralph's hunch, develop just about the recommended time or slightly less.

[Ian Grant]

Personally I'd test it first, just shoot a few frames of 35mm and process them. ID-11/D76 both have a reasonable shelf life so while Ilford's recommended storage life is 6 months in practice a year should be fine.

Both Ilford and Kodak have tweaked the alkali/buffering from the original published formula so a pH change due to storage is far less of an issue with their current versions of this developer.

Ian

[fschifano]

This is just plain silly. Ilford clams that unused stock solution of ID-11 will be reliable up to six months if stored in completely full and well stoppered bottles. Anything other than that is a crap shoot. Now ask yourself, how much did that roll of film cost? Probably almost as much as it would cost to replace the developer. Is it worth is? Not to me it isn't. I'd chuck it and be done with it.