I have mixed the kodak dektol developer before with no problems. THis time the stock solution seems to be off color. it is a gray/brown color. Isn't it supposed to be clear when it is freshly made? what do you think happened. Will it still work right? Thanks for you help. Erinn

-- Erin A (squirrelymom66@aol.com), August 22, 2001

Answers

Response to Kodak developer question

The Dektol should be colorless. If it's brown when mixed, the powder was probably brown, too. The degree of brown indicates the degree of oxidation it's undergone. However, it will still develop prints, just like a tray of Dektol that's turned brown from use. The quality may suffer if it's too far gone, though. If the powder is pretty brown, better replace it with a fresh packet. It should be white as white sugar.

-- Keith Nichols (knichols1@mindspring.com), August 22, 2001.

Response to Kodak developer question

When I mix fresh Dektol it is not perfectly clear and works perfectly.

-- Michael Feldman (mfeldman@qwest.net), August 22, 2001.

Response to Kodak developer question

I've never had the brown color on freshly mixed Dektol but I occasionally got a crystal fomation in the diluted developer. It never seemed to effect results but it always bothered me. I have recently switched to a liquid conentrate LPD. I am very impressed with this developer. Not only can you vary image tone but the stuff really does last. I mixed 64oz of working solution put it in a plastic bottle and 2 weeks later it is still working. The prints made this saturday are as good as the prints made the day solution was mixed. Getting back to Dektol. As far as I am concerned the only advantage to Dektol is that it is available at my local camera shop and LPD is not.

-- Robert Orofino (minotaur1949@iopener.net), August 22, 2001.

Response to Kodak developer question

Did you change you water source? I suspect different impurities in the local water will change the color slightly.

I've gotten a tan tint to Dektol when mixing with no problems. Unless the hue is dark it will probably work.

Try it to see if it works. We're only talking about a single sheet of paper to test.

-- Charlie Strack (charlie_strack@sti.com), August 23, 2001.

Response to Kodak developer question

THanks everyone for your answers!

-- Erinn (squirrelymom66@aol.com), August 23, 2001.

Response to Kodak developer question

Will preparing to do some printing yesterday, I began mixing some fresh dektol and as I was pouring it into the pitcher I saw that the powder was very dark brown. I discarded it and mixed another pack, which was pure white as it should be, I thought that the chemicals had somehow oxidized in the envelope. I'm going to contact BIG YELLOW and see what they have to say. Will post their answer.

-- Vince Pulvirenti (zone7@massnet1.net), October 01, 2001.

Response to Kodak developer question

Dektol should be a sorta light brown, if not clear almost color. I've seen it turn to a deeper shade (ha...pretty technical huh??)when the powdered form was basically shot. I have seen the bags form a stain on them that's a rust color almost. My guess is that moisture/humidity is the culprit here...so if the chemicals have been sitting on the shelf for a long time, this may be the problem. FWIW, there are packaging codes on Kodak products that will tell you when a product has been made & shipped out. I'm fairly familiar with the liquid codes, but it's been awhile with the powders. Kodak may be able to tell you these, or the product catalog might have the info too. I use them with buying liquid chemistry, especially E6 products. There is a shelf life to just about everything. If the product is old, its not really the fault of Kodak...the problem lies more with the dealer. Things like chemicals, film & paper can't be returned to Kodak, so if the dealer isn't moving this stuff, and it's just going bad on the shelf.... then--buyer beware.

-- DK Thompson (kthompson@moh.dcr.state.nc.us), October 02, 2001.

Response to Kodak developer question

I talked with KODAK yesterday concerning the brown DEKTOL, as I suspected and they agreeded, the chemical in the sealed envelope had in fact oxidized ( same as being all used up) and would not yield consistent prints. If when you mix fresh DEKTOL it has a brownish color, you are most likely mixing too vigorously thus introducing oxygin (air) into the solution.

-- Vince Pulvirenti (zone7@massnet1.net), October 02, 2001.

Response to Kodak developer question

You know...that may be plausible....but having used dektol for a long time, I'd say you'd REALLY have to be stirring that vigorously to oxidize it that fast when mixing....what I was referring to was the dry chemistry going bad over a period of time sitting on the shelf. I have some experience with this in that dektol was our main paper developer for years until we got a processor. Now we only use it when the machine is down. However we have this stockpile of chemistry...which we had to get rid of more or less because the chem is too old now. FWIW, we still sometimes use DK-50, D-19, Microdol-X etc. that is probably 20-25 yrs. old, because it's in a can...not a foil lined bag.

It is possible, with chemistry like E6 color developer, or first developer, to oxidize it while mixing it up...but that's a different process. my experience with Dektol is that it's pretty hardy....but once it is mixed up, it's lifespan is pretty short, compared to something like LPD (as was suggested)...which is what I use in my own darkroom.

If you want info on the data codes, they call them "batch codes". usually they just show what week/month/year a product was manufactured. I personally would not buy a product, especially a color chemical, that has been sitting on a shelf for longer than 6 months. Stuff like photoflo, stop etc. is probably okay, but developers...I'd pass them by. As always, these are just my personal opinions.

-- DK Thompson (kthompson@moh.dcr.state.nc.us), October 03, 2001.