HC-110 discoloration, is it an issue?

[Jay Decker]

Have some HC-110 that has gone from yellow to yellowish-brown. Anyone know what is going on and if it effects the performance of the developer? I've continued using it and it "seems" to work fine...

[jcoldslabs]

Jay,

I believe that the brown color is oxidation and in theory this should weaken the developer somewhat. I picked up a many-years-old bottle of already opened HC-110 last year (for free) that was pretty dark brown and after some testing I did not notice a significant difference in my negatives from fresh developer. For anything crucial a test might be in order, but with liquid that concentrated I think you have a long way to go before seeing a reduction in potency.

Jonathan

[mikebarger]

ditto! My experience too.

[David R Munson]

In practice, I have not known darkening to have any real-world effect on the developing capacity of HC-110. A couple years ago I found a bottle of HC-110 at a shop in Korea. I bought it, took it home, and upon attempting to mix it up, realized that it had all crystallized in the bottle. This complicated things a bit, but I did get it mixed up. It was darker than usual, too, and got darker still as I used it. But you know what? Still worked great. Kodak should give it a new slogan or something. "HC-110 - the developer that just won't die"

[Jay Decker]

Been using this browish HC-110 to develop Plus-X that expired early 1980's, the negatives are nice.

[rich815]

Mine often gets dark, deep, orange if I've been off using Rodinal for a spell instead. No issues or compromising of the effectiveness that I can tell.

[jk0592]

After two years of use, my bottle of HC110 shows the reddish/brownish colour, but it has no effect at all (not that I can detect in practice) on the quality, range, fb=fog, etc of the negatives.

[Mark Sawyer]

Likewise, I've found my HC110 to be bullet-proof, though so far the worst bottle is only a middlin' brown.

[mike rosenlof]

The rumors I've heard, and my personal experience is that a brownish syrup is not a problem. Sort of like discolored Rodinal. Lasts a very long time. The shelf life timer starts running when you add water.

[BradS]

I have a bottle that has long since turned very dark orange/brown but still works fine. I did have one roll of film that seemed to take a bit of stain from it but the discoloration came out in the wash. Have not noticed any loss of strength nor any other ill effects.