PDA

View Full Version : HC-110 discoloration, is it an issue?



Jay Decker
16-Dec-2012, 23:53
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
17-Dec-2012, 00:48
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
17-Dec-2012, 03:43
ditto! My experience too.

David R Munson
17-Dec-2012, 06:54
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
17-Dec-2012, 08:45
Been using this browish HC-110 to develop Plus-X that expired early 1980's, the negatives are nice.

rich815
17-Dec-2012, 09:28
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
18-Dec-2012, 15:48
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
18-Dec-2012, 17:01
Likewise, I've found my HC110 to be bullet-proof, though so far the worst bottle is only a middlin' brown.

mike rosenlof
19-Dec-2012, 09:56
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
19-Dec-2012, 11:20
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.

Ari
19-Dec-2012, 22:41
I've had a few bottles that went brown, but only one was DOA.
It was old, but unopened; processed film was almost clear.

mike rosenlof
20-Dec-2012, 22:00
I'm about to start using one of the knock-off HC-110s from Freestyle. Anybody have experience with these? My plan is to mix directly from the concentrate out of the bottle, and I'm thrilled that the concentrate is less viscous that the True Yellow HC-110. It should be much easier to measure! Anybody have some wisdom to share on this stuff? I bought L110 from legacy pro. I'll measure 10ml with a syringe and mix into 500ml of water for my normal process (9 min HP5+ in most sizes from 35mm to 8x10). I'm hoping that like HC-110 the shelf life timer doesn't really start running until you mix with water.

Mark Sawyer
21-Dec-2012, 11:13
HC110 has a long life in the bottle because it's based in glycol, not water. Water-based solutions allow other chemicals in the solution to draw oxygen from the water, (hydrolyzation, similar to oxidation from the air). If the Freestyle stuff is thinner, it may be water-based and may have a shorter shelf life.

mike rosenlof
28-Jan-2015, 08:23
Two years later, I can say that the Freestyle stuff works well. I use a bottle in about six months. The concentrate is fairly dark at that point and I haven't seen any change in activity. But that's just by eye, not by densitometer.

Drew Wiley
28-Jan-2015, 09:51
HC-110 has an exceptionally long life in concentrate form. Any number of us have done critical densitometer testing to confirm this. A minor amount of discoloration apparently has no effect. If it gets conspicuously dark, I won't use it for anything especially fussy like color separation work, even though it might still be fine. Just too much overall work to risk it. But it should still be fine for general photography. HC-110 is easy to get and cheap to use anyway.

Michael Cienfuegos
28-Jan-2015, 10:28
I just finished off an old bottle of HC-110, using a syringe to suck the dregs from the bottom to make my usual Dilution H. I was as happy with the results as I had been with the first use sometime last year. I love the stuff.

m

Jmarmck
28-Jan-2015, 10:57
Can someone explain why when I develop TMX, or perhaps Kodak film, the used portion is pink but after a day two goes back to yellow?
When I develop Fomapan the used portion is a nice brilliant green.....that eventually returns to yellow.
Same for Neopan Acros but it is a more diluted green.

On a side note. I had a gallon of Kodak rabid fixer in a clear plastic jug. I stuck in under the sink for a few days and now there is a gray film on the interior of the jug. I know it is depleted but why would it coat a gray while in stored in the dark?

Drew Wiley
28-Jan-2015, 11:11
With TMX the developer is picking up a residue of the pink antihalation dye that wasn't removed during pre-rinse; but this dye seems to unstable for some reason,
esp if exposed to light. Other types of film have different colors of antihalation dye on the film base, like blue.

Jmarmck
28-Jan-2015, 13:45
Ah, got it. I now equate that color to the color of the unexposed film.
Should I be pre-soaking? The film base on all developed negs so far look clear, no cloudiness.

My HC-110 is Kodak branded but in the 1 L bottle. Also bought from Freestyle. So I am not sure if it is "new" or not. It does seem very thick. It takes several rinses to clear. I have had it about 6 mos but no discoloration, yet. There are some darker brown drops around the top.

Drew Wiley
28-Jan-2015, 14:53
HC-110 is a very thick syrup, and there are a few tricks to properly diluting it. That's why they recommend partially diluting it into a "stock solution", then further
diluting this at the time of us. But some of us just mix the syrup directly to working solution as we need to. The concentrate gets brownish with oxidation, esp
around the bottle cap, but this has no effect. HC-110 has extremely good shelf life in the original concentrated form, even if slightly discolored. By you're going to
find various debates about presoaking or not. I do it with all my films, always have, and firmly believe in it.

younghoon Kil
13-Sep-2021, 05:41
219600

As shown in the attached photo, these red spots continue to appear in my HC-110 bottle(2019 version).
This HC-110 was purchased last November and opened this summer.
Not only the new HC-110, but also the old one(syrup version) had the same red spots.

I wonder if this is normal.
I would really appreciate your advice.

abruzzi
13-Sep-2021, 07:52
I have a jar of unopened new stuff, and a 90% used jar of the old syrupy stuff. The old stuff is a dark amber (and about 4 years old), but the thin traces of it on the side of the jar has turned pretty dark (not sure if it is red, but then my color acquity is pretty bad.) It still works fine, so I wouldn't worry.

younghoon Kil
13-Sep-2021, 09:34
I was worried because after only a few months of use, there were so many blackish-red spots inside the bottle.
But I was relieved to read your post.
Thank you.

ericantonio
13-Sep-2021, 09:42
give it a shake, problem solved! That stuff will last longer than all my relationships.

younghoon Kil
13-Sep-2021, 16:05
Thank you. I'll try.

esearing
14-Sep-2021, 04:38
Used some 15year old HC110 recently - its dark orange but still works. Not sure I can ever use up the 1/2 full Liter bottle of this stuff since I switched to PyroM and rarely shoot any roll film now. Price on the bottle $11.99 and I likely got it for less than that or I would not have purchased so much.