Dektol question

[Daniel.E]

Somebody gave me an opened bag of Dektol, seems pretty full. I was wondering if there's a way to know if I can still use it? the person that gave it to me didn't know why it was opened to begin with. It expires next year. Toss? try to make a working solution and make less than the gallon?
Thank you in advance for any advice!

[David Karp]

Toss.

[blue4130]

Still in powder form? Use it. Powder takes ages to go bad. even when open dektol will last decades.

[Doremus Scudder]

If the bag is open and you suspect that some of the contents have been removed = toss.
If the contents are brown = toss.
If you want to be fairly confident that your print developer will deliver expected results = toss.

Really, I can't see any reason to keep and use an unsealed bag of developer. Mixing it up just to see if it'll work will just waste paper...

If you had an unopened, sealed bag of Dektol, then it would likely be good

FWIW, it's a bad idea to try and mix smaller amounts than a total package's worth with pre-mixed powdered chemicals. There's no way to ensure you get the right proportions.

Best,

Doremus

[koraks]

I would mix up a bit and try it with a sheet of fully exposed paper. If it develops into pure black within a reasonable amount of time for the working dilution you decided on, I'd just use it.

Doremus has a point in the mixing of small amounts of powdered developer of course, although I have to say I usually do this with D76 (which admittedly I don't use much) and have never experienced any issues with it.

[gary mulder]

Paper is by far more expensive than developer. Are you willing to put $100 worth of paper into suspect developer to save $10 ?

[koraks]

It only costs one sheet of €0.10 RC paper to find out where you stand with a developer. Actually, a €0.02 test strip already tells a story.

[gary mulder]

It only costs one sheet of €0.10 RC paper to find out where you stand with a developer. Actually, a €0.02 test strip already tells a story.

Good for you that you can tell that your paper / developer is preforming to specification with the right characteristic curve by just exposing and developing one strip of paper.

[Mark Sampson]

Developer is cheap (unless you use Amidol or other exotica). Dektol will go bad even in the sealed foil package. Put it another way, how much is your time worth? Toss the opened package and mix fresh. Your prints will thank you.

[Daniel.E]

Thank you everybody! i wanted to use it to make some 4x6 contact prints. Nothing fancy at all. I'll toss it.