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Thread: XTOL Replenished Facts vs Fables

  1. #1
    Tin Can's Avatar
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    XTOL Replenished Facts vs Fables

    I read a lot about XTOL on APUG from the usual suspects.

    Let's start with the KODAK XTOL Data Sheet.

    The experts say, keep air out, with full to the top bottles, floating lids, inert gas, N2 Burst in deep tanks.

    and replenished aged XTOL may last years to be the BEST XTOL!

    However KODAK allows inversion, rolling tanks, open trays, deep tank Dip & Dunk, N2 Burst Tanks, all which I would think could add a lot of air over time to any replenished developer.

    Perhaps a chemist can explain how large area air exposed XTOL fluid surfaces with agitation waves, remain air free...

    Over time...over months...

    Or is simple evaporation the real problem?

    I don't know the answer.
    Tin Can

  2. #2
    Maris Rusis's Avatar
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    Re: XTOL Replenished Facts vs Fables

    My replenished Xtol has been working since 2007 so it must be well seasoned by now. Between developing sessions it is kept in full-to-the-top oxygen impermeable bottles. I do a lot of open tray constant agitation sheet film development so the Xtol sees plenty of air and obviously encounters some oxidation.
    The answer to the problem is that I replenish at a rate of 90ml per film instead of the 70ml per film that Kodak recommends. Xtol activity initially reduced a little as the original mix became seasoned but that activity has now remained stable for years.
    My impression is that replenished Xtol settles to an activity level that depends on the replenishment rate. Doing film sheets in trays, one at a time, in pitch blackness can get tedious so I don't mind if my Xtol develops a bit faster and gets me out of the darkroom sooner.
    Photography:first utterance. Sir John Herschel, 14 March 1839 at the Royal Society. "...Photography or the application of the Chemical rays of light to the purpose of pictorial representation,..".

  3. #3

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    Re: XTOL Replenished Facts vs Fables

    I have been using XTOL since it's debut. I used it replenished in 1/2 gallon hard rubber tanks and Paterson tanks. At some point, I went to 1:1 in Paterson, 1 shot. A few years back I picked up a couple Jobo machines. I have never tried to replenish XTOL that came out of a Jobo. I have never tried to replenish ANY developer that has been through a Jobo. I'm sure people do it, but developer is cheap and film and time aren't.
    Replenished systems rely on Volume of film, ideally a deep tank sees a scientific term "crap loads" . I'm mshchem on APUG, I've literally used a 11 year old soda bottle of XTOL stock to develop a roll of film with excellent results, I was shocked. And XTOL does eventually turn color, this stuff looked like Budweiser without the bubbles.
    XTOL requires pure water, that's sure and certain.
    If you want cheap bulletproof developer. Mix your own D76, use it for a bit and start over.

  4. #4
    Tin Can's Avatar
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    Re: XTOL Replenished Facts vs Fables

    Thanks Maris and Duolab123.

    I respect both your experiences.
    Tin Can

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    Re: XTOL Replenished Facts vs Fables

    Quote Originally Posted by Duolab123 View Post
    ...I'm mshchem on APUG...
    What is this "APUG" thing, Mike?

  6. #6

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    Re: XTOL Replenished Facts vs Fables

    I can add that I’ve had my replenished Xtol(2 Liter volume) for around 1.5 years. It’s been used for rotary processing 4x5 in a Jobo tank and 8x10 sheets in open trays. Like Maris I also replenish more than 70ml, typically 100ml per 80sq-in of film. I only use distilled water when mixing and store my stock solution in wine bags with all the air removed and the replenished volume in a 2L Pyrex media bottle.

    I have get consistent results and while I have not done any serious testing the developer did not seem to lose any activity over the year and a half. I think the reason it can last indefinitely in a replenishment system has to do with the fact that it is self replenishing and that in my case at least, after 20 sheets of 8x10 I’ve “replaced” the entire volume of my system.

  7. #7

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    Re: XTOL Replenished Facts vs Fables

    Edgar Praus uses (or did use) replenished XTOL as the standard B/W developer at his custom lab, Praus Productions, in Rochester NY. You might ask him; He's pretty busy so email might be better than telephone.
    (I had some experience with XTOL in my later days at Kodak. There we used it diluted 1:1 as a one-shot in a Wing-Lynch 4E processor. Worked very well for our uses there.)

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    Re: XTOL Replenished Facts vs Fables

    APUG (Analogue Photography Users Group) is now Photrio.com
    Philip Ulanowsky

    Sine scientia ars nihil est. (Without science/knowledge, art is nothing.)
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  9. #9

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    Re: XTOL Replenished Facts vs Fables

    Quote Originally Posted by Ulophot View Post
    APUG (Analogue Photography Users Group) is now Photrio.com
    I knew that, Phillip. I was being a wise guy to Mike. Thus the smiley.

  10. #10

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    Re: XTOL Replenished Facts vs Fables

    Quote Originally Posted by Sal Santamaura View Post
    What is this "APUG" thing, Mike?
    Ha!

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