C-41 Chemicals: Keep or Toss?

[vijaylff]

Hi,

I was forced to leave some unopened bottles of Kodak C-41 liquid chemicals in my garage over the summer due to a remodel.

This means they have been exposed to about 10 days of 95 degree temperatures.

How likely is it that they're still good/effective? (I know I could probably test them out on a roll or two, but it will be my first home C-41 attempt so I won't know whether any bad results will be due to lapses in technique or potentially bad chemistry.)

Vijay

[SamReeves]

That's kind of warm for chemistry. However C-41 can be pretty stable, so I say run a junk roll of film and see if it's any good.

[Stephen Willard]

I do not believe it is the temperature that effects them, but rather exposure to air and thus oxidation of the developer. I would mix the chemistry and if the developer is clear or slightly tinted, then it is most likely good.

[SaveBears]

It would be worth the effort to test them on a junk roll, many of these chemicals, when shipped end up in containers and trucks that are not temp controlled and exposed to high temps during their trip, so I would think your chems should be okay, like I said, well worth it to test before throwing out.

[vijaylff]

Thanks for the responses. I'll give them a try!

Vijay

[Mark Sampson]

The C-41 process runs at 100.5 degrees Fahrenheit... temp won't be a problem. The developer (like any dev) will go bad if exposed to air. If your stock is relatively new you should be fine, if a it's a year old buy fresh.

[Gene McCluney]

If these are sealed bottles of concentrates, they should be just fine. If they are mixed, ready to use solutions, the developer has a rather short life, but the bleach, fix and stabilizer should be fine. When they are shipped from the factory during the summer, in un-air conditioned trucks the temperature can exceed 95f. If that were a problem for a few days, then we would all be in trouble.