HC-110 discoloration, is it an issue?

[Ari]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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.