[pure-silver] Re: Opinions on chemistry longevity


----- Original Message ----- From: "jeffrey" <puresilver@xxxxxxxxx>
To: <pure-silver@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Monday, June 27, 2005 6:36 PM
Subject: [pure-silver] Opinions on chemistry longevity


Someone recently gave me 10 unopened 125ml bottles of Rodinal. These are old enough that the boxes are not the current mostly-red box, but a box that is mostly white, with a red band with white letters "AGFA", then a green band with black letters "RODINAL". I see nothing on the box or on the bottle to indicate a date.

How long could you reasonably expect Rodinal to remain good in an unopened container?

I was also given quite a bit of old Koday dry chemistry (D-11, D-76, etc.) If the bags did not get wet, do they decay enough so that 20 years is too long to expect use?

I also got a glass amphule (sp?) of Gold Chloride that looks to come from the 1960's. Could that still be good?

I agree with the others that the Rodinal will probably still be good. Gold chloride is generally put up in sealed ampoules and won't deteriorate. You can now try Nelson's Gold Toner:-)
Kodak developers in bags are chancey. The lining of the bags is a metalized plastic which was supposed to be as impermeable as the old sealed cans but it isn't. I don't know what goes wrong the bags, perhaps they develop microscopic cracks, in any case they are not very reliable. If on opening the powder is white the stuff is OK. If brown its oxidized and should be tossed. Probably a slight tan color is acceptable but no more.
BTW, old Rodinal should have a few crystals in the bottom of the bottle. These are there delibrately as a sort of buffer and extend the life of the concentrate. Fresh Rodinal is light reddish tan but darkens nearly as soon as its opened. Evidently it stays good even if its nearly black.

---
Richard Knoppow
Los Angeles, CA, USA
dickburk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 

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