Kodak Xtol powder

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Matt Bigwood

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I've found a packet of Kodak Xtol developer powder with an expiry date of 2023 - what's the likelihood this would be OK to use?
 
I have 2 packs I bought in Canada in 2004, they will be toast. Ascorbic Acid has a shelf life of 2-3 years before it begins to deteriorate.

It appears that PSI (they used to make Unicolor chemistry) now use Sodium Erythrobate in Xtol, which is an Ascorbic Acid derivative. PSI was a company originally set up by ex Eastman Kodak photo-chemists to make 3rd party colour chemistry, they now manufacture Kodak chemistry.

I would expect the 2023 expiry date to include a safety factor, but test it with a film that's not critical.

Ian
 
Ian Grant said:
I have 2 packs I bought in Canada in 2004, they will be toast. Ascorbic Acid has a shelf life of 2-3 years before it begins to deteriorate.

It appears that PSI (they used to make Unicolor chemistry) now use Sodium Erythrobate in Xtol, which is an Ascorbic Acid derivative. PSI was a company originally set up by ex Eastman Kodak photo-chemists to make 3rd party colour chemistry, they now manufacture Kodak chemistry.

I would expect the 2023 expiry date to include a safety factor, but test it with a film that's not critical.

Ian
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Thanks Ian, great advice. I also have an even older pack of ID11 powder - what does that keep like?
 
Id-11 has an even longer shelf life, so depending on how much older it is it should also be perfectly fine.
 
ID-11 should keep a lot longer than Xtol.

Ascorbic acid, and Sodium Ascorbate, loose 1-2% efficiency in 2-3 years, depending on storage. With photo-chemistry Ilford's rule of thumb was a 5% variation is barely noticeable, once you reach 10% that changes.

Ian
 
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