How long does Ilfotec Hc last once opened

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Nebular89

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I have 2 developers left from when I use film a lot, a bottle of Rodinal and Ilfotec Hc. Both have been open over a year. The Rodinal works fine but I have yet to test the Hc and I would rather not waste a roll if I can help it. I dont like using Rodinal for 400iso and above film and as I the only film camera I have now is a scale focus camera Id like to be at atleast f8 as often as possible
 
Nebular89 said:
I have 2 developers left from when I use film a lot, a bottle of Rodinal and Ilfotec Hc. Both have been open over a year. The Rodinal works fine but I have yet to test the Hc and I would rather not waste a roll if I can help it. I dont like using Rodinal for 400iso and above film and as I the only film camera I have now is a scale focus camera Id like to be at atleast f8 as often as possible
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I suspect if it was a reasonably full , well closed bottle so not much air to cause the Ilfotec Hc to oxidise you would be fine. To confirm that it is still good, you could just shoot a few frames and do a clip test, that is open the camera back in dark room or changing bag and cut the film with scissors.
 
zx9 said:
I suspect if it was a reasonably full , well closed bottle so not much air to cause the Ilfotec Hc to oxidise you would be fine. To confirm that it is still good, you could just shoot a few frames and do a clip test, that is open the camera back in dark room or changing bag and cut the film with scissors.
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I’m going to split the next roll of fomapan in half anyway, I have a new camera coming so I want to test it. Might as well use the hc for it.
 
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What colour is it?

Most of the information I found when researching, which of the many developers to try, highlighted the longevity of HC110.

2-5 years seemed to be the consensus.
 
Nebular89 said:
I have 2 developers left from when I use film a lot, a bottle of Rodinal and Ilfotec Hc. Both have been open over a year. The Rodinal works fine but I have yet to test the Hc and I would rather not waste a roll if I can help it. I dont like using Rodinal for 400iso and above film and as I the only film camera I have now is a scale focus camera Id like to be at atleast f8 as often as possible
Click to expand...
Barney said:
Most of the information I found when researching, which of the many developers to try, highlighted the longevity of HC110.

2-5 years seemed to be the consensus.
Click to expand...
My almost finished litre bottle of HC-110, opened in late 2018, is still fine. A bit of deposit in the bottom of the last 50ml bottle; I won't be using the crystally stuff there. Reckon I've got enough for about 5 more films left in this bottle. Mine is now the colour of medium tea; I've heard of much darker still working.

Mine was an "original syrup" bottle, the slightly newer bottles are apparently less viscous and may not keep quite so well (something about crystalising rather earlier). IlfoTec HC is a similar but different formulation. Nevertheless, I wouldn't hesitate to use a 4-5 year old bottle of IlfoTec HC, and even longer if I'd been using it regularly and seen no fall off in effectiveness.

NB, Kodak have got the rights to HC-110 back from that Chinese company, but not the name, so they have to call it something else. I bought a 500 ml bottle of Adox HC-110; I guess they licensed the name from the Chinese company!
 
ChrisR said:
My almost finished litre bottle of HC-110, opened in late 2018, is still fine. A bit of deposit in the bottom of the last 50ml bottle; I won't be using the crystally stuff there. Reckon I've got enough for about 5 more films left in this bottle. Mine is now the colour of medium tea; I've heard of much darker still working.

Mine was an "original syrup" bottle, the slightly newer bottles are apparently less viscous and may not keep quite so well (something about crystalising rather earlier). IlfoTec HC is a similar but different formulation. Nevertheless, I wouldn't hesitate to use a 4-5 year old bottle of IlfoTec HC, and even longer if I'd been using it regularly and seen no fall off in effectiveness.

NB, Kodak have got the rights to HC-110 back from that Chinese company, but not the name, so they have to call it something else. I bought a 500 ml bottle of Adox HC-110; I guess they licensed the name from the Chinese company!
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Nice one :). Just got a new camera so I’ll run a couple of test frames through it and try the hc today.
 
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