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Old 6th January 2020, 10:15 PM
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pentaxpete pentaxpete is offline
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Default Testing Very Old RODINAL

I developed some outdated 11/1992 ORWO NP20 in some 'Dark Brown RODINAL I have left in the original plastic container , 1+50 for 15 mins @ 20oC and it was under-developed though the last time I use it it was OK -- so I had a look -- I decanted the RODINAL into a beaker , about 180 mls left and there was a Crystal 'Sludge' at the bottom. Well, next I put it into Microwave for a Gentle 50% and 45 secs and tried to crush the crystals. I did it 3 times -- it got a bit 'Warm'. So next I CUT the test ORWO NP20 film I had loaded in my CHINON CG-5 having used several lenses out in dreadful Winter Light and processed 12 frames in 150 mls RODINAL 1+25 - 6mls in 150 mls I made it, in a small Paterson Tank and 'guessed' 10 mins and got great Negs !! I found in the dull light I could have rated film at 64 ASA not 50 ASA. I scanned 2 negs but this Forum does not allow 'Negative Scans' so they are on Flickr.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/25850987@N03/
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Last edited by pentaxpete; 6th January 2020 at 10:16 PM. Reason: Typing Error
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Old 6th January 2020, 11:55 PM
Mike O'Pray Mike O'Pray is offline
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Good news on Rodinal, Pete, but nothing other than I had expected based on Rodinal's reputation. Two questions if I may:

1. What is the age of your Rodinal?

2. What does Microwave at 50% mean

I ask the second question not solely out of curiosity but for practical reasons. I have some Rodinal that I bought from Jessops in about 2005/6. I haven't used it for many years but if it now has the same crystals as yours the 50% microwave quote might be very useful

Thanks

Mike
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Old 7th January 2020, 10:58 AM
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B&W Neil B&W Neil is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by pentaxpete View Post
I developed some outdated 11/1992 ORWO NP20 in some 'Dark Brown RODINAL I have left in the original plastic container , 1+50 for 15 mins @ 20oC and it was under-developed though the last time I use it it was OK -- so I had a look -- I decanted the RODINAL into a beaker , about 180 mls left and there was a Crystal 'Sludge' at the bottom. Well, next I put it into Microwave for a Gentle 50% and 45 secs and tried to crush the crystals. I did it 3 times -- it got a bit 'Warm'. So next I CUT the test ORWO NP20 film I had loaded in my CHINON CG-5 having used several lenses out in dreadful Winter Light and processed 12 frames in 150 mls RODINAL 1+25 - 6mls in 150 mls I made it, in a small Paterson Tank and 'guessed' 10 mins and got great Negs !! I found in the dull light I could have rated film at 64 ASA not 50 ASA. I scanned 2 negs but this Forum does not allow 'Negative Scans' so they are on Flickr.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/25850987@N03/

Pete,

You can use neg scans if they are used as an illustration to an experiment / process etc. Your post would be OK for this I'm sure.

Neil.
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Old 7th January 2020, 01:18 PM
Terry S Terry S is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike O'Pray View Post
2. What does Microwave at 50% mean

I ask the second question not solely out of curiosity but for practical reasons. I have some Rodinal that I bought from Jessops in about 2005/6. I haven't used it for many years but if it now has the same crystals as yours the 50% microwave quote might be very useful

Thanks

Mike
The 50% quoted Mike, is half the power of his microwave oven output.

As different brands and models have different ratings, with mine being 850W (watts I presume), 50% on mine would be about 425 watts. Looking at the various symbols is probably easiest and pick one about the middle. Mine has five symbols from Low to High, with the middle setting out of the five, is marked as Med.

Different ovens vary slightly in their power, but that shouldn't make too much of a difference. Pete's just NOT putting it on full power, just half, to warm the developer through, to try and dissolve the crystals at the bottom of his bottle. A bit like putting a saucepan on the gas on a low level flame.

Terry S
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Old 7th January 2020, 04:39 PM
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Terry S Thanks for answering question about my Microwave which is marked 'Kenwood 900W E'
Next experiment will be with some 1993 dated HP5+ I was given by former Chief Photographer of the now-defunct 'Yellow Advertiser Newspaper Group' - Just lots of Hospital Things to attend though and now Daylight is 'Grotty' as usual!
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Old 7th January 2020, 05:03 PM
Mike O'Pray Mike O'Pray is offline
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Thanks both. A confession on my part now. I had never even looked to see if there were different power settings on my microwave until now.There are of course but expressed as High, Med, Low in my case so effectively Pete I'd need to look for whatever setting corresponds to your 50% which is 450W in your case.

PS Time I looked into changing my cast iron mangle with the 9 inch wooden rollers for clothes wringing

Mike
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Old 7th January 2020, 05:35 PM
Richard Gould Richard Gould is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by pentaxpete View Post
Terry S Thanks for answering question about my Microwave which is marked 'Kenwood 900W E'
Next experiment will be with some 1993 dated HP5+ I was given by former Chief Photographer of the now-defunct 'Yellow Advertiser Newspaper Group' - Just lots of Hospital Things to attend though and now Daylight is 'Grotty' as usual!
Hi Pete,
I wouldn,t experiment with HP5+in any form of Rodinal as rodinal and HP5+ simply doesn't work well, even with fresh film and Rodinal I have found that I need to extend the development time by a fair bit to get a reasonable negative at 1/25 and at 1/59 forget it, HP5+ is a fine film, and in most developers you can't go wrong, but I tried it in Rodinal and for some reason it just is not happy
Have fun with your experiments
Richard
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Old 7th January 2020, 08:54 PM
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OK Richard -- Point Taken I was expecting huge grain but there are times on the Massive Dev Chart for HP5+ at 1+25 in Rodinal. Film was FREE so thought I would have a go -- I did a test in FX-15 'Acutol-S' Formula and found it was down to 100 ASA from 400 ASA.
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Old 8th January 2020, 01:31 PM
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Originally Posted by Mike O'Pray View Post
PS Time I looked into changing my cast iron mangle with the 9 inch wooden rollers for clothes wringing

Mike
Mike -- welcome to the modern age. We now have this magical thing called Electricity. It can do amazing things. It can even make your life easier. Check it out...


Quote:
Originally Posted by pentaxpete View Post
I decanted the RODINAL into a beaker , about 180 mls left and there was a Crystal 'Sludge' at the bottom. Well, next I put it into Microwave for a Gentle 50% and 45 secs and tried to crush the crystals. I did it 3 times -- it got a bit 'Warm'.
Pete -- was this little bit of warming all it took to re-dissolve the crystals back into solution? Is this something that should always be done with Rodinal that has developed crystals? Or can they be simply discarded and the liquid used as usual? I ask because I have some old APH-09 that has crystals, and I would like to use it again at some point.
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Old 8th January 2020, 01:37 PM
Terry S Terry S is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Svend View Post
Pete -- was this little bit of warming all it took to re-dissolve the crystals back into solution? Is this something that should always be done with Rodinal that has developed crystals? Or can they be simply discarded and the liquid used as usual? I ask because I have some old APH-09 that has crystals, and I would like to use it again at some point.
I can't answer for Pete, but I have read MANY, MANY accounts on various forums, of people using really old and VERY darkly coloured Rodinal WITHOUT dissolving the crystals.

But remember, there are also many written cases where old Rodinal DOESN'T work. Also, as in my case, which I've documented and still hope to get to the bottom of, after just one film, my quite new bottle of ORANGE Rodinal died on me, giving me nothing at all on a full film and other tested film length ends.

Just saying...

Terry S
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