PC-TEA developer longevity

[P C Headland]

Well, after quite a bit more of a gap than I had thought, I shot a couple of rolls of film last weekend. I thought that while out on the bike, and with such nice lock-down weather, I might as take a real camera or two out with me. So I grabbed the Certo Six (6x6) and Franka Rolfix II (6x9) and a couple of rolls of Neopan 400.

I got the PC-TEA developer out and noted that I "brewed" that back in the beginning of 2013. When I first made it its colour was pale straw. After a year or two it had gone darker, but now, in 2020, it was pitch black. I tested on a bit of scrap film, and it still seemed active so went ahead and developed the roll from the Franka.

I diluted it 1+100 and developed for 20 minutes. Five inversions each minute for the first three minutes, then two gentle inversions every three minutes. After a water stop, fix then wash it was time to see if there were any recognisable images.

Result! Just as good as it ever was. Checking my scans folder, the last roll I scanned was back in 2015!

So, it appears PC-TEA is pretty long lived, just like Rodinal.

[PFMcFarland]

That's good to know. I'll have to look into that.

PF

[alexvaras]

Is this something like that Caffenol I heard about?

[titrisol]

NO, PC TEA is a long lasting developer with Phenidone, VitaminC and TriEthanolAmine (PC-TEA)
Developed by Gadget Gainer in the late 90s.
Unblinkingeye and the old PhotoTecniques magazine had all the infor on this, I think I have the pdfs if you want them
https://unblinkingeye.com/Articles/VitC/vitc.html

Alsohere:
https://www.photo.net/discuss/threads/g ... ol.124617/
https://www.photrio.com/forum/threads/p ... dux.47694/
http://johnesimmons.com/pc-tea/

Patrick Gainer’s developers: PC-TEA and PC-Glycol

These are versatile developers that give high acutance and moderate grain. They are also exceedingly simple to mix, and the stock solution will last for a long time (at least 2.5 years, in my experience). The formulas below are the standard recipes Pat Gainer is currently recommending (older versions used slightly different chemcial proportions but work almost identically).

PC-TEA
Stock solution

Start with 75 ml of hot triethanolamine
9 g ascorbic acid
0.25 g phenidone
Stir until completely dissolved, then top up to 100 ml with triethanolamine

Working solution: Dilute the stock solution 1+50 (20 ml per litre) with water before use. Developing times for 400-speed B&W films are around 9 min at 22C.

PC-Glycol
Stock solution

Start with 75 ml of hot propylene glycol
10 g ascorbic acid
0.25 g phenidone
Stir until completely dissolved, then top up to 100 ml with propylene glycol

Working solution: Dilute the stock solution 1+50 (20 ml per litre) into water containing 5 g/L sodium carbonate before use. (You can also use sodium metaborate or borax, but you will need to adjust the quantities and your dev times will be longer.) Developing times for 400-speed B&W films are around 7 min at 21C.

Notes: The working solutions of both PC-TEA and PC-Glycol are dilute in terms of developing agents (comparable to Xtol 1+3), but have relatively high alkalinity. In general, I find that PC-TEA gives finer grain than PC-Glycol. This may be due to a combination of gentler action (PC-TEA is much less alkaline than PC-Glycol with carbonate) and the mild silver solvent effect of triethanolamine.

CAFFENOL/FOLGERNOL is a staining developer that is basically water-coffee and sodium carbonate
It is a fun developer, withgood results, in the early 00's Donald Qualls and myself did a lot of experiments with vitamin C sulfite, salt, etc
Look for the silentobserver webiste or the formular @digitaltruth

[P C Headland]

I saw a recent article on using Guiness as a developer!

PC-TEA is like a combination of all that is good between Xtol and Rodinal. I use it 1+50 for about 10 minutes, or 1+100 for 20 minutes. I'd highly recommend it if you can get hold of the raw ingredients. Scans really well too.

[Julio1fer]

saw a recent article on using Guiness as a developer!

That’s a good one. Mom, I’m going out for some developer!

[titrisol]

It develops alright

I saw a recent article on using Guiness as a developer!

[LarryD]

You mentioned beer developer. I have made it from cheap Busch beer. Here though you can get it already made.
https://www.dpreview.com/news/077251627 ... -developer

[P C Headland]

I developed my first roll of film since lockdown using some PC-TEA I mixed up in 2013. It's as dark as a double espresso, and still just as active

[titrisol]

Gadget Gainer knew what he was doing!

I developed my first roll of film since lockdown using some PC-TEA I mixed up in 2013. It's as dark as a double espresso, and still just as active