I used to be a regular user of Dektol. Have since switched to Polymax Paper Developer or Ilford Paper Developer. Started to have problems with Dektol; it would appear to be exausted in appearance almost immediately after mixing. I would some times get a white precipate also. I would take the mixed solutions and package back to the store and they would cheerfully replace it. I would sometimes get 2 or 3 bad packs in a row. Then Kodak stepped in and took the entire stock from the store and my samples. They then sent me ten free packs; they didn't want to talk about it. When the problem recurred I switched. Originally Dektol appeared clear and colourless to me and gradually acquired a tea colour. It always worked fine even after becomming almost carmel coloured and syrupy. I only threw it out because the popular opinion was you shouldn't use it forever. I found an image would start to emerge in 10 - 20 Sec. and would throw it out if it took longer than 20 Sec. unless I only had a few more prints to go. I guess I should note I only used small packages and suspect the problem might be related to packaging I did prefer Dektol.
