Tetenal Date Codes

TETENAL Shelf life

Stock Solutions
Factory sealed: 2 years from the date of manufacture.

Opened Stock Solutions
Once the bottle is opened, the life span immediately drops to 6 months (unless the solution is already within the last 6 months of its original 2 year life span--say 3 months left--in which case it still has only 3 months of life left at best after opening). As the air space within the bottle increases, the remaining life decreases, at an ever faster rate. For instance when the bottle is only half full of solution, it will probably only have 1/3 of its remaining chronological life left. When it has only 1/4 to 1/3 of its solution left it will probably have only 1/10th of its remaining chronological life left.

There are several ways to reduce air exposure. One is to "squish" the plastic bottle so the solution physically rises to the neck of the bottle, and there is less surface area exposed to air. Another way is to use marbles to raise the solution. A third way is to use Styrofoam balls to "cover" the surface of the solution, like a floating lid. When in doubt, run a test roll first.

Unused Working Solutions
7-14 days maximum in a bottle filled to the brim. Your results may vary.

Used/Reclaimed Solutions
These solutions should be discarded at the end of the processing day. These solutions will not keep overnight in most cases. Chemistry is one of the cheapest components of the whole photographic process. Don’t risk ruined film!

Tetenal Date Codes

Reading the Production date code on TETENAL chemistry
You should always check the date code on all chemistry you purchase to make sure it is fresh. TETENAL puts its date code on the outside of the box and on the individual bottles for larger kits. Smaller kits have the date code on the inside of the box top and on the bottles. The code will be a STAMPED number, not part of the bottle printing. The number will usually have 7-9 characters, but we only need to concern ourselves with the first three digits from the LEFT. The first digit from the left is the last digit of the year in which the chemistry was produced. A, "4" as the first digit would indicate the chemistry was made in 2004. The second and third digits from the left will indicate the week the chemistry was made. Therefore, if the date code started as "312…." Then the chemistry was made in the 12^th week of 2003. Here are some examples

016548773
16^th week of 2000

402555817
2^nd week of 2004

TETENAL chemistry is guaranteed, when purchased through an authorized JOBO dealer, for two years past the manufacturing date. If you receive chemistry from a JOBO Authorized dealer part its expiration date, please contact that dealer for assistance.

JOBO Contacts