Darkroom Smell: old KRST or Dead Mouse

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Alan Smithee - 18 Apr 2006 19:02 GMT

Recently, there's been this persistent "smell" in my darkroom. Not the usual
vinegar or sulfurous smell either. I took the top off of a bottle labeled
"KRST 500:1" that I'd been saving for some reason and it seems the likely
culprit. The only other thing was that I'd left some Agfa Multi contrast
paper develop, Indicator Stop, and Kodak Fix in the trays for a couple days
after printing before tipping them. Any ideas what else could be stinking
the joint up? Thx.

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Richard Knoppow - 18 Apr 2006 22:43 GMT

> Recently, there's been this persistent "smell" in my
> darkroom. Not the usual
[quoted text clipped - 9 lines]
> could be stinking
> the joint up? Thx.

Developer or fixer will not produce an odor like that.
Very oxidized Hydroquinone has a very unpleasant "fishy"
odor. The only times I've encountered that was from old bags
of Dektol powder, the stuff looked like coffee grounds. I've
had old bottles of KRST concentrate, and some pretty old
working solution at about 1:9, but none ever developed a bad
odor.
OTOH, I've had dead mouse smells a couple of times in old
houses, it came from dead mice. They can get into some
pretty odd places to die. Have you set out mouse poison
recently? (I'm not kidding).

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Richard Knoppow
Los Angeles, CA, USA
dickburk@ix.netcom.com

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