Longevity of film developer

OK, so this may not exactly be news to some of you, but I just
discovered that sometimes at least, film developer lasts a lot longer
than you think it should.

Specifically: just souped a roll of film (FP-4) in some D-76 that had a
date of 2005 on my label (full strength). I shot the roll as a focus
test for a camera I just rebuilt, and thinking that the developer was
suffering the effects of age, I gave it considerably more than the 8-1/2
minutes that was called for, just in case.

Looked at the film after rinsing it: it was waaaaay too dense. I shoulda
used the given time. The developer seems to be just as strong as the day
I mixed it. (It was stored in a PETE drink bottle, which may partially
explain things, as it's less permeable than polyethylene.)


--
I am a Canadian who was born and raised in The Netherlands. I live on
Planet Earth on a spot of land called Canada. We have noisy neighbours.

- harvested from Usenet