Film Drying, Best Practices

[Kirk Gittings]

And FWIW guys. My main problem is just good old fashioned, boring, airborne dust. I know this because I have been testing it on blank processed film from a lab. The film comes to me super clean. I rewet it, put photoflow on it and hang it. When I get that solved, I'll tackle other bad guys. I like to take one problem with one possible solution at a time. That way I can have some confidence that a particular solution is working or not.

[LabRat]

Sludge in the chems or system are a strong possibility... You can often tell the difference as drying dust tends to sit on/near the surface of the drying film (with linty shapes), but after close examination in reflected (off the surface light), drying dust will be seen as a texture... If no texture, that means that it was absorbed into the emulsion while it was fully swelled (most swelled during development, less during the other steps)...

Filtering solutions before AND after use helps (I use coffee filters like Daniel), but the biggest emitter is wash water... Replace filters frequently as they build up sludge and will pass some eventually, and multiple filters on the water line close to the tap help... But there is sludge that will pass through filters and build up usually close to the wash tank water feed area, and even multiple filters can trap most, but not all of it... (I know this from using a print washer that was double filtered in a bad water system area, and one corner of a print (near the feed) would stain a very light brown after prolonged washed probably from a build-up of microscopic rust, that was built-up in the first filter... (I have removed handfuls of sand & rust from inside filter housings when the water department was doing pipe construction or when someone hit a fire hydrant with a car in the area...) Switching to a ultra-fine filter element introduced new problems, as it seemed that the ultra-fine started knocking chlorine and dissolved air out of solution, making fizzy and milky wash water (with a strong chlorine smell)... Also, this time of year water supplies are lower, so one is using the lower levels of the supply (where the sludge settles)... Then there's the algae bloom in SW water supplies that can leave anything from a pinhead to an overall scum sheeting over material (clean always filled washing tanks frequently with a little light scrubbing with a diluted bleach solution and wash VERY well)... And rinse film with a med. running water water hose one by one while in final wash...

Another modern problem is, it seems that film is cut after it is coated, and not all cuts are clean and there can be debris from it... (I didn't know where the fine specks around the edge area came from, until recently I processed a sheet that had the punched out code notch still hanging on the notch, with specks around the area...) And sometimes sheets would bind at the edges while loading holders, due to roughness of the edges... I never did before, but now tap/rap each sheet on the clean counter several times before loading, while allowing the sheet edges to move up my fingers while tapping to burnish the edges (has helped a lot)...

The cabinet can be wiped down clean with a lint-free cloth and a spray bottle of water... The bottom will be the dirt collection point, so make a tray that can be removed and washed in the sink from time to time... Any kind of fan inside will move dust instead of letting it settle... Filters on fans will build up dust and release it over time... It seems that for drying on damp, soggy nights, that the better heater for a cabinet is just a 150W light bulb below that will provide a gentle rise of heat... In the SW during dry spells, film can overdry (35MM strips can roll themselves into long, fat straws), so leaving a damp towel inside will raise the humidity so the film can dry normally, and such film can be re-hydrated by hanging it in a damper place for awhile... But the best way to dry film is allowing it to dry at without heat for as long as it needs, well after the sticky stage...

Take time to go through the entire system, and repeat frequently...

Steve K

[StoneNYC]

FWIW I reuse my fixer multiple times until the fixer check stuff turns white.

I use chlorinated water from the tap that IS filtered but it's just a filter under the sink for normal drinking water that hasn't been changed in 3+ years.

None of that ever caused a problem.

I reuse my stop and hypo-clear too.

I have city water that's supposed to be some of the best in the country (not sure what qualifiers they are using). So I'm sure that helps. I don't have well water or anything.

[CedarMesaPhoto]

I was using the Photo Flo bottle cap to measure it out, and then found out the paper gasket seal in the cap was falling apart and getting lots of pieces in the liquid. I changed bottles and now it is all clean. Photo Flo seems to erode paper since it will mess up its label if it gets on the bottle. You might try wetting a lab neg in distilled and forego the Photo Flo and see what happens. My cleanest 120 rolls are from a double dunk in distilled and then just hung up when I was sorting out the bottle cap issue. Chris

Sent from my XT1080 using Tapatalk

[LabRat]

Oh, and let me add another unexpected dust source I had... I had a photo-flo bath that had dust floating on the surface of it, that I traced to a bottle with distilled water that had a little bit of dust on it, that when I poured it, dust on the outside of the bottle must have fallen off it and into the solution... So I now rinse all bottles before use...

Steve K

[Kirk Gittings]

I was using the Photo Flo bottle cap to measure it out, and then found out the paper gasket seal in the cap was falling apart and getting lots of pieces in the liquid. I changed bottles and now it is all clean. Photo Flo seems to erode paper since it will mess up its label if it gets on the bottle. You might try wetting a lab neg in distilled and forego the Photo Flo and see what happens. My cleanest 120 rolls are from a double dunk in distilled and then just hung up when I was sorting out the bottle cap issue. Chris

Sent from my XT1080 using Tapatalk

I transfer the PF to a chemistry grade eye dropper and bottle. I only measure out drops for what I need and don't reuse it.

[Bob Sawin]

Kirk...would a vaporizer, such as used with Vick's Vaporub, work? You could pick one up at a drug store for $20 or so.


Best regards,

Bob
CEO CFO EIEIO, Ret.

[Kirk Gittings]

I don't know I just ordered a facial steamer. I'll see how that works.

[Kirk Gittings]

Kirk...would a vaporizer, such as used with Vick's Vaporub, work? You could pick one up at a drug store for $20 or so.


Best regards,

Bob
CEO CFO EIEIO, Ret.

The ones I have or have seen are too large for my cabinet-at least how mine is configured.

[DougD]

I echo the call for some humidity in the drying cabinet. A pan filled with water (with a screen over it, so if film falls, it doesn't fall in), or even try misting the interior of the cabinet just prior to putting the film in.

D.