A qustion on cleaning plastic reels

williaty · Oct 8, 2016

Last, week, I accidentally bought a used Jobo reel from Latvia. When it arrived, I figured I'd better clean it as who knows what process(es) the previous owner was running on that reel. I soaked it for 48 hours in a strong solution of dish soap, then scrubbed each reel half down aggressively with a stiff-bristled scrub brush. During the scrubbing a LOT of dark gray foam flew off and splattered everywhere, so the reel was obviously dirty. Then I soaked the reel for 24 hours in a citric acid solution (10g/L) and scrubbed it with dish soap a second time. On the second scrubbing, the soap suds stayed bright white.

Am I done or should I also soak it for 24 hours in a sodium sulfite solution? I've used a soap and an acid, so I'm wondering if I should soak it in a base as well just to make sure I've got it as clean as possible.

What do you guys think?

williaty · Oct 8, 2016

APUGuser19 said:
I'd use it.

You'd use the reel as-is or you'd use a sodium sulfite solution on the reel?

Patrick Robert James · Oct 9, 2016

That is kind of like saying "I washed my car by taking it to the painters for a new paint job!"

You can just soak the reel in bleach for future reference.

Europan · Oct 9, 2016

Plastics can be porous and have tiniest invisible cracks. Chemical residues can dwell in there.
Do away with plastic reels for finer work*. If you only develop common films, some deposit will do no harm.
Plastics have the advantages of being lightweight and cheap.
___________________________________________________

*For example microfilms together with special formulae

Mick Fagan · Oct 9, 2016

Europan said:
Plastics can be porous and have tiniest invisible cracks. Chemical residues can dwell in there.
Do away with plastic reels for finer work*. If you only develop common films, some deposit will do no harm.
Plastics have the advantages of being lightweight and cheap.
___________________________________________________

*For example microfilms together with special formulae

That may be, although I have never seen any evidence of contamination from using the same reels to process, E6, C41, reversal B&W, plus a multitude of B&W developers, including rolls and sheets of Tech Pan and it's special developer, plus some really oddball developers and of late (last year) to develop some 60+ year old exposed film found in a camera.

Generally, my Jobo reels get a bit of a scrub when they start to get reasonably dark and dirty looking. I currently have some reels that are quite blackish, must give them a bit more than a rinse.

I have been using some of my Jobo reels for around 30 years now, bought new in the 80's. Those reels have literally had thousands of rolls through them, gone through two developing tank tops when the driven cog for the Jobo lift wore the teeth off. Had to replace the drive cog as well. Meanwhile, those reels just keep on going and my films are pretty good.

Almost every processor, whether it be one for film or paper that I have seen and used, both in a professional sense and amateur sense, are either mainly plastic, or have a bucket load of plastic. This also includes processing tanks, drums, film holders both roll and sheet and continuous roller transport (R/T) for film and paper machines.

I have seen some film R/T machines for film being cleaned out after non-stop work running two shifts a day, the amount of gunk coming out often made one wonder if a rodent or two had fallen in. The machines though, were producing immaculate stuff for reproduction work. About the only bits that were metal on our Dip-N-Dunk E6 and C41 machines, were the racks for the sheet film, everything else was plastic, including the roll film holders. Those holders went through the process and as they came out, they were immediately placed in a tray, given a cursory wash then placed over the dryer then put into use within about 30 minutes of being rinsed, day in, day out.

You may have a point, but I would suggest by and large, a reasonable rinse, allow to dry then re-use and you should be alright. Once a year, or, if they really get dirty, give them a bit of a scrub in warm water and that is pretty much all I have ever done.

Mick.

guangong · Oct 9, 2016

Well said Mike. Sometimes fastidiousness can be over done.

Rich Ullsmith · Oct 9, 2016

Just dislodge the little balls, don't wait to get in the dark to make sure they move freely.

AgX · Oct 9, 2016

Jobo reels do not have balls.
That is their major difference to the Paterson reels.
The Paterson reels have a true ratched mechanism, whereas with Jobo reels one has to do that "ratching" intuitively.
The outcome is the same, just without the hassle of balls having got stuck.

mshchem · Oct 9, 2016

Mick Fagan said:
That may be, although I have never seen any evidence of contamination from using the same reels to process, E6, C41, reversal B&W, plus a multitude of B&W developers, including rolls and sheets of Tech Pan and it's special developer, plus some really oddball developers and of late (last year) to develop some 60+ year old exposed film found in a camera.

Generally, my Jobo reels get a bit of a scrub when they start to get reasonably dark and dirty looking. I currently have some reels that are quite blackish, must give them a bit more than a rinse.

I have been using some of my Jobo reels for around 30 years now, bought new in the 80's. Those reels have literally had thousands of rolls through them, gone through two developing tank tops when the driven cog for the Jobo lift wore the teeth off. Had to replace the drive cog as well. Meanwhile, those reels just keep on going and my films are pretty good.

Almost every processor, whether it be one for film or paper that I have seen and used, both in a professional sense and amateur sense, are either mainly plastic, or have a bucket load of plastic. This also includes processing tanks, drums, film holders both roll and sheet and continuous roller transport (R/T) for film and paper machines.

I have seen some film R/T machines for film being cleaned out after non-stop work running two shifts a day, the amount of gunk coming out often made one wonder if a rodent or two had fallen in. The machines though, were producing immaculate stuff for reproduction work. About the only bits that were metal on our Dip-N-Dunk E6 and C41 machines, were the racks for the sheet film, everything else was plastic, including the roll film holders. Those holders went through the process and as they came out, they were immediately placed in a tray, given a cursory wash then placed over the dryer then put into use within about 30 minutes of being rinsed, day in, day out.

You may have a point, but I would suggest by and large, a reasonable rinse, allow to dry then re-use and you should be alright. Once a year, or, if they really get dirty, give them a bit of a scrub in warm water and that is pretty much all I have ever done.

Mick.

+1

mshchem · Oct 9, 2016

AgX said:
Jobo reels do not have balls.
That is their major difference to the Paterson reels.
The Paterson reels have a true ratched mechanism, whereas with Jobo reels one has to do that "ratching" intuitively.
The outcome is the same, just without the hassle of balls having got stuck.

This is starting to sound like the US Presidential campaign
Once I listened to the experts tell me about trimming the corners of the film I had no problems loading a Jobo reel. Like Mick has told us this stuff lasts forever. It amazes me how well thought out this system is starting about 40 years back.
Best Mike

Sirius Glass · Oct 9, 2016

It sounds like you have cleaned them enough. If you cannot see any dirt on the reels, you can go ahead and use them. Obviously it you see dirt, clean them.

williaty · Oct 9, 2016

The reels are the black type, you can't see dirt on them even when they were dirty enough to be flinging dirty foam.

AgX · Oct 11, 2016

A room which temperature changes significantly within 10 minutes?
What kind of heating do you have? Hot air heating?

williaty · Oct 11, 2016

Forced air gas furnaces blow air that's 30-40 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than whatever you're trying to maintain the room at. Hot enough that if you put your hand right on the vent, it'll hurt within 10-15 seconds.

A qustion on cleaning plastic reels

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