Drying film on reels

[mcarmo]

Good day!

I have a friend who has come up with the idea of doing a DIY drying cabinet for drying film more quickly.
He is considering the ideia of drying film on reels. Also he is wondering what option would be better: the use of cold or hot air.

Does anyone have any thoughts on this? I would appreciate it.

 

[phaedrus]

Wouldn't want to flatten out the curl.

 

[mcarmo]

Wouldn't want to flatten out the curl.

That was my imediate thought too. Thought I'd ask anyway to see if anyone has a positive experience using this method.

 

[Lee L]

For the last couple of years I've been drying film on stainless reels. I have a setup using a 12VDC computer fan on a pipe cap on a section of 4 inch PVC pipe. There is filter material stretched above the computer fan to stop dust. The airflow is downward, with the filter on top, then the fan, then the film chamber. I use room temperature air, usually close to 20C. It typically takes about 60-90 minutes to dry, and a bit longer with more rolls in the pipe.

Some films tend to hold the curl a bit more than others, but flatten out in the negative pages. I get a lot less dust and take up a lot less room this way.

Lee

 

[archphoto]

I would hang them (curl) and use moderate temperatures, you don't want to "cook" your films (curl aswell (edge to edge)).

Peter

 

[q_x]

What is film size? Both 120 and 135?

1. you can try (after final wash) drying with dipping film in strong alcohol solutions, they dry really quickly. Sometime there is a stain on film, so try it on wasted material. Even with washing in 50% ETOH (or other thing) you'll get things much faster.
2. you can do easily really slim rapid-drying case (something like 10x10x190cm) with hair-drier to heat the air blowing from the bottom.
3. Hot, filtered (dust!) air is good thing in almost any case. The faster film dries (however 10 min is much too fast), the less dust it gets. Drying film too fast or with too dry or too hot air will cause some serious problems - it can reticulate, fold or crack.

The film drying on reels - as I see it - has to be moved non-stop. How to prevent film from sticking to reels if it is not moving? or how to dry it fast in the place where it touches the reel? Just don't know.
Have you got any schema, blueprint or "proof of concept sketch"?

Cheers,
Luke

 

[mcarmo]

What is film size? Both 120 and 135?

1. you can try (after final wash) drying with dipping film in strong alcohol solutions, they dry really quickly. Sometime there is a stain on film, so try it on wasted material. Even with washing in 50% ETOH (or other thing) you'll get things much faster.
2. you can do easily really slim rapid-drying case (something like 10x10x190cm) with hair-drier to heat the air blowing from the bottom.
3. Hot, filtered (dust!) air is good thing in almost any case. The faster film dries (however 10 min is much too fast), the less dust it gets. Drying film too fast or with too dry or too hot air will cause some serious problems - it can reticulate, fold or crack.

The film drying on reels - as I see it - has to be moved non-stop. How to prevent film from sticking to reels if it is not moving? or how to dry it fast in the place where it touches the reel? Just don't know.
Have you got any schema, blueprint or "proof of concept sketch"?

Cheers,
Luke

Well, I haven't seen any schema from him yet, (it's a friend of mine who is building the thing) although I have been able to find out that there is a hair dryer involved. It is being planned for 120 film only, as it is the only type of film that he uses.

It's a good point there, when you mention the film sticking to the reel. I believe it would only affect the unexposed edge of the film but nevertheless, we may have to consider that.

Obviously we will end up doing some tests with a couple of waisted rolls of film, but it would be nice to be able to predict some of the eventual issues that will come up.

Thank you all for replying.

 

[Nicholas Lindan]

Honeywell made an on-reel film drier: it used recirculating air and a desiccant cartridge. Cylindrical in shape, about 12" high, 7" diameter, beige plastic.

Some reports say the film curls badly if dried this way, others say they don't have problems and the negatives flatten out in the storage sleeves.

YMWV

 

[MikeSeb]

...you can try (after final wash) drying with dipping film in strong alcohol solutions, they dry really quickly....

Don't I recall Ron Mowrey (PE) weighing in at some point here against using alcohol in this way?

Maybe the Oracle himself will pipe up!?

 

[neelin]

Has anyone done a self centering centripital spinner to shed water quickly while still on a reel?
robert

 

[ic-racer]

For the last couple of years I've been drying film on stainless reels. I have a setup using a 12VDC computer fan on a pipe cap on a section of 4 inch PVC pipe. There is filter material stretched above the computer fan to stop dust. The airflow is downward, with the filter on top, then the fan, then the film chamber. I use room temperature air, usually close to 20C. It typically takes about 60-90 minutes to dry, and a bit longer with more rolls in the pipe.

Some films tend to hold the curl a bit more than others, but flatten out in the negative pages. I get a lot less dust and take up a lot less room this way.

Lee

If I were drying film on reels, I would follow these suggestions.

 

[Lee L]

Has anyone done a self centering centripital spinner to shed water quickly while still on a reel?
robert

I have a compressor in the darkroom and very high mineral content water. I have to give a 45 minute to 1 hour soak in distilled water before drying to get my film clear of minerals, even using the better artesian spring water from nearby for the whole wash. Before the film goes in the distilled water, and again before putting it in my drier, I blow as much water off the film as I can with compressed air. There's an in-line filter on the compressed air line. The film stays on the Hewes reels I use with fairly high air pressure. I'm not sure if it would skip out of the track with thinner wire reels or not.

Lee

 

[William Hicks]

Drying on reels

I wouldn't recommend drying on the reels... not worth the trouble... just get one of those old steel vertical cabinets...one that is at least 5.5' high- you can usually find them around for free or close to it... seal it up with weather stipping. No other mods necessary... hang the film from the top somehow, and close the doors... if your darkrooom isn't a dust-bin to begin with, you should not have significant issues with dust. This method doesn't consume any energy. Photo-flo (can you still get that stuff?) effectively, and its quite trouble free, and no curly films... you cant rely on the carriers to flatten film completely... trust me. You will also eliminate the problem of water spots on the edges and potentially other places... as I am sure most of you know, these are disastrous.

 

[Jim Jones]

Decades ago the University of Iowa used a commercial system in journalism school like Lee described. I never had any trouble with it. Negatives had a lengthwise curl, but that wasn't as bad as the curl one gets from hanging negatives to dry.

 

[C A Sugg]

At the paper, they used to dry film on the reels with a dedicated forced air dryer. To diminish the the curl the wet film was unwound, then rewound, emulsion reversed.

 

[Neal]

Salad Spinner

Has anyone done a self centering centripital spinner to shed water quickly while still on a reel?
robert

Dear neelin,

I have heard several people over the years use a salad spinner. I've never tried it but (obviously) the folks who keep doing it like the results.

Neal Wydra

 

[nickandre]

My films dry in 40 minutes hanging in my laundry room in the winter with the heat on.

PE said alcohol in high concentrations adversely effected stability IIRC.

Won't you get stabilizer built up on the reel?