DUST!!!!!

Matt5791

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I recently acquired an LPL 7700 enlarger which has a glass neg carrier - my old Minolta only had glass on one side.

What I have noticed is how difficult I am finding it to exclude dust! - does anyone have any useful tips?

I know Ansel Adams talks about some kind of anti-static brush or something.

Help - it is taking so long eliminating this dust!

Thanks,

Matt
 

TheFlyingCamera

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The short answer is you can never really completely eliminate dust. That said, there are several things you can do/buy to reduce it to a manageable level. There are a large number of anti-static wipes/sprays you can use on the glass, there are several brands of anti-static brushes you can get to reduce static and dust, and there are even anti-static devices that run on electricity that you plug in in your darkroom to treat your negatives. The cheapest solutions are a good anti-static dust cloth and a can of compressed air. After that, a Jobo or Staticmaster anti-static brush.
 

JBrunner

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resummerfield

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Before you try anything, scrub down that darkroom! Vacuum every surface completely, and then wet wipe every surface again. Floors, walls, ceiling, and each and every item in the room. That should remove a good portion of the dust, and allow the anti-static products to work.
 

firecracker

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I use a LPL 7700 condenser head with a AN glass carrier for my 35mm negs. I usually put some nose oil on the neg, rub it a bit, and place it on the carrier. I don't do anything special to get rid of dust. But I try not to get finger prints on the glass surface by cleaning with anti-static cloth.

Up to 8x10" I have no problem with the dust just like when I use a regular neg carrier.

For bigger images, the problems start to occur no matter what I use for a carrier, and I usually wash the negs, photo-flo them, and use them again when they get dry.
 

jp80874

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Search here on dust. There has been a lot written that should be helpful for you.

John Powers
 

KenS

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Matt,

Might I suggest that you try attaching a "ground" (earth) wire from a metal part of your enlager. It will not eliminate the dust problem that plagues us all, but it should help a little in the unending battle.

Ken
 

metod

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Matt, try to elinimate glass if possible, makes the dust "battle" a bit easier. On my old Opemus, I replaced the bottom glass with the black sheet of plastic of the same thickness. I cut the hole slightly bigger then 24x36 in the middle of this plastic. Then i took plastic Gepe slide mount and adjusted it with a knife and a file so negative passes thru easily, without any scratching. Then when my negative is align, I squeeze it just like when mounting a slide and put it in the carrier. It keeps the film very flat as well. I cut also little notches on the edge of this mount, so it can be prey open with a nail. I know, sounds like a trouble to go thru all this, but I like it a lot this way.
Metod
 

Woolliscroft

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I have two small domestic air filters running 24/7 in the darkroom. They were very cheap and use very little power but they keep the dust down almost to clean room levels. You have to change the filter about once a year, but otherwise they have been labour free. A word of warning: you can get scented and unscented filters. Get the latter: the scented ones are overpowering in a confined space and who knows what chemicals they emit.

David.
 

nze

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another thing is to keep your lab between 50-60% Rh this will avoid 70% of the dust and also the static eletric phenomen which transform your neg uin dust collectopr
 
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