Film Drying 2021

[Michael Firstlight]

Just an off-beat thought. I notice that the cost of used Jobo Mistral film dryers is astronomical - several hundred dollars for even broken ones listed (for parts). I don't think Jobo makes new ones unless I missed something. Less expensive options exist- Prinz dryers are just like the Jobo head and plastic cabinet style. The Prinz dryers typically sell for around $100 each used on eBay.

Today I have a salad spinner in which a few revs throws most of the wetness off the reel and film before the film goes into the Prinz drying cabinet. I rigged the Prinz dryer up inside a portable clothing closer for double protection and sealed the open bottom of the cabinet with 5" foam - it's a DIY solution.

So I was wondering - how difficult could it be to manufacture a Jobo or Prinz dryer head? And could there be an improved version even better than the original? So I thought, why can there be a similar film dryer that creates ionizing air as I have in my anti-static air blower like this one (https://www.amazon.com/YUCHENGTECH-Ionizing-Discharge-Eliminator-Anti-Static/dp/B01IAV3GHO). I'm imagining something like that which also has a heating element, a filter, and a timer as the film drying head along with the cabinet. Would such a rig provide a film drying head with the function of the Jobo/Prinz plus anti-static?

I'm wondering if I can combine my Prinz head and an anti-static ionizer in a DIY cabinet. I'd have to add a filter over the ionizer fan of course, and the cabinet can be a modified portable clothing closet readily available from home stores or some other DIY cabinet.

Would combining the two provide any value/improvement? If it did then I'd wish someone would manufacture something like it, but don't know if there's enough of a market to make it worthwhile, but it could still be built as a DIY cabinet too with both units I would think.

Regards,
Mike

 

[Kino]

You don't need much to dry film; just filtered air and a gentle circulation of air.

I yearned and yearned for a professional grade, heated drying cabinet for years. Suddenly I found one on Craigslist for $20! A true blue Arkay 80 that is huge!
Then I discovered that it roasted and desiccated my film if the heater was left on for just about any period of time, leaving it curled and hard to handle.
Unless you are drying 30 rolls at once, there's no need for a heated, forced air drying cabinet.

Don't pour a lot of thought, money and effort into this; if what you have works, stick to it!

My 2 cents...

 

[pentaxuser]

I'd agree with Kino. A fan arrangement on top of a cabinet with a simple filter if your DIY skills run to such things might be worthwhile but my experience at a nightschool class with heated dryers for speed was similar to Kino's and my home Durst UT100 works fine simply on air circulated by its small fan. Takes about 20-30 mins max to dry a film completely. It does have a heating element but I never use it

pentaxuser

 

[Paul Howell]

I hang my film in shower, works really well, in the dry Arizona air takes a couple of hours at the most. We had dyers in the Air Force, the papers and wire services I worked for, many stories circulated of shoots like Robert Cappa his D Day negatives when the cabinet was too hot.

 

[nbagno]

Here's a film drying cabinet thread from a while back when I put together a cabinet. I still use it, works great. This one has a Jobo head, but I also have a dryer head I found on craigslist for $10 that would also do the job. Saving it for when the jobo head bites it.
https://www.photrio.com/forum/threads/my-diy-film-drying-cabinet.117372/

 

[BradS]

I just string a line across the bathtub/shower and use spring loaded clamp type wooden clothes pins to hang the film to dry. Have done so for a few decades...not a big issue.

 

[MattKing]

A film dryer with a small Hepa filtered air purifier pushing in room temperature air would be nice, but the bathtub with an extra shower curtain rod over it and large loop plastic clothes pins works fine.

 

[ic-racer]

I don't want anything blowing on my film as it dries. It does take over-night to dry, however. There is a HEPA filter sitting on top of this cabinet, but it does not blow into the cabinet. I run the filter whenever I'm loading or unloading the cabinet. Also, when loading negative carriers.

 

[runswithsizzers]

My home made film drier is pretty simple. I use a 150 W light bulb inside this box for heat, and a couple of computer-type fans to blow warm air past the bulb, then through the film while it is still on the reel. The computer fans are just under the foam dust filter on the right side of the box, blowing in. One or two reels of film go in the plastic pipe chimney. While it is running, the flowing air temp in the chimney is about 90*F - but higher or lower wattage bulbs can be substituted to adjust the temperature. Takes less than 30 minutes to dry a roll.

 

[Sirius Glass]

I hang mine in the shower.

 

[Brownie_Holiday]

Here's what I came up with. After developing my first roll and hanging them in the shower I wanted something else. We have a vent fan in the shower that can drop dust, so it needed a drop cloth and something to support it over the film. It worked but was tedious.

This needed to be something that takes up very little space when not in use. It was built out of mostly scrap laying around. Purchased items were a cheap tarp, a cheap furnace filter, and some cup hooks. Scrap 3/4" plywood for the top and bottom, but if it wasn't already laying around I'd go with 1x8 pine for ease of cutting the holes and weight.

Holes in the top and bottom for air flow. You want more opening area at the top than the bottom. This allows the warm moist air to escape easier and draws the cooler drier air in the bottom at a little higher velocity. One of the mechanical engineers at work gave me that advice. Holes are covered with cheap furnace filter material staple in place. It can be vacuumed clean if needed or simply replaced. Holes at the front in the bottom and the back in the top to draw the air across the film which hangs from 4 cup hooks. I don't see myself ever needing to dry more than four films at the same time. A small length of chain and a piece of coat hanger to suspend it from whatever. The front opens from the top down so it isn't in the way when loading and unloading film. It's held closed by Velcro.

The tarp is hot glued and stapled to the edge of the plywood. I discovered hot glue will melt a cheap tarp, so I ended up applying the glue to the edge of the wood and letting it cool for a few seconds before pressing the tarp in place. The cover is slightly wider than the bag so the sides wrap around a little.

It's about 14" wide x 7" deep, and is 6' tall not including the chain and hook. It can be suspended from anything high enough. I'll be using a small tension rod to hang it in a doorway. It's narrow enough to allow you to use the doorway if you're careful. When done, it all collapses into a small tub for storage.

FD 1 by telecast, on Flickr

FD 2 by telecast, on Flickr

FD 3 by telecast, on Flickr

FD 4 by telecast, on Flickr

FD 5 by telecast, on Flickr