Home made film dryers

[Konical]

Good Afternoon, Will,

I agree about the Photo-Flo and the need for washing the reels. I know of one case in which the residual Photo-Flo apparently led to denser development on the film area nearest the reel when the next roll was processed. I suspect that the problem would be more likely with 120 film in plastic reels. Using a pre-wash step would probably reduce any potential problem. It's also possible the Photo-Flo solution was prepared according to Kodak's recommendation dilution; I regard that as grossly excessive and use maybe half a dozen drops in a quart of water.

Konical

 

[eheldreth]

I'v never had a problem with Photo-Flo building up. Actualy one time I had to much on my negs and the unit blew a huge Photo-Flo bubble.

 

[tbm]

Upon removing my stainless steel reels from my tank after coating the negs with Photo Flo, I shake the reels mightily to cast off residual Flo, then I place the reels in the tube and start the hair dryer on cool. This way, I never get residual Flo effects and my negs are wonderfully clean! My sister built it based on my suggestion, but she set her dryer to warm, and artifacts in the wash water stuck to the film, ruining it. So, never use this method with your dryer set to warm or hot; use the cool setting, only.

 

[Phillip P. Dimor]

I use a spare empty closet in my darkroom, of which a small portable/personal space heater (ceramic disc) sits. 15 to 20 minutes and everything is dry.

The space heater was $20 or so, maybe cheaper.
Works great for me and I didn't have to make anything.

 

[johnnywalker]

I just put together a version of the senrac, as highlighted in shutterbug. The link is at http://www.shutterbug.net/features/0902sb_how/

I spent about $10 total, and it's dry in 10 minutes. No dust.

allan

I made one today. Looks ok and doesn't take up any room. Now to try it out.

 

[arigram]

Mine is a construction made out of plywood, plastic sheet and velcro. I use wooden rods from which hang paper clips that grip the film. Its tall enough for 35mm. On the top I fixed a cheap hair dryer that warms the cabinet rapidly when I am in a hurry. I don't use it that much as the heat is too strong. Any idea how I could tone its strength down?

 

[blackmelas]

Hi Ari,
Looks like a nice construction. Is there any way that you could feed the warm air in from the bottom and allow ample air and moisture to escape from the top (as the warm air would naturally tend to rise). I would guess that you might be able to control the drying to some extent by opening up fewer or more venting area perhaps even along the length of the dryer.
The other way would be to find a hair dryer with variable temp or one that has an option to just blow but not heat.
James

 

[tbm]

Do note that how fast your film dries in the drain pipe device will be based on the power of your hair dryer. Mine is a Supersolano (Italian) 1800 watt dryer and, depending on the temperature of the air in my garage, it dries my film in 12-17 minutes (depending on the season of the year). Again, always set your hair dryer on 'cool'.

 

[tbm]

Hi Ari,
Looks like a nice construction. Is there any way that you could feed the warm air in from the bottom and allow ample air and moisture to escape from the top (as the warm air would naturally tend to rise). I would guess that you might be able to control the drying to some extent by opening up fewer or more venting area perhaps even along the length of the dryer.
The other way would be to find a hair dryer with variable temp or one that has an option to just blow but not heat.
James

James, you are attempting to introduce unnecessary addendums to this method of drying film. Most importantly, the reason the dryer is mounted at the top is to force the blasts of cool air out of the dryer at the bottom so as to keep dust from entering at the bottom and contaminating the film. There is no need for additional "venting areas" along the sides of the pipe, for the dryer successfully dries the film every time. Third, don't scrimp on the hair dryer you buy: Good quality, more expensive ones, many under $100, generally have three settings--cool, warm, and hot. The stronger the wattage, the faster your film will dry.

 

[Jim Chinn]

I don't know about other manufacturers of plastic reels, but JOBO advises not to expose its reels to photo-flo. A residue will form that cannot be rinsed off and can cause contamination of developers.

 

[johnnywalker]

I made one today. Looks ok and doesn't take up any room. Now to try it out.

Works like a charm. About 10 minutes for two rolls, low fan, no heat. The film curls a bit more than usual, but nothing significant. What curl their is is "straight" as opposed to twisted, so easier to put in the film holders. And no dust!

p.s. I don't know if I read it on this thread or not, but the suggestion someone had of bleaching the plastic reels to get rid of the old silver etc. also works well. Tried it and they look like new.

 

[Chuck_P]

I surely did not realize that this thread would be so inviting---it's really great. I'm ready to build one, but mine will be constructed so that the film hangs straight.

Now,
The one thing that keeps poping in my head about these driers is this, and it must not be a problem, because no one is addressing it, but doesn't the hair drier pull air (presumably dusty air) from outside itself and thus into the pipe and across the film. I keep thinking that some kind of filter must need to go over the inlet side of these driers. Is this valid concern or just naivete?

Chuck

 

[kaiyen]

Hey Chuck,
I think the hair dryer must have some kind of filter in it already. I don't have a filter between the dryer and the film, and no dust at all. I did have a filter in there originally, but after like 20 rolls put through there, it had absoultely no dust on it and I took it out (one less thing to clean).

allan

 

[johnnywalker]

The old hair dryer I used had a dirty filter in it, so I replaced it with one cut out of a hot air vent filter, and no problem. May be no problem without the filter either, but like you I didn't see any point in throwing dusty air at the negatives. Maybe it has more to do with electrical charge and still air than it does with filtering.

 

[tbm]

I surely did not realize that this thread would be so inviting---it's really great. I'm ready to build one, but mine will be constructed so that the film hangs straight.

Now,
The one thing that keeps poping in my head about these driers is this, and it must not be a problem, because no one is addressing it, but doesn't the hair drier pull air (presumably dusty air) from outside itself and thus into the pipe and across the film. I keep thinking that some kind of filter must need to go over the inlet side of these driers. Is this valid concern or just naivete?

Chuck

Chuck: This drain pipe/hair dryer device does not involve taking the film off of the reel. You merely insert the reel with the film still within it in through the bottom and push a pencil through the two holes below it so it cannot fall through the bottom. Second, there is no need to concern yourself with a hair dryer pulling in dust, inasmuch as I've tested three different manufacturers' dryers and none did that. I have used this device at least 50 times so far and my negatives are startingly clean. My experiences and deep frustration with dirty negatives are HISTORY!

Terry

 

[Johnny V]

If you would like to build a cabinet to dry film here's a nice one. Been planning to build this one for a few years now. So little time...

http://www.bonavolta.ch/hobby/en/photo/fdryer.htm

 

[eheldreth]

Chuck,

As far as I can tell it dust is not a problem. However, I had the same concern and I cut an air vent filter to fit below the dryer.

 

[Zathras]

now THAT'S cool, and written by a fellow ex-Navy photo, even. I'm not sure if I remember that kind of film dryer from any of the commands at which I was sationed -- long ago, in a galaxy far, far away.

Definately queued into the design for My Next Darkroom. I'll just downsize the one I have now for drying sheetfilm, or maybe design a modified one using a box and a lid with a tube for the dryer for sheetfilm.

-KwM-

I was stationed on the U.S.S. John F. Kennedy and we had one of those Senrac units mounted on the wall of the photo lab's B&W film developing room. It worked like a charm. I think I'll give it a try.

 

[jstraw]

I'm planning to build a drier as part of my ventilating system. It's encorporated into the intake and the second sketch is of the exhaust portion of my system. I would welcome any comments.

 

[purple]

I've just found this thread and thought "great, a perfect compact film dryer!".

And then found that the link don't work no more... Does anybody have a link to the actual article detailing the construction of the film dryer?

 

[kwmullet]

I've just found this thread and thought "great, a perfect compact film dryer!".

And then found that the link don't work no more... Does anybody have a link to the actual article detailing the construction of the film dryer?

Dead Link Removed's a link to a section of my del.icio.us bookmarks about the film dryer. including a blog entry of mine about it.

Just in case those bookmarks go away one day, here's a link to the web archive copy of the article.

-KwM-
​

 

[Alex Bishop-Thorpe]

I've been thinking about this recently as well, very informative topic - I've got an old fridge I was thinking of stripping out (fridges being rather nicely sealed), and installing some form of fan.

I've just been hanging weighed film clips randomly around the room, basically...for a while I hung the film on lamp shades too, from my roof - it's actually pretty effective!

 

[rpsawin]

This is on the cheap....from the local thrift shop:

used hair dryer
used clear plastic garment bag
new duct tape

~ $30

Bob

 

[Dan Henderson]

awhile back I purchased a HEPA filter unit for my darkroom that I leave running 24/7 to combat a general dust problem in my house. I then attached a short section of dryer vent hose to the HEPA filter, through which I direct air into my negative dryer, made as other here, from PVC drain pipe. Being one to complicate things, I bought adapters so that the bottom is a floor drain piece for the air to exit. No heat, but it dries negatives in 2-3 hours with no drying marks. Yes the negs are curly after coming off the reel, but a day in the Print File sleeves and they are manageable. And, I do rinse my stainless steel reels thoroughly after removing the film to get any Photo Flo residue off.

 

[Black Dog]

Excellent info-look forward to putting it into practice. Thanks