Oh Oh Someone unplugged my refrigerator

bascom49 · Mar 13, 2013

I keep my film in a small bar type refrigerator in my darkroom.
I've been busy for the last several weeks earning a living to support my photography hobby and just
realized that the power to the darkroom was off and so was the refrigerator.
Ambient temp in the darkroom was never above 68 deg F.

Does anyone have any opinion as to whether or not my color film stock may have suffered ?

Thanks,
Charles

MattKing · Mar 13, 2013

No problem if it never got too warm.

bascom49 · Mar 13, 2013

Thanks Matt.
The panic is starting to wear off.

Charles

bdial · Mar 13, 2013

It's probably ok. The only real way to know for sure is to test a roll or two.
The specific film will matter too, if it's "consumer" film, something like Kodak Gold, for example, it's likely that there is no problem at all. If it's "pro" film, you may get some color shift, depending on how long it's been warm, and how warm it got.

railwayman3 · Mar 13, 2013

Absolutely no problem, IMHO! I'd just check that there's no condensation on the films, then you'll be fine.

One of my fridges failed a few weeks ago, and some of my films have been at room temp since, pending the replacement coming next week. I'm not worrying at all.

MattKing · Mar 13, 2013

Film isn't like milk .

Film changes over time.

The extent of that change is affected by temperature. Refrigeration slows that change considerably. Storage in a freezer slows it even more.

Most likely, your film spent more time at room temperature before you put it into the refrigerator then during the recent "power off" event.

If you had two batches of film from the same emulsion lot, and one had stayed refrigerated throughout while the other was allowed to warm, you might be able to detect a tiny difference - if you were Photo Engineer .

Whiteymorange · Mar 13, 2013

Charles,
Don't listen to any of them. Send me all of the film immediately and you won't have to worry about it any more. I will dispose of it carefully, one frame at a time.

bobwysiwyg · Mar 13, 2013

Whiteymorange said:
Charles,
Don't listen to any of them. Send me all of the film immediately and you won't have to worry about it any more. I will dispose of it carefully, one frame at a time.

StoneNYC · Mar 13, 2013

Whiteymorange said:
Charles,
Don't listen to any of them. Send me all of the film immediately and you won't have to worry about it any more. I will dispose of it carefully, one frame at a time.

Yes this is the proper action to take, but send me the other half, it's probably too much for Whitey to handle all by himself and I wouldn't want him to be overburdened :munch:

~Stone

Mamiya: 7 II, RZ67 Pro II / Canon: 1V, AE-1, 5DmkII / Kodak: No 1 Pocket Autographic, No 1A Pocket Autographic | Sent w/ iPhone using Tapatalk

Steve Smith · Mar 13, 2013

How long do you think it was off for?

Unless the ambient temperature is very high and it was off for a few months, I wouldn't worry about it.

Stev

polyglot · Mar 13, 2013

It's fine. You can buy a bunch of colour film, travel Africa with it for three months and no refrigeration and it will all come out perfectly. Cold is only needed in the long-term, a month of room-temps is nothing.

The only problems occur if it got over about 30C for any amount of time. Highly unlikely in a closed fridge, IMHO.

bascom49 · Mar 13, 2013

Thanks guys.

Charles

lxdude · Mar 13, 2013

Check to be sure that you don't have any mold growth. The low temperatures mean it is probably fine, but I have seen bad mold growth in a fridge that was unplugged inadvertently.
Check all packages. If mold is found, take everything out and clean the fridge with a bleach solution, then wipe it with damp cloths to remove the bleach residue. Leave it open until it dries. Discard any moldy cardboard packaging or moldy bags and bag everything fresh. If you cannot discard something, clean it with a weak bleach solution, then wipe it with a clean damp cloth and let it dry completely before putting it back in.

Newt_on_Swings · Mar 14, 2013

Just smell the fridge, if it's a little off you wanna take it all out and check. Some smaller fridges have a mini freezer icebox that can accumulate condensation into ice. If that melted onto your cardboard boxes that can lead to mold growth.

Oh Oh Someone unplugged my refrigerator

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