Plastic reels in the Dishwasher?

I have used Paterson plastic reels and tanks for decades. I've always scrubbed them with a toothbrush and baking soda paste followed by wash by hand in warm soapy water.

I was wondering if anybody has washed these plastic reels in the dishwasher. Is it ok? Any ill side effects?

Yes, with no problems.

I do, however, need to wait until the dishwasher's rinse aid dispenser is empty before I use it.

I've used the dishwasher without heated drying with no problems. I'd suspect that the rinse aid is very similar to PhotoFlo, although I'm not about to use on my film!

DO NOT USE ANY APPLIANCE OR UTENSIL FOR PHOTOGRAPHY THAT WILL BE USED FOR FOOD!!!!!!!!!!! And vice versa!

I say this over and over.

PE

You know, as you I'm always warning against using household bottles, glasses etc. in the lab.

But what harm to the uninitiated would a cleaned, out of the dishwasher paterson reel have?
And more important, what use?

I would be afraid of the hot water warping the reels. This would depend on the make and model of the dishwasher. A soak overnight in warm water, perhaps with a bit of sodium sulfite added, should keep them clean.

According to the Super System 4 booklet: the reels are made to withstand temperature up to 100C. The tanks are not. It says not to use very hot water, or stand them close to fires.

I have also used the dishwasher route with no problem. I wouldn't make it daily thing, some dishwasher detergents contain mild abrasives. I just did the once when I picked up a bunch of reels that were of unknown and dirty heritage.

George Nova Scotia said:

I wouldn't make it daily thing, some dishwasher detergents contain mild abrasives.

Click to expand...

Never heard of such.
But anyway a interesting subject, to be considered.

I work in the appliance manufacturing industry. Most dishwasher tubs are made of a plastic usually polypropylene . Very inert material. Detergent used in dishwashers is very strong alkaline, water is at or above 120F. Any Styrene, ABS, polycarbonate and blends are at high risk. I think Paterson uses some form of acetal/nylon blend. Pretty tough stuff. Still I wouldn't subject anything I care about to a dishwasher chemicals. It will literally etch glass.

I always dip my reels with film into photo-flo in DI water. If they get gunked up I will throw them away and buy new. I don't want to scratch film by trying to avoid final rinse with color or photo-flo with black and white. I wash them immediately with very hot water. I've been pretty lucky so far.

I have pretty much adopted Jobo since I got a deal on a CPP2. All in all the Paterson reels (IMHO) are so much better in every way. Sad they won't work with Jobo tanks.

It's still hard to beat System 4 tanks for easy no drama in the dark developing.

Best Regards, Mike

mshchem you are right the brochure says the reels are acetal resin the tanks polystyrene.

AgX I remember reading the contents of a box once I'm pretty sure silica was mentioned I took that to mean really fine sand.. but that was some time ago and the sand might be between my ears now.

Photo Engineer said:

DO NOT USE ANY APPLIANCE OR UTENSIL FOR PHOTOGRAPHY THAT WILL BE USED FOR FOOD!!!!!!!!!!! And vice versa!

I say this over and over.

PE

Click to expand...

What he said.

Just scrub in warm water with a toothbrush and a little TSP. If you develop enough film to need a dishwasher to wash your reels, get a dishwasher just for washing your reels. We used to have one just for laboratory glassware when I worked in the adhesives lab.

+ 1 for the toothbrush. I have used this method on the same set of reels for the last 35 years ( I process film professionally).

Photo Engineer said:

DO NOT USE ANY APPLIANCE OR UTENSIL FOR PHOTOGRAPHY THAT WILL BE USED FOR FOOD!!!!!!!!!!! And vice versa!

Click to expand...

I have a dedicated dishwasher for photo...

I always rinse my reels in cold (fairly hard) water for a few minutes after use. I have yet to have any sort of problem with them.

For several years I've been using old Yankee plastic reels that were stained when I got them. I always rinse them in warm water and leave out to dry. What am I missing? The last solution is Photo Flo and then wash in tepid water. My negs look fine.

I bought the Yankee Master tank and reels off e-bay because I started doing 16mm and I didn't have any steel reels for that size. Usually, for 35mm I just use my 45 year old Nikkor SS tanks and reels but a few times I've had both 35 and 16 to do and so tried out the plastic reels on 35, I had never used them before, had learned on SS reels and if you don't drop and distort them they last forever. Now I often have 16mm and 35mm to develop so it is convenient to be able to do one of each in the same tank.

Well, I have tried to duplicate this "Photo Flo" problem and cannot. I gave up years ago without seeing any problem. But then, there are very many water supplies world wide.

PE