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View Full Version : How many of us Heat Dry Film?


Martin Aislabie
26th March 2009, 03:09 PM
Reading Robs thread about Heat Drying Film and base Fog levels, made me wonder how many of us do Heat Dry our film.

For my part, I have a Durst UT100 and always dry Roll Film (35mm & 120) on the low heat setting after a final rinse with wetting agent and a wipe with a Squeegee.

For 5x4 I have a final 5 min soak in reverse osmosis water, followed by a vigorous flick, 20min in the drying cabinet set to fan only followed by 10mins at the low heat setting.

I tried drying my sheet film at the no heat setting but even after 50mins found the film was still damp in patches.

I use the no heat setting to allow the water to run off the Sheet Negs as best it is able, so any drying marks I might get are on the borders of the Neg and not towards the middle

Martin

Argentum
26th March 2009, 03:15 PM
Obviously I do.
As regards the fog level, I spoke with RK a couple of days ago and I think it was Roy who told me that some delta films need 7 or 8 minutes fixing to get the fb+fog level down. I will try this and come back with results. I normally give 5 mins in hypam 1+4.

Bob
26th March 2009, 03:36 PM
I air-dry. Takes a few hours but I'm rarely in a hurry. Film is hung to dry over the bath with the shower curtain drawn after running hot water for a while to steam the area up a bit.

Les McLean
26th March 2009, 03:47 PM
I heat dry after a final rinse in water with a drop of photo flo and a capful of Isopropyl alcohol. Film is completely dry within 30 minutes.

Bob
26th March 2009, 03:52 PM
This is such a good question I have taken the liberty of adding a poll ;) ...

Martin Aislabie
26th March 2009, 03:53 PM
Thanks to who ever set up the poll :D

Martin

Bill
26th March 2009, 03:58 PM
I air dry after soaking in a bath of diluted Ilfotol and a quick run through the fingers. I hang them in a cupboard, close the door and leave overnight.
And I don't have a heat dryer anyway!

Bill

B&W Neil
26th March 2009, 03:58 PM
I usually dry my films naturally by hanging them from a line in the darkkroom with the door firmly shut. When I am in a rush for the negs I do the above but also turn on the RC paper dryer on low setting for about an hour and then you can print from them. I have not noticed any difference in the negs dried by either method.

Neil.

Victor Krag
26th March 2009, 04:43 PM
I voted 'never'. I just hang them on a wire in the darkroom after a few minutes in Kodak Photo-Flo and a run through my fingers (wet and clean after washing the tank lid and funnel). Roll film gets a 'bull' clip on the bottom to weight it down, keep from curling. I've never heard about fogging from heat drying.

Daud
26th March 2009, 05:01 PM
I take the films off the reel and soak in distilled water with a few drops of Kodak Photo-Flo, then use a Jobo heated film drier that has a timer on it.
This unit blows filtered hot air for about 2/3 of the time set, then ambient for the rest.
I never! Touch wet film other than the ends while using film clips and as for the fogging – good question: never gave it a thought, till now…..

David.

Mike O'Pray
26th March 2009, 07:46 PM
I too have a Durst UT100 and never heat dry 35mm or 120. I don't use LF film. Darkroom is in the house so has an ambient temp of 16-20 degrees C. Never seems to need more than 20 mins.

Mike

Rob Archer
26th March 2009, 08:27 PM
At the moment I just hang them up in the darkroom and leave them overnight but on a couple of occasions recently I accidentally brushed past them (my darkroom is very cramped and the only place with enough height to hang a 35mm film is right in the middle - see darkroom portraits http://www.film-and-darkroom-user.org.uk/forum/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/97) and left a bit of fluff on a couple of damp negs - not good:eek:

I've got hold of an old clothes locker and will turn it into a film drier. What sort of heat source do people here recommend? I was thinking of a low-wattage light bulb, just to get the air circulating.

Rob

vincent
26th March 2009, 09:16 PM
At a talk by Hugh Milsom, he said he wipes the film down with a well washed cotton handkerchief.That was good enough for me and I rarely get any problems. I hang the film in the shower, wipe it down and leave it overnight.
I should add that I think that his book on Infra-Red is best.

Ian David
26th March 2009, 09:36 PM
I currently hang my films to dry in the shower cubicle. I don't use artificial heat but the ambient temperature inside here at this time of year is about 26 degrees. I use Les's isopropyl alcohol trick and the negs dry pretty fast.

Dave miller
27th March 2009, 07:40 AM
SNIP:

I've got hold of an old clothes locker and will turn it into a film drier. What sort of heat source do people here recommend? I was thinking of a low-wattage light bulb, just to get the air circulating.

Rob

You are correct Rob, a 60 watt lamp will be sufficient to start the air circulating. A 100mm computer fan will do an even better job though. Either way you should consider a foam filter of the type used on a/c units on the inlet.
An alternative to consider is making a unit out of 100mm drain pipe. Cut to length, groove the top to take a horizontal dowel. Mount vertically, and hang a weighted film down inside it from the dowel.

Trevor Crone
29th March 2009, 01:35 PM
Although I too have a Durst UT100 drying cabinet I always let the film dry without applying heat.

With 120 film I wipe both sides down with just half of a film squeegee blade, just applying, more or less its own weight. With 35mm, 4x5 and 8x10 films I pre-soak in Rollei's Super Concentrate wetting agent for 2 minutes then just hang to dry.

Larry
30th April 2009, 02:31 PM
Hi everyone,

I too have a Durst UT100 which I bought about 10 years ago but always had problems with my film curling and bowing. I now know from experience that I often applied far too much high heat which would mark my negatives with water spots and drips marks.

As I've almost completed my new dedicated darkroom, I mounted the unit on the wall, removed the plastic hanging curtain/bag and just hang my film to air dry or use the cool fan only. Now my negatives are perfectly flat, clean and "WOW". I use either wooden clothes pegs or plastic bulldog clips to weight the bottom of the film whilst drying.

Never use high heat! (not worth the hassle) - Go out and take more photos whilst the film is drying naturally.

Cheers

apxuser.

Mike O'Pray
30th April 2009, 04:01 PM
If I can just add to this thread a related subject of film drying and wetting agent. My practice has been to pour wetting agent into the tank while the film is still on the reel and then hanging in a blown-air film dryer but without heat. It means a thorough scrubbing of the empty reel afterwards which is a bit of a pain each time. Last week-end I took a chance and simply left out the wetting agent. I used a film squeegee but then just hung it up. It seems to have dried without any water spots and looks no different from previous film treated with wetting agent. South Northants water has a fair amount of limescale in it so I was pleasantly surprised about the outcome.

Maybe I was just lucky but at worse it would mean simply re-rinsing and re-immersion in wetting agent if water spots occur. I intend trying it again. No point in using wetting agent and adding an extra process step plus cleaning reels if it isn't necessary. Anyway ther it is for what it is worth


Mike

Les McLean
30th April 2009, 04:49 PM
If I can just add to this thread a related subject of film drying and wetting agent. My practice has been to pour wetting agent into the tank while the film is still on the reel and then hanging in a blown-air film dryer but without heat. It means a thorough scrubbing of the empty reel afterwards which is a bit of a pain each time. Last week-end I took a chance and simply left out the wetting agent. I used a film squeegee but then just hung it up. It seems to have dried without any water spots and looks no different from previous film treated with wetting agent. South Northants water has a fair amount of limescale in it so I was pleasantly surprised about the outcome.

Maybe I was just lucky but at worse it would mean simply re-rinsing and re-immersion in wetting agent if water spots occur. I intend trying it again. No point in using wetting agent and adding an extra process step plus cleaning reels if it isn't necessary. Anyway ther it is for what it is worth


Mike


Mike, I have the same aversion to dunking film reels in wetting agent 'cos I'm lazy and will not scrub the reels to clean them. Some years ago I decided to nick the biggest tupper ware plastic carton from the kitchen when the wife's back was turned. I fill it with water with a drop of wetting agent and a capful of isapropyl alcohol (sp), remove the film from the reel and draw it through the mix several times before hanging it in my home made drying cabinet for about 30 minutes. Since I started this method I've never had a drying mark or a curled up film. By the way I use a rubbing mixture that I get in the states as it is 98% isapropyl alcohol, it costs about $1 a bottle.

Dave miller
30th April 2009, 05:39 PM
Isopropyl alcohol suppliers on ebay HERE (http://shop.ebay.co.uk/?_from=R40&_trksid=p3907.m38.l1313&_nkw=isopropyl+alcohol&_sacat=See-All-Categories)

Mike O'Pray
30th April 2009, 05:55 PM
Thanks Les and Dave. Les I had wondered about a biggish tupperware container. It sounds worthwhile

Dave, thanks for the link to isopropyl acohol.

Both. I take it that I should go for the near 100% stuff?. There is 70% stuff there and it's a bit cheaper but it sounds as if the purer the better.

Mike

Argentum
30th April 2009, 06:41 PM
never ceases to amaze me the confusion of chemical quatities and strengths.

So Mike what do you think the final percentage of Les's mix is and do you think it will make any difference whether you start with 99.8% or 70% with the amount of dilution you intend to use.

Having an inkling that you want cheap then I suggest you do the maths to work it out given that 70% is likely to contain 30% water and you'll be paying for shipping of water. :D

Les McLean
30th April 2009, 07:13 PM
Thanks Les and Dave. Les I had wondered about a biggish tupperware container. It sounds worthwhile

Dave, thanks for the link to isopropyl acohol.

Both. I take it that I should go for the near 100% stuff?. There is 70% stuff there and it's a bit cheaper but it sounds as if the purer the better.

Mike

Mike I'd go for the cheaper stuff, not that I'm a cheapskate , but all it's doing is help the film dry a little quicker. I picked up the tip about using it from a friend in the US when I was having problems with drying marks. I also forgot to mention that I NEVER wipe the film down after drawing it through the wetting agent solution. You can look at the film as see if the liquid is fully covering the surface of the film and running smoothly down as you are pulling it through the solution. The solution seems to sit on the surface of the film so that when you hang it in the dryer the excess liquid runs very smoothly down toward the bottom.

Richard Gould
30th April 2009, 07:26 PM
I use Tetenal mirasol 2000 antistatic wetting agent,and have just looked at the contents and it already contains isopryl alcholal, it is fairly cheap at around 3 to 4 pounds for a .25 bottle, just a few dro[ps in the final rinse, withy good Jersey tap water for 2 or 3 minutes, a good shake, and hang up the film, it drys fairly quickly and I have not had a drying mark for a long long time, it works a treat,Richard