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  #11  
Old 17th July 2022, 08:07 PM
Nat Polton Nat Polton is offline
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Default Zerostat

After years of having to wear anti static wrist bands and leads, mats etc. when handling circuit boards at work, I keep my Zerostat gun well away from my elctronic timer and any other electronic equipment in the darkroom, I don't even point it anywhere near my electronic light meter or any camera containing chips or transistors.

I am afraid of of any possible damage caused to the devices in the equipment.

It may be bad theory on my behalf but I do feel happier.

Cheers.
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  #12  
Old 21st July 2022, 05:36 PM
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photomi7ch photomi7ch is offline
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A Zero stat is a waste of time I have found that it attracts twice as much dust when used the best anti stat is to earth yourself and the items you touch.
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  #13  
Old 6th August 2022, 06:48 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by photomi7ch View Post
A Zero stat is a waste of time I have found that it attracts twice as much dust when used the best anti stat is to earth yourself and the items you touch.
The zerostat works fine for me. It is entirely possible to negatively charge a film that already has a negative charge (or ditto for a positive charge). Try using the other squeeze direction and hold the gun 10-12 inches away from the film. Tho, as I mentioned before, using both directions at the same time seems to work for me - but I do not know why...

Grounding yourself (via an anti-static wristband with an integrated 1M ohm resistor) is fine, but will not discharge a static charge from an insulator like film. Make sure the wristband has the resistor as without it, you are at best providing no path to ground at all if the resistor is simply omitted or, at worst, providing an excellent path to ground for an electrical fault through your body if they have shorted out where the resistor should be. Both options seem fairly common with cheap ebay-bought bands from what I have read. Tho, the funniest scam is the "wireless" anti-static bands that "do not need a grounding cable" - you just put the band on your wrist and magically the static is discharged to ground by... well... magic presumably...

Last edited by Bob; 6th August 2022 at 06:51 PM.
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Old 7th August 2022, 12:19 AM
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Maris Maris is offline
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My original answer to the dust on film problem was to use a 3" Staticmaster brush. Yes, this is the one with the highly radioactive Polonium 210 alpha particle emitter strip next to the bristles. Unfortunately Po 210 has a short half life and needs replacing annually at a high $$$ price. Too expensive for me.

I still use the same brush but since it effectively "expired" in 1999 the radiation effect is now achieved by running a negative ion generator in the darkroom. The theory is that if surfaces and dust particles all carry the same sign charge they won't want to stick together. Seems to work.

All my negative carriers have been modified to have only a single top anti-newton glass. Negatives pop upwards and the glass defeats that.
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