Film stuck in holders

[villinski]

I had a bit of a problem recently with some B&W (TMY) film in my 4x5 holders. I

usually store my holders in my cooler when on a camping trip, and I keep the

holders in ziplock bags. Well, somehow water got into the baggies, and the film

got wet. Now the film is stuck, and I have ruined a few pieces of film trying

to get it out. How do I get this film out? How do I recover the film holders

that have bits of film stuck on the side?

 

TIA,

 

John

 

http://abstractsouthwest.com

[randall ellis]

Are your holders wood or plastic? If they are wood, you might be in for a hard time, but if they are plastic they should be fine if you need to wet them to remove the film. Once the film has been allowed to soak for a short time it should release it's hold. You will need to make sure they are very clean before being used again, but they should be fine.

 

- Randy

[Monophoto]

John -

 

Can you work on the holders with the lights on? If so, I would think that when you pull out the darkslide, you will see where the bits of film are stuck under the rails, and can then carefully attack those areas, perhaps with an X-acto knife, to remove the film.

[michaelging]

I would worry about wetting the holders.If the felt light baffle got wet or stickey it might not keep the light from getting to the film.

[big toys are better]

Try carefully presoaking the slot with water or a bit of 70%-- 95% rubbing alcohol (propanol), and put a bit more on a small stiff toothbrush and scrub along the slot. Similar brushes ought to work but be careful not to remove the black paint as the alcohol is an organic solvent. Less is more here....

 

I suspect that this might have worked to remove the film intact but I'm not sure what effects a high concentration of alcohol has on the emulsion, and it can be tough on a few plastics.

[pete_andrews10]

I think you have to decide what's most important to you John. The film, or the holders?

 

If the film is vital, then soaking the holders may be the only way to gently release the film without too much damage to it, but you'll still probably have some water marking left on the film after development.

 

WRT getting filmholders wet: the light-trap in modern plastic double-darkslides is a piece of felt or velvet material backed by a spring plate. Now the fabric material will recover from a wetting, but the spring may rust unless you dismantle the holder and thoroughly dry all the metal parts (basically the screws that hold the thing together and the leaf springs).

 

It's up to you to decide if the film is worth the hassle of dismantling the holders for. Older Toyo holders are reasonably easy to take apart for maintenance, but some other makers hide the assembly screws under aluminium labels, the white celluloid memo stickers, or suchlike.

[doc_w]

First of all, don't do anything silly. Hang on. You may not need to lose the film. Consider this step a presoak. When you are ready to develop, soak the entire holder (assuming plastic) in water. The film will very likely come free. There may be damage to the emulsion on more than the edges, but you have nothing to lose.

[big toys are better]

Concentrated alcohol will not make the emulsion expand, and if the film is wet it will dessicate it, and should also be something of a lubricant. I'm unsure as to the long term damage to the film or holders, so I'd test this with an old unit and scrap film prior to using on important stuff. However, with that said, I know small amounts of alcohol has been used in developers in the past, and I think also to speed film drying.

 

Worth a try if you still have wet film holders