Dust control

It seems I am plagued with dust no matter what I do. When I built the new
darkroom, I caulked every drywall seam, floor and ceiling joints, plumbing
entrances and exits, filtered the air intake, don't smoke in the room and I
still have a huge dust and spider problem. I can't figure how the critters
get in yet alone what they eat. This room is almost air tight! I'm
considering an ionic air thingy...thoughts?

In article ,
"Tom Gardner" wrote:

It seems I am plagued with dust no matter what I do. When I built the new
darkroom, I caulked every drywall seam, floor and ceiling joints, plumbing
entrances and exits, filtered the air intake, don't smoke in the room and I
still have a huge dust and spider problem. I can't figure how the critters
get in yet alone what they eat. This room is almost air tight! I'm
considering an ionic air thingy...thoughts?

An ionic air thing may be needed depending on the conditions
here in Maryland because of humidity dust sticks in place, wipe it away
and its gone-but its important to cover negatives with sleeves. As for
spiders who knows they creep me out.
--
The things we hate most in life often turn out to be a mirror image
of ourselves. Better not to hate.

Findmedirectly - "infoatgregblankphoto.com"

On Fri, 17 Mar 2006 10:30:15 -0500, "Greg
\"Blank\" - Lizard King."
wrote:

As for
spiders who knows they creep me out.


March 18, 2006, from Lloyd Erlick,

They only do that becasue you should leave
them alone. They eat other insects.

For creepy, millipedes are hard to beat.
Spiders eat them before they run across your
face while you're asleep in bed ...

regards,
--le
________________________________
Lloyd Erlick Portraits, Toronto.
voice: 416-686-0326
email:
net: www.heylloyd.com
________________________________
--

In article ,
Lloyd Erlick Lloyd at @the-wire. dot com wrote:

On Fri, 17 Mar 2006 10:30:15 -0500, "Greg
\"Blank\" - Lizard King."
wrote:

As for
spiders who knows they creep me out.


March 18, 2006, from Lloyd Erlick,

They only do that becasue you should leave
them alone. They eat other insects.

For creepy, millipedes are hard to beat.
Spiders eat them before they run across your
face while you're asleep in bed ...

regards,
--le
________________________________
Lloyd Erlick Portraits, Toronto.
voice: 416-686-0326
email:
net: www.heylloyd.com
________________________________

Let me go on public record saying I don't usually molest spiders,
if they willingly don't annoy me I let them be. On the other hand
I try to catch them and humanely place them outside. That way the
millipedes and centipedes get caught outside my house
--
The things we hate most in life often turn out to be a mirror image
of ourselves. Better not to hate.

Findmedirectly - "infoatgregblankphoto.com"

On Sat, 18 Mar 2006 14:03:24 -0500, "Greg
\"Blank\" - Lizard King."
wrote:

Let me go on public record saying I don't usually molest spiders,
if they willingly don't annoy me I let them be. On the other hand
I try to catch them and humanely place them outside. That way the
millipedes and centipedes get caught outside my house


March 21, 2006, from Lloyd Erlick,

This is good advice for how to treat
newsgroup trolls!

regards,
--le
________________________________
Lloyd Erlick Portraits, Toronto.
voice: 416-686-0326
email:
net: www.heylloyd.com
________________________________
--

I've always felt that dust has more of a chance of becoming airborn if
there's too little humidity. Any way to test this out?
Could the spiders be coming in through the plumbing?
-Lew
"Tom Gardner" wrote in message
. com...
It seems I am plagued with dust no matter what I do. When I built the new
darkroom, I caulked every drywall seam, floor and ceiling joints, plumbing
entrances and exits, filtered the air intake, don't smoke in the room and
I still have a huge dust and spider problem. I can't figure how the
critters get in yet alone what they eat. This room is almost air tight!
I'm considering an ionic air thingy...thoughts?

On Fri, 17 Mar 2006 13:17:27 -0500, "Lew"
wrote:

I've always felt that dust has more of a chance of becoming airborn if
there's too little humidity. Any way to test this out?


March 18, 2006, from Lloyd Erlick,

This is definitely true. Dryness in the
darkroom is very bad. So is excessive
humidity, so a measurement/readout device is
very helpful.

I got one from Radio Shack (now named
something cuter, I think, but the products
are still cheaply made).

It's just an LCD in a little plastic holder.
It shows temperature and relative humidity.
In my place I need a humidifier in the winter
and a dehumidifier in the summer. The readout
tells me what the situation is, and how to
set the machines as the outside temperature
changes.

regards,
--le
________________________________
Lloyd Erlick Portraits, Toronto.
voice: 416-686-0326
email:
net: www.heylloyd.com
________________________________
--

On Sat, 18 Mar 2006 12:04:33 -0500, Lloyd Erlick Lloyd at @the-wire.
dot com wrote:


In my place I need a humidifier in the winter
and a dehumidifier in the summer. The readout
tells me what the situation is, and how to
set the machines as the outside temperature
changes.

regards,
--le
________________________________

Do you have an 'ideal' humidity level that you aim for?

Paul

On Sat, 18 Mar 2006 18:24:58 GMT, Paul Mead
wrote:

On Sat, 18 Mar 2006 12:04:33 -0500, Lloyd Erlick Lloyd at @the-wire.
dot com wrote:


In my place I need a humidifier in the winter
and a dehumidifier in the summer. The readout
tells me what the situation is, and how to
set the machines as the outside temperature
changes.

regards,
--le
________________________________

Do you have an 'ideal' humidity level that you aim for?

Paul


March 21, 2006, from Lloyd Erlick,

Yes, I aim for any level within what may be
called, undefined, the human comfort level.
Basically, around fifty per cent relative
humidity.

Most people will be comfortable between forty
and sixty per cent. Of course tastes differ.

If things are too dry, static electricity and
dust will become problems. Photo paper will
curl. Nosebleeds will occur.

If there is too much humidity, for a long
enough time, lenses will grow fungus.

Depending on locale and local climate,
darkroom humidity will be more or less
difficult to achieve at one end of the scale
or the other. Right now, here in winter
Toronto, it is difficult to get enough
moisture into the air. The heating system
constantly draws fresh air into the building
(exterior air is cold and dry; raising its
temperature just makes the relative humidity
even lower). It is physically impossible for
me to get the RH high enough to be considered
"too" high. I'm amazed when I see my readout
at any level beginning with a 5. If I see
it's 53% RH at my enlarger, I know I need to
get out more, because it has warmed up
outside.

During the summer in Toronto humidity tends
to be high. A dehumidifier is a must, and it
would be physically impossible to get the RH
low enough to hurt my nose. In fact, getting
it below 50 or maybe 45% RH would likely be
impossible with normal household appliances.

Limiting the RH at any given moment in the
seasons to a narrow range like 49-51% would
be very difficult and costly. Limiting it to
something like 38-58 (certainly good enough
for darkrooms -- what about
computerinkjetrooms??) would be easy and
cheap, but it would demand a little bit of
(cost-free) attention from the operator (that
would be us).

I have an article on darkroom humidity
management, under the 'technical' button in
the table of contents of www.heylloyd.com.

regards,
--le
________________________________
Lloyd Erlick Portraits, Toronto.
voice: 416-686-0326
email:
net: www.heylloyd.com
________________________________
--

Dust ... Is there too little humidity?
Spiders ... Coming in through the plumbing? Air filter?
-Lew
"Tom Gardner" wrote in message
. com...
It seems I am plagued with dust no matter what I do. When I built the new
darkroom, I caulked every drywall seam, floor and ceiling joints, plumbing
entrances and exits, filtered the air intake, don't smoke in the room and
I still have a huge dust and spider problem. I can't figure how the
critters get in yet alone what they eat. This room is almost air tight!
I'm considering an ionic air thingy...thoughts?