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#11
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Dust control
Tom Gardner (nospam) 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? When I started working in darkrooms in 1968 I attended a small Oregon college. Our advisor had a great solution for dust. In the three months that I attended we painted the room from top to bottom twice. It did solve the dust problem. No kidding. Clint Herndon |
#12
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Dust control
When I started working in darkrooms in 1968 I attended a small Oregon college. Our advisor had a great solution for dust. In the three months that I attended we painted the room from top to bottom twice. It did solve the dust problem. No kidding. Clint Herndon I agree, it is now on my list to paint with a high gloss oil enamel. And I'll paint the cement floor with epoxy based paint. Thanks |
#13
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Dust control
"Tom Gardner" wrote
I built a filter holder that uses a "High Efficiency" accordion style element that is mounted on the ceiling/wall that has a booster duct fan on the 6" duct coming from the AC/furnace. There is a switch on this fan. On the floor, under the sink area is a vent that dumps into the other part of the basement. There is a standard fiberglass furnace filter on this. Well, that _should_ keep dust down... have positive pressure...kinda'. How about I block the air dump partially or fully and increase the positive pressure? I don't want to run the booster fan continuously and rarely run it at all, only when it gets hot in there, no problem with it being too cold. If you run the fan continuously, as an experiment, does this take care of the dust problem? Does the darkroom ever get back-winded? If the room is unoccupied does dust accumulate? I would imagine the room 'breathes' through the exit filter and dust trapped in the exit filter may then go back into the darkroom -- this is pure speculation. But, what happens if the exit filter is blocked? A good coating with gloss enamel helps, obviously. Do you get dust sticking to the walls? If so then a teaspoon of dishwashing detergent in a bucket of water and wipe the walls down and let them dry so there is fine film of detergent on the wall -- this will keep the static electricity on the walls down. -- Nicholas O. Lindan, Cleveland, Ohio Consulting Engineer: Electronics; Informatics; Photonics. To reply, remove spaces: n o lindan at ix . netcom . com Fstop timer - http://www.nolindan.com/da/fstop/index.htm |
#14
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Dust control
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 ________________________________ -- |
#15
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Dust control
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 ________________________________ -- |
#16
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Dust control
On Fri, 17 Mar 2006 13:19:38 -0500, "Lew"
wrote: Spiders ... Coming in through the plumbing? Air filter? -Lew March 18, 2006, from Lloyd Erlick, Probably not the plumbing. Cockroaches might travel through the drain pipes, spiders I doubt. I'm no expert, but it seems unlikely. Roaches forage and explore. Spiders are predators. Hunting in the pipes is unlikely. My guess is the spiders are attracted by the light. Try leaving the darkroom dark when not in use. No small lights, either. Spiders are not a problem in themselves, unless it's some special situation like a tropical locale. They eat other bugs, so the net effect is positive. Regular vacuuming of the top corners of the room, and in behind things on the floor will keep the webs down. Spiders have to eat, so if they are present, other bugs are, too. Kill the spiders and you'll get a look at these. Spiders eat webs and recycle them into fresh web. How Internet friendly of them ... Regular wiping up for dust and regular vacuuming and floor swabbing help more than anything. A dust cleaner for the air sounds good. Just make sure the filter is the kind that doesn't need to be replaced at constant cost -- get one (electrostatic kind) that goes into the dishwasher. I'd never use toxic chemicals in my darkroom .... not even to kill bugs. By the way, if cockroaches are a problem, there is very successful new technology. A substance named Hydroprene completely neutralizes roaches. It is a synthetic insect growth hormone, and it causes the roach eggs to fail to hatch. Thus, any roach that happens to wander in may stay and even live, but not reproduce, so infestation is not possible. In combination with a gel-style attractant-based toxin (Hydramethylnon) to kill the wanderers, roaches can be reduced to something seen -- never. (A similar hormone is used against fleas. The best type is a hormone-impregnated plastic collar for animals. The substance is called Methoprene. I could have the names switched around, since I'm going from memory here, but anyone with a roach or flea problem should be motivated enough to do the research! I sure was ... regards, --le ________________________________ Lloyd Erlick Portraits, Toronto. voice: 416-686-0326 email: net: www.heylloyd.com ________________________________ -- |
#17
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Dust control
On Fri, 17 Mar 2006 16:44:36 -0500, Chris
Ellinger wrote: Best solution is to create positive pressure ventilation, and filter the intake. Chris Ellinger Ann Arbor, MI March 18, 2006, from Lloyd Erlick, This will be very helpful against bugs, too. Many insect eggs are tiny enough to be considered dust. Many newborn insects are pretty tiny, too, including spiders. Positive pressure and regular swabbing will go a long way toward controlling dust, along with humidity in the human comfort range (40 to 55 or 60 per cent). regards, --le ________________________________ Lloyd Erlick Portraits, Toronto. voice: 416-686-0326 email: net: www.heylloyd.com ________________________________ -- |
#18
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Dust control
On Sat, 18 Mar 2006 01:37:39 GMT, "Tom
Gardner" wrote: I've been plagued with dust forever and everywhere. March 18, 2006, from Lloyd Erlick, Well, define 'plagued'. It would have to mean dust appearing on prints, or negatives. In prints, dust in the light path is a culprit. Dust on the floor or in a spider web at the ceiling is a smaller problem, at least a less immediate problem. I put a lot more effort into keeping my enlarger, negative carrier and negatives clean than into keeping the room clean. Coupled with proper humidity in the room, these efforts seem to be quite successful for me. I have relatively little print spotting to do. Maybe I should point out that 'relatively little' does not mean I never do any print spotting. I spot nearly every print I make. I'd never expect to achieve a situation in which print spotting vanishes. Fifteen minutes to half an hour spent spotting every good print I make is pretty routine. Sometimes more. Maybe I'm just reporting an improvement since my feline fibre and dust factory packed it in. In my life I've had two cats -- covering a total of four decades -- enough to span just about every darkroom I've ever had. Until now ... regards, --le ________________________________ Lloyd Erlick Portraits, Toronto. voice: 416-686-0326 email: net: www.heylloyd.com ________________________________ -- |
#19
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Dust control
On Sat, 18 Mar 2006 00:50:56 -0600, John
wrote: Yes: give up. Embrace the dust. All attempts at resistance are futile. Oh pooh ! Anyone can get rid of dust ! All you have to do is to run your hot water line into a fire extinguisher/sprinkler and let it bathe your darkroom in steaming hot water prior to your usage of said room. P.S. Please check all grounds prior to flooding the darkroom with steaming hot water ! == John S. Douglas March 18, 2006, from Lloyd Erlick, Well, you've exaggerated a tad but you are really only saying an increase in darkroom relative humidity will solve the problem. But rather than advocating the New Orleans Katrina-Darkroom, I suggest an investment in a cheap humidity readout device and a basic home humidifier. regards, --le ________________________________ Lloyd Erlick Portraits, Toronto. voice: 416-686-0326 email: net: www.heylloyd.com ________________________________ -- |
#20
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Dust control
On 18 Mar 2006 07:21:53 -0800, "cgrady"
wrote: In the three months that I attended we painted the room from top to bottom twice. It did solve the dust problem. No kidding. Clint Herndon March 18, 2006, from Lloyd Erlick, What if the second and subsequent paint jobs had been replaced by careful swabbing of the whole room from top to bottom? Seems weird that actual paint should be necessary. regards, --le ________________________________ Lloyd Erlick Portraits, Toronto. voice: 416-686-0326 email: net: www.heylloyd.com ________________________________ -- |
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