Maintain Reel-to-Reel Player

Overview Need to maintain the reel-to-reel player.  Heads and tracks should be cleaned.

Cleaning

Heads and tape track should be cleaned periodically.  Especially when the play-back is distorted on one or more of the tracks.  Used the alcohol and q-tips to clean the machine.

If running tapes all day, the tape track should be cleaned at least at the start of the day.  This means cleaning ALL points that the tape comes in contact with....heads, spindles, guides, etc.

Alcohol (99% or better) should be used for everything EXCEPT the PINCH ROLLER.  The rubber on the pinch roller should be cleaned using non-alcohol Adtec Professional A/V cleaner.

Issues:

Dirty tape track can not only cause bad reading of the signal from the tape, but it can also cause the tape to slow down.  We had the tape slow down by 25% and that was due to the pinch roller not having been cleaned.

References:

Great videos on maintaining machine:

http://www.ehow.com/videos-on_2392_reel_to_reel-recorders.html

Film Transfers - Cleaning and Preparing

Overview: Just some notes on preparing and cleaning film before transferring.

How Should the Film Appear On the Rewinders

When one is standing in front of the rewinders, the film should:

• Be mounted on the right rewind post.
• The take-up reel (the empty one) should be on the left rewind post (the drive post with the handle)
• The sprockets should be on the far side of the film.
• The film should be coming off the top of the reel to the top of the take-up reel
• The emulsion side (the duller side) of the film should be facing up (we are talking about the black film and not the leader....may need to unwind the film a little to see the actual film)

Basic Rewinder Process

1. Rewind the film from the “dead” post ot the “active” (on your left).
2. Clean the film with a lint free cloth with a spot soaked in Solvon.
   1. Pinch the cloth around the film as you move the film
   2. I pinch the film near the “dead” post for two reasons:
      1. i.      The film has a longer period to dry before winding onto the take-up reel
      2. ii.      I can brake the “dead” reel easier if I’m near it (needed if you suddenly have to stop)
3. When the film has been moved and cleaned....
4. Move the reels from one post to the other keeping the reels in the same orientation
5. Now thread the film from the bottom of the right reel to the bottom of the take-up reel (the original reel)
   1. The film between the reels should be the glossy side up
   2. The film on the reels should be the emulsion side up

Situations or Problems:

When cleaning and preparing the film for transferring you can come across a few situations.  Here’s a list of them and the solutions:

• Upside down and backwards:
  • How can you tell.  The film will come of the reel with the shiny side (non-emulsion side) facing up.
  • Solution:
    • We have the original reel, call it reel A, and the spare take-up reel, call it reel B
    • Mount reel B (spare take-up reel) on the left post
    • Rewind film from the top of the reel A (original reel) to the bottom of the reel B
    • Reel B will now have the dull side (expulsion side) up
    • Remove reel B from the post
      • With the reel oriented such that the sprockets are near you, the film will now be rolling off the right hand side
      • Mount reel B on projector and scan
      • Replace reel B with reel A (the original reel) and rewind the film back onto reel A
• Splices Only On One Side
  • How can you tell:
    • Examining the film at the splices.
  • Problems this can cause:
    • When scanning 8mm film, the film will tend to get stuck in the track and jam causing the film to bunch up and wrinkle!!!
    • For 16mm film this can cause the film to jerk sharply at the top of the film path and this is turn may cause the projector to stop or the film to break or just to jerk during the scan.
  • Solution:
    • When winding the film through the rewinder keep and eye out for changes in film where a splice has occurred.
    • Generally the splices are at the end of 50 foot films that have been spliced together
    • You can usually feel the splice when cleaning it
• Film On Reel Backwards
  • How can you tell:
    • Look at a film frame closely. The top of the frame should be toward the head of the film (or the top of the frame should be toward the leader).
  • Problems this can cause:
    • When scanning the film (8mm or 16mm), the film will be scanned upside down and backwards.
  • Solution:
    • Rather than winding the film onto the cleaning reel and back onto the original reel before scanning we need to wind the film (while cleaning it) onto a temporary reel.
    • Then mount the temporary reel on the Sniper unit.
    • Scan the film as you normally would.
    • When the film is on the take-up reel, replace the temporary reel wit the original reel and then rewind the film onto the original reel.
    • The film should now be scanned and the original reel should have the film with the head facing out.

Restoring Film

Purpose: This is to describe how to handle film that has been damaged by mold or shrunken or whatever.  This article is for major film problems.  For minor contamination, check the article called "Clean and Splice Moldy Film".

Here's a list of some major problems that we can deal with:

• water damage and therefore mold on the film's surface
• minor shrinking (1 to 5% shrinkage can still be handled without doing anything, we are talking about 5-10%?)

Summary:

Basically, we need to handle the film carefully so as not to spread the contamination.  First we prepare the work area.  Then, we soak and clean the film.  And in the process of soaking and cleaning the film, we get rid of contaminated reels and boxes by loading the clean film onto new reels.  We soak the film in Filmrenew and therefore the process can take anywhere from a few days to weeks depending on what needs to be done.

Customer needs to be made aware:

• We CANNOT use the original reel or box and therefore we MUST sell them a new reel.  We will splice and combine as many reels as will fit onto the new reel (ie. a 400ft reel will fit 8 small 50ft reels).
• The process can take anywhere from a few days to weeks depending on the problem.
• The cost is by the hour.

Procedure:

1. Determine the problem and the appropriate solution.  All of these solutions involve using Filmrenew and soaking the film for a period of minutes to weeks:

• Is the film covered in mold? - stop mold growth and clean the film - soak in Filmrenew for 1 to 2 minutes
• Is the film stuck together? - soak film to soften film and clean - soak in Filmrenew for 30 to 60 minutes or longer until film starts to separate
• Has the film shrunk more than 5% and less than 10%? - soak film to soften and relax the film - soak in Filmrenew for days?...not sure how long
• Has the film warped or curled or other mis-shaping - soak film to soften and relax the film - soak in Filmrenew for days?...not sure how long

2. Prepare the work area (work in area with lots of fresh air....usually the carport!):

• change into clothes that can get dirty
• Clear and set up the table
• Put the film winder on the table.
• Get the 35mm cans for soaking the film.
• Get the Filmrenew and film cleaning "cloths" (PEC-PAD non-abrasive wipes or soft cloths)
• Get a bucket of solution (Persue & LOC and water) for cleaning your hands and a couple of rags for drying your hands
• To handle the contaminated items, use clamps to hang two "garbage" bags for  next the processing table.  One bag to handle boxes and another to handle reels.
• Get slicer, splice tapes, and leader film.

2. Organize films that will be spliced together.

• Create a folder for the project on K: and create an xls file as follows:  K:\(nnnnnnn) Film Transfers - AAAAA\files\xls\AAAAA  films - info (edit 1.0).xls
• Copy the xls template from.....
• Examine and document the films - in the excel sheet enter information such as notes on the film box, mailing dates, best before dates, etc
• Number each box of film as per documented
• In the excel sheet note the date order of  the films in the "order #" column and sort the films in ascending date order
• Using the DVD #/reel # column, note the reel number based on how many films on each reel.  For example, a 400ft reel will take 8 - 50ft reels, so the first 8 - 50ft reels will have the same reel number
• Organize the reels in a basket in reverse order, and one basket per new reel (ie. a new 400ft reel basket will contain 8 - 50ft reels).

4. Soaking films.

• place the reels with film in the 35mm canister and pour the Filmrenew in to submerge the film
• soak the film for (soaking longer than needed does not cause any damage): - 2 minutes or so for mold problem - 30 to 60 minutes or so if film is stuck together - several days for wrap-age, shrinkage, or other damage that requires the film to soften and relax - place lid on canister and store safely in the shed

5. Cleaning films.

• Change into clothes that can get dirty
• Lift film out of the Filmrenew solution
• Carefully shake off excess liquid
• Run thru film rewinder (outside in carport) using a Filmrenew dampened cloth to remove excess liquid
• Take the film and lay it out (on its edge) in the shed for drying (on clean paper towels) (should really get a proper drying rack in shed...maybe something hanging from the ceiling, etc)
• After you're done with the canister of Filmrenew, pour the Filmrenew into a container of used Filmrenew.
• After the film has dried (a few days)....rewind onto a clean reel

References:

Larry Urbanski's film cleaning instructions:

http://moviecraft.tripod.com/filmclean.html