Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: So, How do you get oil off a print?

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Posted by Dustin Mitchell (Member # 372) on 05-02-2000, 06:16 PM:

So I come in today and this is the story I hear. Apparently during the afternoon yesterday one of our Century was, "spraying oil all over the place." I have no idea what happened, and it has stopped now. The projector ran fine today. I didn't want to run it, we have one of our Rules prints in there, only shows at 2, 5, and 8-people wouldn't have complained to much had we not run it seeing as there are 1, 4, 7, and 9:45 shows. But my manager more or less over ruled me. "Is it doing it now?" he asked. "No, but-" I said. "Well run it and see what happens." >shoulders slump< "Ok."

Anyway, we're having MTS come out and look at it plus a few other things. The problem I have now-how do I get all this f*cking oil off our print.

God, I'm going to strangle the 'projectionist' who was on duty yesterday next time I see him .

Posted by John Walsh (Member # 168) on 05-02-2000, 07:09 PM:

The way you get oil off of a print is by getting a new print. It will never come off. Try to get some Film-Guard and see what happens; it might reduce the problem until a new print arrives (you need a film cleaner to apply it.) Seems like a good idea to take advantage of an accident to test it.

Posted by Dustin Mitchell (Member # 372) on 05-02-2000, 07:12 PM:

Well, we have filmguard, but no Kelmar cleaner

. I'm going to bet we lose the print on the 12th. Seeing as how it does maybe 5 people a day, I'm not sure if ordering a replacement print is worth the effort.

Posted by Russ Kress (Member # 461) on 05-02-2000, 07:54 PM:

Dustin, the only hope of (limited) oil removal would be a media cleaner. It will get "most" of the oil but that print will be a dirt magnet for the rest of its life. Every subsiquent run is going to reveal new and exciting dirt specks on the screen!

I am both manager and operator at my theater. The guy who said "run it and see what happens" should take the blame for the replacement print. (He should also have to clean that head!)

Russ

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 05-02-2000, 11:14 PM:

Run it through 3 brand new sets of dry media pads. Then run it through a new set of pads soaked in FilmGuard. It should be ok, but you might have some minor color bleeding from the oil.

Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 05-03-2000, 05:41 AM:

I agree that the best option, short of getting a replacement print, would be to run it through a media cleaner (Kelmar or Christie), treating it with FilmGuard. The solvent in FilmGuard should help dissolve and "spread out" the oil. Much better to have a very thin coating of oil evenly spread out than large patches of viscous oil causing mottle, attracting dirt, and sticking together.

Brad is correct that any oil on a print risks leaching the oil soluble dyes from the film, especially in areas of abrasion where the oil can penetrate through the emulsion's protective overcoat and get into the dye layers. If this happens, the first sign will be colored spots in darker areas of the print, or migration of the dyes from dark areas of the print to adjacent light areas, causing a colored "halo". Wiping the oil with a white tissue will show color from the dyes being leached from the film. If this happens, your theatre should take responsibility for the damage.

BTW, hopefully you checked the oil level in he intermittent before running it again. If it "was spraying oil all over the place", it may be very low on oil. Frankly, I would not run that projector until the problem was fixed.

------------------
John P. Pytlak, Senior Technical Specialist
Worldwide Technical Services, Entertainment Imaging
Eastman Kodak Company
Research Labs, Building 69, Room 7419
Rochester, New York, 14650-1922 USA
Tel: 716-477-5325 Fax: 716-722-7243
E-Mail: john.pytlak@kodak.com

Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 05-03-2000, 08:19 AM:

Ack. It sounds like someone either over-oiled or under-oiled that machine. Or maybe forgot to tighten the oil-drain screw at the bottom of the intermittent. The (old) Centurys that I've worked with only leaked oil on the gear side (until John Walsh told me about the fill-hole and plug on that side of the intermittent), but never got oil on the film.

Posted by Dustin Mitchell (Member # 372) on 05-03-2000, 09:52 AM:

Yes, I checked the oil level, it was about 1/4 full. I filled it back up to half and then with a shaking finger hit the manual start button-nothing. No, I didn't want to run the projector either, but as stated above, I was over ruled.

Posted by Dustin Mitchell (Member # 372) on 05-03-2000, 12:59 PM:

Hold on, new info. The story I got told before about "spraying oil" was totaly wrong. I talked to the operator who was on dury Monday and from what he says, he didn't have the oil nozel in there right. So when he pumped the handle to oil the projector it just ran all over the place. He said he cleaned it, but then the next show the film felt oily. I took a closer look and it turns our only the leader and part of the first trailer have oil on them. *whew*

. I feel a lot better now.

Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 05-03-2000, 01:21 PM:

Dustin:

If he was oiling the projector, why was the intermittent only 1/4 full when you checked it? Someone's not telling you the full story.

Posted by Chris Rhode (Member # 448) on 05-03-2000, 11:35 PM:

I had an experience not too long ago. I was gone that day but apparently some retard projectionist that works at my theater thought it would be funny to take the oil can and start spraying it all over the place. It ended up getting on a print of Erik Brokovich. It also got all over the floor as well. Did anybody confess to it? Goodness no! Because if they did, they would have been fired on the spot. Has anybody else had this kind of thing happen to them as well? It really irritates me that somebody working up in projection would do something like that. Then again, I work for a certain theater chain that starts with the first letter of the alphabet that doesn't care who they put up in projection, just as long as movies start and everything is on time.

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Chris Rhode
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chrisrhode@hotmail.com

My reputation preceeds me..... in fact, it arrived about 45 years ago!

Posted by Scott Magie (Member # 368) on 05-04-2000, 12:21 AM:

Chris, is "Erik" Erin's brother?

Posted by Chris Rhode (Member # 448) on 05-04-2000, 09:49 AM:

Correction: Erik is supposed to be Erin. It was 1:30am and my stupid keyboard has a mind of its own (its nocturnal you know!!) It sleeps during the day and it starts to act up at night (especially when I am typing or otherwise doing something important.)

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Chris Rhode
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chrisrhode@hotmail.com

My reputation preceeds me..... in fact, it arrived about 45 years ago!