8mm Forum: Smelly mgm super 8mm prints Vinegar syndrome ????

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Posted by Nigel Higgins (Member # 4312) on July 23, 2014, 01:32 PM:

H i , dont know if anyone can help but i brought some films from 2 diffrent sources and have too mgm 400FT cut downs
north by northwest ,an american in paris and both smell real strong of vinegar does that mean they are gone and need to be binned or can they be saved and is it safe to keep them near other films or evern project them ,i dont wish to damage any other films or my projector ,and is this the dreaded vinegar syndrome has anyone else had these mgm prints like it ???

Posted by Dominique De Bast (Member # 3798) on July 24, 2014, 01:51 AM:

There is a thread about curing the smell in the 16 mm section. Opinions about the fact that it is contagious or not varie. As a precaution, it is of course wise to put these films appart from the others. It was suggested in the thread to clean the projector with alcool after having projected an a affected film (but cleaning with alcool is a general advise and, in my opinion, should be done regularly).

Posted by Mark Todd (Member # 96) on July 24, 2014, 04:34 AM:

Hi yes I`ve had some too, a 400 and a 200 but can`t remember the titles.

Best thing you can do is nip out straight to the bin with them really. Shame but best bet. I would`nt run them through your projector. If you already have give it a really thorough clean all the way through the film path, then run a not so great film through a few times then throw that too.

Best Mark.

Posted by Steve Klare (Member # 12) on July 24, 2014, 08:24 AM:

Most Super-8 commercial prints are polyester based and polyester is VS immune.

Can a poly print smell of vinegar? Actually, yes.

One of mine (a whole feature...) showed up with a vinegar smell despite being polyester. My best guess is that it had been in a collection with VS infected acetate prints and the boxes and to a lesser extent the film were saturated with the odor.

(Used films sometimes show up stinking of cigarettes, but that doesn't mean they smoke. Right?)

Maybe step one is to figure our what the base material is. Does the film look amber in color when you hold the reel sideways to the light? If so: poly. If black in color: acetate. Does it easily take a cement splice? If so: acetate. If not: poly.

If nothing else, maybe isolate them off away from everything else and let nature take its course: maybe they will air out. Mine did.

What's the harm in trying?

Posted by Gary Crawford (Member # 67) on July 24, 2014, 10:08 AM:

I've been collecting 8mm since 1959...super 8 since it came in...and have never encountered a vinegar 8mm print. I have a few 16's with it, but so far, no 8mm. Guess I'm lucky

Posted by Nigel Higgins (Member # 4312) on July 24, 2014, 10:47 AM:

Hi, thanks for advice all i think the bin is just best option ,i havent projected them so no problem there ,i know it maybe sounds a bit weird but i allways smell films before projecting ,that smell is awful luckly these films are neither rare or valuable .

Posted by Bill Brandenstein (Member # 892) on July 24, 2014, 04:54 PM:

I don't understand why projecting them would be a problem. Cleaning everything in the film path with alcohol afterwards is a great precaution, but so is letting the projector air out for a few days. It just doesn't seem reasonable to me that projector parts could absorb enough acetic acid simply by film passing through to affect, let alone infect, other films. That hardly qualifies as a steady state of chemical presence.

So in my opinion, DON'T bin them. But do keep them airing out and away from all your other films.

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