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Vinegar Syndrome and A-D Strips

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  • Vinegar Syndrome and A-D Strips

    A depressing experience I had last week with vinegar syndrome and A-D strips. First my film collecting history. Like many of us, I bought 8mm 50’ Castle shorts as a kid. I still have most of them. Advanced to S8 sound then to 16mm. Purchased from local camera shops, the Big Reel, and then eBay. Say 1968 to today. Basically from all different sources from all over the country, Brand new and old. Have maybe 200-300 reels stored mostly in plastic cans or cardboard art boxes. Living in Northern California in what I would say fairly ideal storage conditions. Not too hot or damp. Films are stored in many different areas.

    Now to VS and the strips. I purchased 250 A-D from RIT Image Permanence Institute to test a few prints that had a vinegar smell. Within minutes of placing the strips, they turned from blue to yellow. The worst end of a test. The prints are gone. I had already separated the films a long time ago and was getting ready to destroy them anyway, so I wasn’t surprised. Then I decided to test a U8 16mm print of the Mummy’s Ghost 800’ I purchased directly from U8 back in 1979. After a day I opened the can to my dismay it had turned green. A middle state of VS according to the VS card provided by RIT. I then decided to try a Castle Films print 16mm I had purchased new. Same green. At this point, I was in a state of increasing dismay. So I decided to spend a few days and place 150 strips in 150 films. Again from all different years and stored in many different places. After a week I started opening the plastic cans and Blackhawk/Castle cardboard boxes and was “shocked” to find every single film strip was green. Even the Castle 50ers I purchased as a kid in the 60s. Nothing came up blue with no change. None of the films had any smell whatsoever. None! After a sleepless night or two, I’m left with 2 conclusions. My entire collection is dying or the A-D strips are not quite what they say to be. Sure the known vinegar prints respond quickly. But are all my prints dying? Or do almost all everywhere show green after 10 years or so? Would love to hear from others about their experiences with these test strips and testing. Is our collecting hobby doomed and if so how long do we have? Thanks and hope to hear something positive. :-(

  • #2
    I read somewhere that it is normal for very old films to turn the strips to level 1. As long as there is no warping they should be fine for some time. I would test them ever so often to make sure they don't progress further.

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    • #3
      Your right film is 99% old for sure. Just never thought they would all be starting VS. Which seems to be the case. The smell test might be good enough. Thanks.

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      • #4
        Originally posted by Tom Wyrsch View Post
        ...After a sleepless night or two, I’m left with 2 conclusions. My entire collection is dying or the A-D strips are not quite what they say to be. Sure the known vinegar prints respond quickly. But are all my prints dying? Or do almost all everywhere show green after 10 years or so? Would love to hear from others about their experiences with these test strips and testing. Is our collecting hobby doomed and if so how long do we have? Thanks and hope to hear something positive. :-(
        Tom, all acetate film will develop VS. It can be slowed down, but it can not be stopped. If you want to extend the life of your films you should store them in a cool environment. The best post on this subject was done by Ben Klesc in July of 2021. You will find Ben's post, "Preparing film for long term storage in freezer​ ", at:

        https://8mmforum.film-tech.com/vbb/f...age-in-freezer

        If you continue to store your films in "average" conditions, you may get another 25 years out of them. The closer your storage temperature gets to zero degrees (F) the longer they will last.

        I would also encourage you to search this forum (including the forum archive) for more information.

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        • #5
          Excellent post to read. Very informative. Thanks.

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          • #6
            Tom, it's not your collection...I'm not familiar with those particular strips...like yourself, I also started with Headliners and Blackhawk, Castle, etc...always maintaining them in their original light cardboard boxes...they last longer than closed in a can, whether metal, plastic or even a cardboard can...air circulation is as important to acetate as it is for paper...now, point is I have experimented with baking soda as a preventive..placing dabs of it within the holes of the film reel, and sprinkled liberally inside the original boxes...had a 200' 8mm which was really strong, conducted a 10-day procedure, including cleaning the film...after a week, AD -Strip went from 1 to 4...this was done several months ago, the smell has stayed away...other than the usual aroma of old cardboard, the print is intact...I wasn't about to trash a rare Chase/Hardy silent (BROMO & JULIET).. anyway, that's my nickel on it, always experimenting with ideas...Shorty

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            • #7
              Thanks, Shorty. I'm feeling a lot better about my collection after posting my story. Nothing lasts forever. I was mainly worried everything was on its way out very soon. Most of the collection will outlast me, as I see it now. After that . . . . . . . . Tom

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