16mm vinegar

[Luigi Castellitto]

I have an old 16mm Karel Zeman short that has a LIGHT vinegar smell, I don't know if it can be a principle of vinegar syndrome (acetosis).
How do I behave? I have never had films with vinegar smell.
Does a pass of Filmguard help it?
Thank you.

[Daniel D. Teoli Jr.]

I've tried all sorts of film renewals. About 75%+ of my archive has vinegar. Can't say they do much. They may do something, but I can't say because there is no magic. The vinegar smell is replaced by chemical smell. The warping does not seem to be better, but maybe it is by a few %. In other words, any benefit is very slim so hard to notice. Get a hi grade scan of it and put on M-Disc  /  BR-D

You can freeze it and also freeze the degradation. Unfreeze an degradation starts and is accelerated in the heat. If it is not bad don't worry much. Air it out for a few months in no can. They store in a vented can.

Here are some of my posts on vinegar.

Some are nsfw

https://danieldteolijrarchivalcollection.wordpress.com/?s=vinegar+syndrome

Good luck!

 

Edited July 30, 2020 by Daniel D. Teoli Jr.

[Mark Dunn]

+1 above. Scan and print (on polyester stock!) if you can afford it.

Also, keep it away from other films. You can buy A-D indicator strips, but they only tell you how bad the vinegaring is, they don't fix it because it's irreversible- all you can do is slow it down.

Some research here on vented cans. They reduce the acid level by 25x. You could drill the holes yourself. In fact I'm probably going to do it for my own films.

https://dancan.dk/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/AMIA_Vented_Film_Cans.pdf

 

Edited July 31, 2020 by Mark Dunn