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We had a sprinkler head go bad tonight and spray water from the top of the building down. The film that was running in that theater got a little bit wet. Luckily it was not running to the top platter, so it could have been worse. But it seems to have picked up a lot of moisture and is really sticky. Can anyone give me some advise on how to handle the film without doing any more damage than has already occured? The film has run about half way through and film on both take up and and feed out platters is sticky.

I think the Film-Tech.com webpage may have better info on water damaged prints. I think you lightly spray Film Guard on the print as it sits on the platter then gently rub a cloth over the edge of the film. I've never had water damage to a print yet, but double check on the Film Guard link on film-tech.

Brad Miller says treatment with Film-Guard has sometimes been able to provide enough lubrication to allow a damp print to be projected.

If only a short section of print is wet and sticky, you should "festoon" the film to let it dry out completely. A few hundred feet of film can be unwound into a "heap of spaghetti" on a perfectly CLEAN floor. The film will dry in a few hours, and then can be carefully wound back up, and then cleaned to remove any dirt it may have picked up.

Do NOT let really wet film dry out while it is still wound in a roll. The wet gelatin emulsion is like glue, and will stick together when it dries again.

If large quanities of film get flooded, keep the film submerged in clear water, and have the distributor arrange to have a lab "reprocess" and dry the film on a processing machine:
http://www.kodak.com/US/en/motion/support/processing/operating7.shtml#rewashing
http://www.kodak.com/US/en/motion/support/technical/hand.shtml
http://www.kodak.com/US/en/motion/support/technical/hand2.shtml

Kodak provides "disaster recovery" services for our microfilm customers to recover valuable information in the event of flooding or fire. Kodak helped recover many business and medical files damaged in the 9/11 tragedy.

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John P. Pytlak, Senior Technical Specialist
Customer Technical Services
Entertainment Imaging
Research Labs, Building 69, Room 7525A
Eastman Kodak Company
Rochester, NY 14650-1922
Telephone: 585-477-5325 Cell: 585-781-4036 Fax: 585-722-7243
E-Mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Website: http://www.kodak.com/go/motion

[This message has been edited by John Pytlak (edited July 10, 2003).]

Thanks Ken & John for your help. I just finished tearing it down since it was leaving today any way and that theater is going to be down for at least a week. The film wasn't as damaged as I was afraid of last night. While not great, there was just one small area on one reel that was really bad. Technicolor has been informed. Hopefully, they will replace that reel before sending it on. Anyway, Thanks again. Linda