Date sent:        Fri, 26 Mar 1999 21:33:20 -0500 (EST)
From:             Andrew Davidhazy 
Subject:          Re: fluorescents
To:               infrared@a1.nl
Copies to:        ANDPPH@ritvax.isc.rit.edu
Send reply to:    infrared@a1.nl

My $.02 worth ...

Fluorescent tubes that are sleeved with safelight quality filter material
should not fog photographic papers any more than tungsten ones. The filters
will also remove any UV that _might_ be produced by the tubes.

The biggest trouble IMHO is that fluorescent tubes will usually not turn
off immediately and if used in a film loading room (espcially as unsleeved
tubes and to a lesser extent safelight sleeved ones possibly as well) the 
_light_ that they still emit as "afterglow" will to a lesser or greater extent
fog film.

I am not so sure that what we are talking about is UV emission.

regards,

Andy  o o  0 0 o . o  Andrew Davidhazy, Imaging and Photo Tech
       \/\/\/\/\/\/   http://www.rit.edu/~andpph  716-475-2592  
________|        |____________________________________________



Date sent:        	Fri, 26 Mar 1999 18:16:28 -0600
To:               infrared@a1.nl
From:             Ken Sinclair 
Subject:          Re: fluorescents
Send reply to:    infrared@a1.nl

Hi Stan,
I have worked in numerous darkrooms over the past 40 years. Of three that I
"remember", we had trouble... and it was a "brand-new" facility. The
architects were notified at the time we were into the floor-plan planning
stage, outlets, switches etc and even had a hard time convincing them that
the white light switch was to be installed at between 5 and 6 feet from the
floor. The studio area was to be well lit with 16 banks of 4 tube units
with Duro-Test tubes only... management and the architects had a S**T-fit
(who were we to tell them how to design?!!!!) in the end we got out needed
lighting in the studio but the 2 banks of 4 tube units (cheaper cool white
this time) in the darkroom. Two tungsten units  were "not allowed"
according to standard foot-candle lighting needs at bench working height
(this was a Fed Govt. building) we
survived less than a week with "their" lighting design. After the
management team was notified that sheets of film that had been used to
record an "unrepeatable" experiment results, had all been fogged, most
beyond recovery, by the "afterglow" during loading.
I have heard of two or three "others" who have experienced similar
findings. One friend has tubes with "safelight" sleeves and he has had no
fogging at anytime since that unit was installed... I have to assume that
the sleeve is absorbing any UV.

 >I heard that about "glowing" fluorescents, but I went ahead and
>installed two 8' white tubes on my darkroom ceiling. That was 25  years
>ago; no fog yet on any emulsion. My safelights are red-sleeved 4'
>fluorescents, and they also work well.

>The only time I had problems was with a red LED digital clock that I
>thought would be "safe". Despite the fact that it looked dim, it fogged
>everything!

The other problem I had was remebering to turn my radio on its "face" such
that the red "time" numbers were hidden.. that one burned me a couple of
times until I figured out the cause. The Gray-lab timer was always "turned
away" during film loading.

I guess you have been "lucky"     8-)

Ken

[||/\/\/\/\/\/\||      Ken Sinclair RBP,FBPA
[||                            ||-|   Applied Photographic Services
[||                            ||  |  Lethbridge,
[||                            ||  |  Alberta, Canada,
[||                            ||-|   (403) 381-1654.
[||\/\/\/\/\/\/||      photo1@telusplanet.net
_0___________0______
|__________________ |
                O




Date sent:        Fri, 26 Mar 1999 21:09:42 -0600
Subject:          Re: fluorescents
From:             "Russ Rosener" 
To:               infrared@a1.nl
Send reply to:    infrared@a1.nl

Back in college we used an old black & white portable TV as a safelight! We
fitted a red gel safelight over the screen and could actually watch the TV
while working in in trays. It was certainly a novelty item.....

Russ Rosener

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