Film jammed in the dark bag

[Bee Hedge]

Hi Clubsnappers,

I'm not sure if this has happen to you before.

I was trying to load my film (35mm) on to the film reel (plastic), then it got jammed. I unloaded the film and tried to reload it back to the film reel and it got jammed again. Tried it many many times and finally managed to load it in. Films were quite badly scratched by then.

Any of you experienced this before? What could be the probable reason?

Regards,
Brian

 

[student]

Hi Clubsnappers,

I'm not sure if this has happen to you before.

I was trying to load my film (35mm) on to the film reel (plastic), then it got jammed. I unloaded the film and tried to reload it back to the film reel and it got jammed again. Tried it many many times and finally managed to load it in. Films were quite badly scratched by then.

Any of you experienced this before? What could be the probable reason?

Regards,
Brian

Several possibilities.

The most common reason is moist reels.

 

[nightwolf75]

Hi Clubsnappers,

I'm not sure if this has happen to you before.

I was trying to load my film (35mm) on to the film reel (plastic), then it got jammed. I unloaded the film and tried to reload it back to the film reel and it got jammed again. Tried it many many times and finally managed to load it in. Films were quite badly scratched by then.

Any of you experienced this before? What could be the probable reason?

Regards,
Brian

using the paterson plastic tank and reels?

mine too. christopher over at CP suggested could be due to dirty ball-bearings. thus, it cannot catch hold of the film properly. also the plastic reels could have accumulated a lot of silver crystals along the edge, leading to the same problem. i gave up on my plastic reels and tank and got hold of stainless steel ones.

 

[student]

using the paterson plastic tank and reels?

mine too. christopher over at CP suggested could be due to dirty ball-bearings. thus, it cannot catch hold of the film properly. also the plastic reels could have accumulated a lot of silver crystals along the edge, leading to the same problem. i gave up on my plastic reels and tank and got hold of stainless steel ones.

Sam, would be interested to know your experience with the stainless steel reels.

But I am still very happy with my plastic reels after 5-6 years of fairly heavy usage. Just processed 10 rolls two days ago without a single hitch.

Pass your reels to me and see if I can load films on them.

 

[nightwolf75]

Sam, would be interested to know your experience with the stainless reels.

But I am still very happy with my plastic reels after 5-6 years of fairly heavy usage. Just process 10 rolls two days ago without a single hitch.

Pass your reels to me and see if I can load films on them.

experience? heck... its a real S.O.B to load the film, especially in the bag! :sweat: i thot i got it figured out in daylight using a practice strip. however, once loaded into the bag, i got one heck of a time trying to feel for the metal teeth dat was supposed to grip the spocket holes... took me 1/2 hr to finally load one reel. processing wise, its the same. just pour the chemicals thru the funnel hole, shake and serve on rocks...

*no... wait. dats my martini receipe...* :sweatsm:

pass my reels? sure! PM me ur add, and i'll post it over? i dunno if i got the time to visit COL these days...

 

[student]

experience? heck... its a real S.O.B to load the film, especially in the bag! :sweat: i thot i got it figured out in daylight using a practice strip. however, once loaded into the bag, i got one heck of a time trying to feel for the metal teeth dat was supposed to grip the spocket holes... took me 1/2 hr to finally load one reel. processing wise, its the same. just pour the chemicals thru the funnel hole, shake and serve on rocks...

*no... wait. dats my martini receipe...* :sweatsm:

pass my reels? sure! PM me ur add, and i'll post it over? i dunno if i got the time to visit COL these days...

Sam,

PM me your contact and address and I will find a day/evening to drive over to see where the problem is. It is perplexing to me,and I just wanted to find out why. Just kaypoh!

 

[Bee Hedge]

Hmmm....good idea....let me try a test roll

 

[ricohflex]

yah, I agree with earlier posters.
dirty ball bearings.

actually a piece of cake to load once you get used to it

or your tank's two flanges (adjustable vertically in some reels to also accomodate 120 film) are slightly wrongly adjusted, so the film is jammed. Not enough space for it to pass.

 

[excelsius]

most probably moist reels. i know a guy who use a hairdryer to dry his reels sometimes.

 

[lazylagoon]

these things happened to me when i began to develop film some time before as well..

my reason was the ends of the film, either not cut/rounded off properly or curled the opposite way, making it difficult to feed smoothly...

 

[excelsius]

these things happened to me when i began to develop film some time before as well..

my reason was the ends of the film, either not cut/rounded off properly or curled the opposite way, making it difficult to feed smoothly...

yeah usually i snip both sides to make it more smooth.

 

[student]

yeah usually i snip both sides to make it more smooth.

I have never bothered to snip both sides and yet still have no problems.

 

[kex]

can use a hair dryer to blow the reels for a min or 2 before loading..

 

[excelsius]

I have never bothered to snip both sides and yet still have no problems.

comes with practice i guess.

 

[Bee Hedge]

Hmmm....yes. The film end was indeed curled the opposite side. That prob explains the problem. Thanks a lot guys. U have been a great help!! :thumbsup:

these things happened to me when i began to develop film some time before as well..

my reason was the ends of the film, either not cut/rounded off properly or curled the opposite way, making it difficult to feed smoothly...

 

[sriram]

The biggest culprit is humidity (for me at least). I used Jobo plastic reels with no problems, but had to have the aircon on for a while, let the room cool down and become less humid, get everything in the changing bag, and roll it quickly. If I spend much time fumbling around, it's guaranteed to stick and get messed up.

Do you get Jobo stuff here these days?

 

[hondasleeper]

With the Jobo reels. just make sure that the ball bearings in the reels are not stuck or crusted over with fixer, just make sure they are moving freely, not too sure if humidity has anything to do with them getting stuck. Then again, I have had the luxury of using a totally blacked out room to load my film, be it 4x5 holders or film to be processed.

 

[Bee Hedge]

If humidity is the biggest problem, would it help if I keep those reels in the dry cabinet. Taking them out only when I need to use them. Would that help?

The biggest culprit is humidity (for me at least). I used Jobo plastic reels with no problems, but had to have the aircon on for a while, let the room cool down and become less humid, get everything in the changing bag, and roll it quickly. If I spend much time fumbling around, it's guaranteed to stick and get messed up.

Do you get Jobo stuff here these days?

 

[sriram]

If humidity is the biggest problem, would it help if I keep those reels in the dry cabinet. Taking them out only when I need to use them. Would that help?

Not really. You'd be amazed at how much moisture your body contains. Just put your hands in a changing bag and keep it in there for a few minutes. Feel the sweat

 

[icarus]

Load the film in a dark room (preferably with air-con) :sweatsm: :sweatsm: :sweatsm: