Jammed Film In Developing Reel

[Royale With Cheese]

Hi guys

just wanna check. Lately for the past 2 consecutive rolls of film, I've experience my film jamming up in the reel while reeling it half way.

Extremely frustrating. I did cut the leader & rounded the ages of the film before feeding into the reel.
Could it be the my reel are screwed? I've got no other explanation...... Tried 2 different reels but same problem? :dunno:

The reels honestly look physical fine to me except its slight yellowish tint due to lots of developing.

I'm using the AP reels that came with the tank.

 

[zk-diq]

Trim the leading edge , when you cut through the punch hole area, the sharp tip of film cause the half way jam. When you roll fast.

 

[catchlights]

paterson plastic reel? check the ball bearing, and make sure your reel is 100% dry.

 

[kgston]

were your hands sweaty, reel not 100% dry?? often high humidity and reels that are not 100% dry will also cause these problems...

 

[obscure]

Generally, AP reels dont work as well as patersons. I have both of similar vintages and i would say paterson is a lot better.

AP's plastic reels has a bit more friction i feel whereas the Paterson ones seemed slippery( i think it is made of nylon)

Check if the AP ball bearings are rusted. You will probably have to replace it.

Another way is to stick both the film in canister with the leader out and trimmed and the reel in a dry box over night and load it immediately afterwards.

If you using a film changing bag stick it in the dry box as well. Hope it helps.

 

[KWYLEE]

A trick I learnt from a certain dealer with a wall of polaroids is to load the film negs from the back end and not the front end of the neg roll.

 

[dankwan]

A trick I learnt from a certain dealer with a wall of polaroids is to load the film negs from the back end and not the front end of the neg roll.

:thumbsup: yup that works great and if you can get yourself a dark changing tent, I find the dark bags a bit cumbersome

 

[adamadam]

I got new reels and that helped me!

 

[nstclicks]

Another way is to stick both the film in canister with the leader out and trimmed and the reel in a dry box over night and load it immediately afterwards.

If you using a film changing bag stick it in the dry box as well. Hope it helps.

Humidity could be the cause if you only have the problem when the weather is hot/humid. If you have silica gel in sachets you can put the film and reel together with the silica gel inside the tank to dry everything off.

 

[Royale With Cheese]

Thanks for the suggestion guys.

Just a heads up, after my film got jammed the 2nd time, it was rather frustrating. After developing the 2nd reel, I dry my reels under the fan, use a 1999 expired delta 100 film & loaded it into the reel in day light, went in smooth & perfect, so I believe my reels are still good.

Could be like what you guys are saying, could be un-seen moisture on the reels or ball bearings. I'll currently having a fan blowing at my reels to make sure they are dry now

Gonna load one roll in & pray hard its gonna be alright this time.

 

[Royale With Cheese]

Hi guys

Just a quick update on this thread.

Ok, I just loaded my film into the reel. Had the same problems as before, film jamming in reel.

I've used the Hexar RF for a very long time & never had this problem. Problem only occurred when I'm currently on the M2.

I think its because of the way the M2 takes up the film in its spool in the camera, it causes the film the bend the other way instead of being curl up on the same direction as the developing reel.

Solution? KWYLEE, you & Chiif are genius. Fully pull out the entire length of film, load from the end of the film into the developing reel.

Slightly challenging as I had to cut the film at the end in the dark & round the film end with a scissors in the dark as well but it went in as smooth as butter :thumbsup:

Wongsan I'm not sure if you are reading this but I remember this afternoon you told me you had the same problem, try loading the end of the film into the reel, seriously much easier.

I didnt do all this in the dark bag of course, too small, I was in my store room with the door shut. Just place the darkbag on the floor to rest the film on when the entire length is out & also leave it un-zipped so if anything screws up, just chuck the film into the dark bag & go out for a tea break then come back & continue

 

[invisibl3]

bro u can always try to reload the other way instead of pulling the whole roll of film out..
i would try not to pull the whole roll out as sometimes it might get scratches when reeling the film..
Also usually if i the film gets stuck half way through i would just slowly turn the reel as long as the reel can move a bit(something like 2 or 3 cm) the film is still moving just that it will take longer to load.

Hope this helps

 

[Royale With Cheese]

hi bro, my cant, the entire thing gets stuck & the film cannot move at all :sweat:

 

[kgston]

I don't understand how pulling the entire roll of film out and load it from the other end will help though.. All I know is that you'll end up with quite a big mess in your cramp darkbag with film all over the place...lols.. and you might get scratches or fingerprints on the emulsion.. though that is minor..modern film emulsion is pretty tough actually..

 

[zk-diq]

I don't understand how pulling the entire roll of film out and load it from the other end will help though.. All I know is that you'll end up with quite a big mess in your cramp darkbag with film all over the place...lols.. and you might get scratches or fingerprints on the emulsion.. though that is minor..modern film emulsion is pretty tough actually..

The leading front curve more than the end part of roll.

 

[Royale With Cheese]

I don't understand how pulling the entire roll of film out and load it from the other end will help though.. All I know is that you'll end up with quite a big mess in your cramp darkbag with film all over the place...lols.. and you might get scratches or fingerprints on the emulsion.. though that is minor..modern film emulsion is pretty tough actually..

I didnt do it in my dark bag, did it in the store room.

quite easy actually. easier than doing in the dark bag

 

[dankwan]

I didnt do it in my dark bag, did it in the store room.

quite easy actually. easier than doing in the dark bag

gary, i also find stainless steel reels a lot easier to load although you need to get used to it, not expensive (arista from freestyle) but you do need different reels for different film sizes. the plastic/nylon ones albeit convenient are a little more trouble. I find that steel reels have better flow at edges for more even development.

the plastic/nylon reels also get a little sticky and stained over time...thats the OCD part of me talking

 

[Royale With Cheese]

gary, i also find stainless steel reels a lot easier to load although you need to get used to it, not expensive (arista from freestyle) but you do need different reels for different film sizes. the plastic/nylon ones albeit convenient are a little more trouble. I find that steel reels have better flow at edges for more even development.

the plastic/nylon reels also get a little sticky and stained over time...thats the OCD part of me talking

haha!

No worries Dan. My plastic reel is quite yellow now!

 

[Royale With Cheese]

Just an update on this one guys.

I confirm loading the film by the end instead of the start is easier & I've re-solved all my film jamming in the reel problems.

Last night I did 2 rolls at once. I do this in the store room with the door shut instead of in the dark bag where movement is rather restricted.

Lay dark changing bag on the floor & pull the full reel of film & lay it on the dark bag, floor could be dusty, so lay on dark changing bag.
Pull out entire length of film, cut & round the edges in the dark then feed into the reel.

Of course, before you off the lights in the store room, just remember where you position your scissors, developing tank & reels

 

[wongsan]

I had problem before but not last night.
I did three rolls loading from the front.

The only new thing I did was to dry the reels with a hair dryer.

PS. One of my reels dropped on the floor and the ball bearing came off Need to buy a new one now