Electrical tape for friction control?

ToddB · May 28, 2015

Hey guys, as I mention I solved my issue with that pesky scratch issue, however, I'm think of doing a little preventive mod. Nothing crazy. So as I mention I determined the scratch was coming that metal flange just beyond roller on top and bottom of frame opening. Are you with me? Okay, I was thinking of putting a very thin strip of electrical tape on those flanges so the film is running across Smooth tape and not bare metal as the pressure plate pushes down. What do you think? You input is greatly appreciated.

Todd

jacaquarie · May 28, 2015

Do not use "electrical tape"!
For what it is worth in industrial applications you can find a "Teflon" or Derlin" low friction tape, that is more suitable for your application.
Be aware that "Teflon tape" for plumbing is a different application.

Good luck

bdial · May 28, 2015

Electrical tape might spread adhesive goo onto your film, and if there is any pressure on it, the film will probably wear through it, it wouldn't be my first choice for something touching the film.
The film sliding on metal in itself shouldn't be a problem, IF there are no burrs or other defects in the metal surface. If there is some roughness on the metal, the best solution is probably to polish that spot.
2000 grit sand paper, very fine Scotch Bright, a fingernail buffing pad, Jeweler's rouge or a jeweler's polishing pad all come to mind as possibilities for doing the polishing.

Kirks518 · May 28, 2015

It was broke.
Now it's fixed.
If it ain't broke,
don't fix it.

The design engineers didn't put tape on it, so neither should we.

480sparky · May 28, 2015

bdial said:
Electrical tape might spread adhesive goo onto your film, ..........

Yep. First hot day the lens sees you'll have the equivalent of tree sap.

film_man · May 28, 2015

480sparky said:
Yep. First hot day the lens sees you'll have the equivalent of tree sap.

That's ok because he's not going anywhere hot any time soon, right?

ToddB · May 28, 2015

Athens Greece..

ToddB · May 28, 2015

I just want to make absolutely sure that I've done everything I can not have this problem again. I absolutely adore this camera.

Todd

Steve Smith · May 28, 2015

The pressure plate should not be applying pressure to the film.

Steve.

Trask · May 28, 2015

If you do want to use tape, I suggest Ultra-High Molecular Weight (UHMW) tape that is specifically designed to be very low friction. I just bought a two-inch by five foot roll from U.S. vendor CS Hyde in black (Item number 19-5BLK-2-5) and have used it in one of my bulk loaders to ensure no scratches. It is very thin (0.005 inch) and has a very strong adhesive. The one I bought is also anti-static.

I have an old Exakta that has a less-than-pristine pressure plate that I'll cover with this tape; the extra thickness of the tape will increase pressure on the film only minimally. There was a recent separate discussion about a guy's Russian panoramic camera that had a lot of friction issues, so he put lubricant on the curved film rails. I would not suggest putting UHMW on film rails because that would effectively move the film out of the film plane by 0.005 inch - perhaps that's not significant enough to affect focus on anything other than an f/0.95 lens, but I'm not enough of an engineer to know that. But if someone can confirm that 0.005 inch isn't significant, UHMW on film rails might be what some people are looking for.

Anyway, this UHMW tape gets two thumbs up from me. It isn't cheap ($32 including shipping) but I'll never need another roll in this lifetime.

Oh -- can also us UHMW tape on drawers that want to stick, makes 'em glide right along. Neat stuff.

ic-racer · May 28, 2015

Steve Smith said:
The pressure plate should not be applying pressure to the film.

Steve.

Yes, and the emulsion of the film should only be touching either backing paper or the rollers. Nothing else. If the emulsion is touching the edge of the film gate, then the film gate could be bent or damaged and should be repaired.

Steve Smith · May 28, 2015

Putting tape on the pressure plate itself shouldn't be a problem as the tape will just make it stand off from the outer rails by an extra amount eual to the tape thickness. The position of the back surface relative to the film will remain the same.

But as I stated earlier, there is no pressure exerted on the film by the pressure plate. It just leaves a small gap for the film to pass through.

Steve.

ToddB · May 28, 2015

Thanks for all the info on the workings of a Rollei. I've been contacted by local reputable camera repair place locally that agreed to make sure that there no more issue.

250swb · May 28, 2015

I think that people forget tape has glue that goes right to the edge, and a hot day will allow it to ooze out at the edges, possibly gluing your film's backing paper to the pressure plate. So yes, a proper repair is needed if it really needs repairing a second time.

Steve

Dan Daniel · May 29, 2015

The 'preventive maintenenace' on a Rolleiflex is getting it serviced properly. There's very little chance that you could improve on Rollei's design. If it isn't working, fix it, don't kludge it.

hamradio · May 29, 2015

I think we're way overthinking tape, here.

Sure, electrical tape gets all gooey, but it'll probably work juuuuust fine for what the OP needs. The cheaper stuff is probably better for this application...the nice 3m stuff gets nasty on a hot day, but the cheapest worst electrical tape I could find has no signs of gooiness on the outside of a body of mine after a year. Could use some 'magic' tape or a little chunk of packing tape and avoid that gooiness altogether. Or sand the roughness down with 2000 grit sandpaper as mentioned. As long as it doesn't affect the film plane, I don't think the actual tape matters very much. You don't need some special Teflon stuff, nor need fear your tape catastrophically failing.

Electrical tape for friction control?

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