Film stucks in reel

I have just skimmed through five pages of answers here, so forgive me if this has been mentioned already.


Pay particular attention to the ball bearings, they have a habit of retaining water behind them, just out of sight.
They require moving around a few times with the tip of a rolled up tissue.

I have had the problem of moisture when using a changing bag and no longer use one for loading films.

Something I have not seen mentioned here is when the film is jamming. Put the film loose into the tank to protect it from daylight, then get a bowl of water large enough to hold the reel and film under water.
Take the whole lot into a proper darkroom.
Place the spool and the film into the water and proceed to load it in the normal way, holding the reel under water all the time.

I have only had to do this a few times. Believe me it does work.

Good Luck

I wish I hadn't read this thread. Now I want some blackened redfish, coleslaw, and a cup of gumbo. To me, that's a whole lot tastier than an old dead crab, but Louisiana and Mississippi are a long way from Arkansas.

In my dozens of years using Nikkor et al for 35mm, 126, 120, 220, or 50 exposure rolls of 70mm, it's never occurred to me to need ball bearings or pencils, or loading under water.

Live and learn.

Just for the fun of it, I think I'll use denture fizzy tablets to see if it'll clean my oldest plastic reels and when the fizz ends, start them and the solution into a sonic washer.

That's the beauty of non-mechanical metal reels....

GregY said:

That's the beauty of non-mechanical metal reels....

Click to expand...

Or l, of having multiples of the same type to work with, however, steel reels and tanks are so easy to use, clean and prepare for a second round in multiple consecutive sessions, other than 70mm, I see no reason to go to plastics for most darkroom work.

Until I find or make a SS reel and tank for myself.

Or like I do, just use the JOBO reels.