Help ! 35mm developing tank

[dustym]

film bunching on spool about two thirds on, happened 3 times now on practice film do I need to consider spool damaged and replace tank

rgds
Dusty

 

[reellis67]

Assuming that you are using stainless steel, sit the reel flat on a table and look to see if it appears bent. If one side is higher than the other (you will want to rotate it to see if it changes as it turns) then you need to replace the reel. The tank is very likely fine. When they get bent, the film doesn't stay in place very well and can cause problems like what you are describing.

- Randy

 

[Nick Zentena]

New reel or used? What kind?

Assume you just need more reps.

 

[srs5694]

It sounds like a plastic reeel that jams to me. I had the same problem with both AP and Paterson reels, so I ended up switching to a stainless steel tank with Hewes reels. For me, this is much easier to load than the plastic reels that liked to jam. The Hewes reels are a bit unusual because they use a couple of "teeth" to hook the first pair of sprockets on the film, rather than the more common clip to snag the center portion of the film. The Hewes design makes it easier to properly center the film on the reel. I don't know how much of a difference this makes; although I've got a couple of reels with the center-clip design, they're used and slightly bent, which causes bad loading problems.

 

[fschifano]

If plastic, it is unlikely that the reels are bent. Make sure that they are completely dry and that your round off the leading edge of the film before loading. If stainless steel, there is a good possibility that the reels are out of alignment. This is especially true of the cheap, no name brand. I once bought a set of these thinking I'd save some money. No dice. Couldn't get them to load for love or money. Traded them in for a set of Hewes reels and have had no trouble since. They are pricey, but you only need to buy them once.

 

[dustym]

Thanks people the spool is warped ive bought a replacement tank, the offending tank was quite old, when a little more cashed up I will go for a system that uses metal spools.

Rgds
Dusty

 

[kaiyen]

I'm not sure this will help, but for some photos of how I load my reels...

http://www.kaiyen.com/photos/pages/reels_tanks.html

 

[dustym]

Very helpful, thankyou very much

dusty

 

[MattKing]

This suggestion might help as well.

When you load the film, you are advancing it into the reel in stages - one small advance at a time. For plastic reels, the film starts out at the outside, and is pushed in to the spiral channel. For steel reels, the film starts out at the center of the reel, and is fitted into the spiral channel, moving out.

In each case, every time you feed more film, you should "wiggle" it (push it in and pull it out slightly) afterward. If the film is being loaded correctly, it will wiggle easily. If it is not, it will bind. Doing this after each step will usually clear the wrinkle or bind before the problem forces you to start over. If not, you will at least know as soon as possible that starting over is required.

For 35mm, when I started out I thought that the plastic reels would be easier, and in some ways they are. However, once you learn how the steel reels work, and get a "feel" for them, it turns out they are far easier to use.

Sort of like going from a tricycle to a bicycle

Now when it comes to 120 - I confess, the only method that I have full confidence in remains the Kodak Developing Aprons I have. I am persevering, however, and intend to conquer the steel reels yet.

Have fun.