Spiral jams loading the film

[blackmelas]

If I do get a jam I just pull the spirals apart slightly, give it lots of little wriggles and that usually sorts it.

I'd second what sparx said-- a several taps or wiggling the sides of the spirals usually releases the tension that has built up.

Other small things that may help:
1. I've found that if I've been too lazy to wash the reel and I absolutely must develop now, several sharp flicks with a fingernail in the area of the ball bearing or plastic cylinder (on the cheapest models) gets them moving.
2. I used to let the reel turn in my hands while loading causing more friction from film that wasn't even loaded yet. Now, I keep my thumbs on the plastic tabs that guide the film into the reel and I try to keep the film hanging tangent to the reel so no extra friction is caused.

finally as other have mentioned--- relax! and the film loads itself...
James

 

[NikoSperi]

Very biased opinion? Dump the Paterson reels in the garbage disposal (I tortured mine with a lighter to get back for all the changing bag suffering they inflicted on me... ) and get the AP reels. They are MUCH smoother, have those comfortingly wide flanges to rest the film on (appreciable when you start doing 120) and are cheaper too!

Giving them a few minutes under a hairdryer also helps - for one it ensures they are bone dry. For another, they seem to expand a tad when warm helping with the "pushing a rope" process.

I can't begin to tell you how much better life is since I junked the Paterson reels!

 

[bobfowler]

Very biased opinion? Dump the Paterson reels in the garbage disposal (I tortured mine with a lighter to get back for all the changing back suffering they inflicted on me... ) and get the AP reels. They are MUCH smoother, have those comfortingly wide flanges to rest the film on (appreciable when you start doing 120) and are cheaper too!

Giving them a few minutes under a hairdryer also helps - for one it ensures they are bone dry. For another, they seem to expand a tad when warm helping with the "pushing a rope" process.

I can't begin to tell you how much better life is since I junked the Paterson reels!

I tried the AP reels and yes, they do load a bit easier. There is a downside, they don't seem to last as long. I've had problems with them getting a wobble that prevents smooth loading (at least of 120, 35mm is fine).

My vote is for stainless spirals - as long as you don't drop them, they'll last forever. Once you get the hang of loading them, you'll never go back to plastic.

 

[Soeren]

Ahh the spiralproblem
Did you find the solution to your problems ?
Søren

 

[JD Morgan]

Do not compress the two halves together while loading. Find a better holding and turning technique that will allow sufficient clearance across the width of the film. It is quite easy to hold the reel such that the top loading area has sufficient clearance but the lower half is being squeezed together. They do flex a lot, especially the newer reels. The newer are made cheaper, I prefer the older because they were made better. Profit biased progress can really suck... unless you live in China.

As far as drying them between films, a shop-vac works fine.

 

[rbarker]

According to Arnold (here in California), only "Girlie-men photographers" use persnickity Patterson plastic. The solution is to switch to (the more manly) Hewes stainless steel reels.

The (appropriately) discarded Pattersons should be responsibly recycled, of course.

 

[blansky]

I suggest to do what you initially did not want to do.

Do it in daylight. Use old film or waste a couple of rolls and practice in the daylight and check out the lay of the land. Look closely at what is happening and make your corrections.

In the long run it may be less costly and save you time and money.


Michael McBlane

 

[sterioma]

Since I started this thread a few weeks ago, I have been to the US for a business trip for a couple of weeks; so I have developed only one single 35mm film and one 120 film (plus another one to experiment with a Rondinax of a friend of mine, but that doesn't count since the loading is completely different).

The 120 film was a piece of cake, since it's shorter (with the help of my wife in the dark of my bathroom to get rid of the paper ).

For the 35mm I have followed a few tips given here: for start, I have rewound the film so that the leader was left out. This way I was able to cut the corners and start loading the film in the daylight. Secondly, I used a hairdryer to get the spirals as dry as possible (though I hadn't used them for a while). Finally, while loading I have tried not to push the sides of the spirals together too much, and moved the spirals a little back and forth to release the tension.

The result: this time it took only 2 attempts instead of the usual 3

As far as the Paterson tanks themselves are concerned, I appreciate your suggestions to try other tanks; but I have read about too many people being happy with them to think that the problem is with them and not with my technique

 

[NikoSperi]

Good to hear it's working a little better! Re the Patersons, my suggestion was to throw away the reels - by all means keep the tanks! The AP reels are the same size as the Patersons, so you get the best of both worlds IMO with AP reels in Paterson tanks... Onwards!

 

[thescarletmole]

I've used these reels for going on 20 years and over that time learned all the "tricks of the trade" that have been posted here. After years of pulling my hair out in frustration and cursing like a druken sailor I accidently hit on the one thing that has helped more than all the others. Relative humidity - or lack of to be exact. I live in the southern US where RH levels can be horrible in the summer. The emulsion on the film is extremely hygroscopic - it will suck up moisture like crazy, and when it does it gets really sticky and will fight sliding in the reel, the more film you get into the reel the greater the resistance. Buy a dehumidifier and set it to 45% - 50%. It's great !

 

[Monophoto]

Ster -

If you are just starting out, it may well be worth the time and cost of sacrificing a roll of film by loading a spiral with the light on. The idea is to experience the kind of tactile feedback that the reel and film give you in the dark, but with the lights on to see what is causing those things. That way, when it later happens in the dark, you have some idea of what is happening and have a better chance of knowing what to do about it.

One of the quirks of walk-in spirals (Patterson or Yankee) is that they tend to start binding as you get close to the end of the film. Remember that with walk-in reels, you are loading from the outside in, so as you get close to the end of the strip of film, you are forcing the entire strip to slip through the spiral as you feed more film onto the roll. Someone pointed out that the spiral must be absolutely dry - otherwise the film will "grab" onto the spiral and won't budge. But it sometimes binds even though the spiral is dry. I find that when this happens, wiggling the two halves of the spiral often will free up the binding and allow the rest of the roll to load.

Another possibility is that the film is actually too long to load into the spiral. I have frequently found that I have several inches of film that won't fit into the spiral that I just wrap around the outside of the reel. Sometimes this tail end contains images, and sometimes not, but at least it gets developed and I can later decide what to do about it.

 

[Ed Sukach]

To start with, I took a roll of film - and as I sat watching the TV, practiced loading with eyes closed. If I met a "snag" in ether the JOBO or Patterson reels - I use both - I would open my eyes and notice what caused it .. then - close the eyes - and try again. It took about three days of spare time - one will know when your significant other "breaks" and informs you that - "One more time - and it will be your last." It is a matter of "muscle memory". In the ten / fifteen years following, I think I've misloaded two rolls of 120 without noticing the error.

One error that will cause trouble is squeezing the reel flanges together - that is something of a reflex reaction - from trying too hard to load the reel.

It is a good thing to perform reel maintenance regularly. I do not use Kodak Photoflow - even Edwal LFN wetting agent seems to leave something of a build-up. SCRUB the inside film tracks of the reels with dishwashing detergent and a toothbrush thoroughly to restore "slippery-ness". Works for me.