Topic: Really wasting film

[AJShepherd]

Aargh!

A while back I shot two rolls of Rollei CN200 film. Today, I was going to develop them, but I ended up throwing them in the bin. That stuff would just NOT go in my developing spirals. It went once round before jamming, crinking up, jumping out of the spiral completely. Then I tried the other roll in another spiral, same thing. Neither would get in the spiral.

Never had such problems with any other film I've used.

[cs1]

I sometimes have this problem with Ilford HP5+ and Patterson spirals and if I recall correctly, with Rollei Superpan 200 as well. The film base is really stiff and thick and it simply seems to cant in the spiral and then stops moving properly. My impression is that it helps if I cut the starter off in a very straight fashion without rounding off the edges. What developing tank do you use?

[AJShepherd]

It's an AP tank, and as a rule I never have any problems so long as I check I've not cut the leader off across a sprocket hole.

[Francois]

Usually a small bevel always helps a lot when it comes to plastic reels.

[Faintandfuzzy]

I recall having this occur once with a roll of Delta 3200.  I forgot to put my scissors in the changing bag.  I then struggled to tear the leader as straight as possible with my hands....and then nearly 20 minutes getting it loaded on the real....while my wife chuckled at me.

[John Robison]

I have old Yankee tanks and reels. Sometimes I need to develop short, about 12 inch long sections of 35mm. (I shoot 35mm half frame and cannot always wait for the whole roll) Because of this I pulled the metal balls out of a couple of spare reels and just push the film on. I have not tried this with a full 36 exposure roll but have been meaning to. At the end of a exposed roll I leave the leader out (or retrieve it) and trim square and bevel the edges. Then in the darkroom load directly from the cartridge and just snip it off at the end. These methods have been developed over the years because of several disasters related to trying to load reels for developing.

Also have Nikor metal tanks and reels from my early days, 40+ years ago, but now prefer the old Yankee tanks because I can do both 35mm and adjust the reel for 16mm also. I use the reel without the metal balls for 16mm and push the film on, the roll is only 20 inches long.

[astrobeck]

I bevel my edges just a bit.  Not always, but it does seem to help when I do take the time to do it.

[Bryan]

I have gone exclusively to stainless steel reels and almost never have a problem.  The really curly long expired film can be a bit of a struggle to get going at the start but other than that it's quite simple once you get the hang of it. 

[cs1]

The spooling process seems to differ immensely depending on the make of the reel. I have really good experiences with the Paterson reels (w/ the little steel balls) with films that have a very flexible and thin base (like Fomapan or Adox Silvermax). I haven't actually looked it up or measured it but my subjective impression is that some of the Rollei films (like Superpan) and the Ilford FP4+ and HP5+ seem to have a thicker base and tend to give me more trouble with the Paterson reels.

[Francois]

And strangely I've gone through plenty of old hp5+ on Patterson reels and never had much of an issue...
It probably has more to do with how you handle the film than the film itself.....

Just make sure you remove the tape at the end completely, cut it off the spool, notch the corners, make sure the film is properly engaged, let the bearings do their work and you should be ok.

[imagesfrugales]

Remove the metal balls from the AP-spiral and it might be fine. Before I did it, spooling film was a pita. Opinions differ very much on this, but give it a try. I also bend the leader slightly back aqainst the curl and it also helps.

[Bryan]

Using a wetting agent like photo-flo will make the reels harder to load.  Use it in a different container after you take the film off the reels.

[Francois]

or just put the flo in a spray bottle like I do and spray while hanging the film to dry.

[02Pilot]

The AP reels are OK as long as they're clean and dry. I've started using a JOBO tank lately, and I find the reels much easier to load, even without a ratcheting mechanism. The tank is much easier to maneuver for inversions as well, in spite of being twice the capacity of the AP (4 vs. 2 reels).