Adhesive Residue on 35mm Film?

[Beemermark]

I bought the reels new, so prior use isn't an issue. But I've never cleaned them. All I do is rinse them good after I'm done developing. Should I do a more thorough cleaning?

Rinse after use is all I’ve done for 30+ years. I. Suppose I have a few hundred layers of wetting agent on everything but it doesn’t seem to affect my film.

 

[Freakscene]

They are the standard plastic reels that come with Paterson tanks.

The first thing to try is removing the film by gently taking the reels apart, not pulling it out of the reel.

If the scratches are still there you should feel the bearings - is it smooth? Does it rotate freely? If the answer to those is yes, you're going to have to feel through the grooves and find any bumps or sharp protruberances on the flat surfaces.

Not sure what you mean by wetting agent?Could you provide some examples?

The last step in film development is usually using a chemical that decreases surface tension and helps the film dry clean. Kodak Photo Flo 200, Ilford Ilfotol and Adox Adostab are some examples.

If the reels are new I doubt wetting agent or cleaning has anything to do with your problem.

I'm still new to developing, so I do have trouble getting the film to load properly sometimes.

Sacrifice a roll of film and practice, practice, practice. Use a hair dryer on the reels briefly before you load them to make sure that they are dry dry dry when you use them, but also make sure they are not hot as the film goes on. If you live in a humid place try to find an airconditioned room to load your reels in.

I just checked my reels and there is some black debris near the bearings, which I assume is from the scratching issue.

That is probably it. Read the instructions again, and check the bearing and feel the reel near the bearing. As I said, try loading, developing and removing the film by taking the reel apart first - generally the film goes on ok but gets scratched when it is wet and coming off. Paterson reels actually aren't designed to have the film pulled out of them, even though some sets of instructions tell you that is what you should do.

It definitely could also be from when the film is pulled out of the reels since I've felt resistance at times. I'll have to pay closer attention to how the film looks before I remove it from the reel. How common is it that new reels are faulty, such as the bearings or catch mechanism?

Not very common that they will damage the film going on. It sounds more like the scratches are due to your removal method.

I hope this clarifies things for you. Let us know how you go.

Marty

 

[izman02]

Yeah. Seen this before with those plastic Patterson style reels. Its either a burr in plastic, or stuck bearing, or the bearing has a burr on it. I see more of this kind of thing with declining quality control in modern products, but it has been happening to some degree since the very beginning....

Are you getting the scratch from both reels or just one? Being a new product, perhaps warranty applies?

Nice that the images are untouched. I suppose that unless the margins are important to you (and for some folks, they are) you could continue to use the reel.

I haven't paid close enough attention to know if it's coming from one reel or both. I am happy the images are okay, but would prefer to avoid the issue altogether. Good to know there's an easy solution.

 

[izman02]

The first thing to try is removing the film by gently taking the reels apart, not pulling it out of the reel.

If the scratches are still there you should feel the bearings - is it smooth? Does it rotate freely? If the answer to those is yes, you're going to have to feel through the grooves and find any bumps or sharp protruberances on the flat surfaces.

The last step in film development is usually using a chemical that decreases surface tension and helps the film dry clean. Kodak Photo Flo 200, Ilford Ilfotol and Adox Adostab are some examples.

If the reels are new I doubt wetting agent or cleaning has anything to do with your problem.

Sacrifice a roll of film and practice, practice, practice. Use a hair dryer on the reels briefly before you load them to make sure that they are dry dry dry when you use them, but also make sure they are not hot as the film goes on. If you live in a humid place try to find an airconditioned room to load your reels in.

That is probably it. Read the instructions again, and check the bearing and feel the reel near the bearing. As I said, try loading, developing and removing the film by taking the reel apart first - generally the film goes on ok but gets scratched when it is wet and coming off. Paterson reels actually aren't designed to have the film pulled out of them, even though some sets of instructions tell you that is what you should do.

Not very common that they will damage the film going on. It sounds more like the scratches are due to your removal method.

I hope this clarifies things for you. Let us know how you go.

Marty

Thanks for your help, Marty. And thank you to everyone else who responded. I agree that the problem is likely in the removal. I'll take the reels apart before removing film when I develop this weekend and let everyone know what happened.

 

[izman02]

Developed a roll this weekend. Took the reel apart to remove the film and no scratches! Thanks again to everyone who responded.