Spiral Jam!

[stumar]

Im having a little problem with my AP developing tank, the last 2 films i have loaded into the tank spiral have jammed up when only half wound on. This has caused the film to buckle up once making a right mess of the negatives.

I have checked the rings in the spiral for blockages but all seems well, its a plastic auto load spiral from an AP starter kit.

Can anyone recomend a better quality developing tank and spiral?

Many Thanks


Stu.

 

[Todd.Hanz]

Patterson Dev tanks are pretty good, or just clean your old spiral reel better 🙂

I get jams on occasion when trying to cram 36 exp film on them so I often shoot 24 exp, it loads much more easily.

Todd

 

[Ash]

metal spirals are meant to be a lot better.

before resorting to that, take a toothbrush and some fairy liquid to the spirals, see if you can't unclog them. Remember to rinse a lot, and also let it dry completely between uses.

You may find the ball bearings have grubbiness around them.

 

[stumar]

Thanks Tod, its 24 Exp Ilford XP5+ i use all the time. Maybe im not cleaning the spiral good enough, it makes sense as its only recently after bout 6 films this started!:bang:

I once read about metal spirals, what are they like to use, are they better than plastic ones?

Stu.

Cool, thanks Ash, you just answered my question! Stu.

 

[iml]

The plastic spirals are fine provided they're clean, and completely dry when you load them. If they're a bit damp, they snag.

Ian

 

[Ash]

In all fairness I use a 2x35mm paterson-clone.. it's Jessops brand. Both reels are gunky and need a clean, but they juuuuuuust about work with a little care. I'll clean them when I can be bothered.

I haven't invested in metal spirals yet. I'm not sure if I trust myself to learn that loading technique.

 

[40oz]

I've found that if I don't clip the edges of the film at an angle, it jams all the time in my plastic spirals. I've never cleaned mine, BTW, and I must have run 100 films through them by now.

However, a friend has what appear to be identical spirals, and claims his stick and jam all the time. He insists he doesn't use them wet and clips his film edges, so who knows. He cleans them alot, which might be he problem :shrug:

 

[stumar]

Lookint at it futher ive found the ball bearings are getting stuck at one end, no amount of cleaning seems to free them, they just get stuck again! a new spiral from a better quality manuf. is required me thinks!

Stu.

 

[Xmas]

Stu

The little balls are supposed to jam at one end they are wedge locks. That is what happens when you load a film, the balls wedge and the film cannot unfeed from the spiral. The balls jam on alternate sides of the reel.

If you clean out the spiral it needs an old tooth brush and tooth paste and application of hard work as it the spiral is 2nd user and old it may be gummed with a mix of film debris. Tooth paste is an abrasive.

Noel