Trouble with film stuck in reel

[Bingley]

Scrub the reels thoroughly with a brush being sure to get into the grooves where the film runs. Anything that builds up in there creates this problem in my experience. 🙂

Yes, agree with this ^^^^. Plastic reels (e.g. Patterson) need to be completely bone dry before you load film on them, and should be thoroughly scrubbed after each use. Fotoflo, in particular, can build up on reels if you don't thoroughly scrub (I use a bottle brush with bristles long enough to get into the grooves on the sides of the reel) in hot soapy water after each use.

 

[rybolt]

It's been said twice above and the answer is correct: Don't use any plastic reel in any sort of wetting agent. It will dry and get gummy and you'll have trouble loading the reels. If you do use a wetting agent do as many people say and scrub the reels in warm water and maybe use a little soap and a toothrbush. It's easier to just take the film off the reels and manually dip it into the solution.

 

[Gregoris]

Buying a Kindermann Tank and a single 135 Hewes steel reel is quite costly, not to mention the 120 reel which costs more than 100 EUR.
I have read elsewhere that if you have crud on the plastic reels (as I believe mine do) you should give them a bleach bath. Does that not damage the reel in any way, and would you recommend it?

 

[Particular]

Buying a Kindermann Tank and a single 135 Hewes steel reel is quite costly, not to mention the 120 reel which costs more than 100 EUR. I have read elsewhere that if you have crud on the plastic reels (as I believe mine do) you should give them a bleach bath. Does that not damage the reel in any way, and would you recommend it?

I would not use bleach out of fear that it will harden the plastic of the reel. The toothbrush and elbow grease method mentioned above is probably your best bet.
And avoid wetting agent on your reels. I fill a 5x7 tray with distilled water and wetting agent, and I hold the film at both ends, and see-saw it through the solution before hanging the film to dry.

 

[Dwig]

Buying a Kindermann Tank and a single 135 Hewes steel reel is quite costly, not to mention the 120 reel which costs more than 100 EUR.
I have read elsewhere that if you have crud on the plastic reels (as I believe mine do) you should give them a bleach bath. Does that not damage the reel in any way, and would you recommend it?

I wouldn't recommend bleach.

I do recommend that you soak the reels overnight in the tank filled with strong (~double strength) stop bath or white distilled vinegar, both are the same acetic acid. Then after the soak, scrub them with an old toothbrush, paying close attention to the little steel ratchet balls at the outside end of the film track to make sure that they move freely. Then rinse and dry.

Also, going forward, be sure that if you use Photo-Flo or a similar wetting agent that you dilute it properly. An overly strong solution will aggravate the buildup on the reels, and the film for that matter. You want to use the weakest solution that still prevents the water on the film from beading up, which is often somewhat weaker than the mfg's recommendation.

 

[GarageBoy]

How do you clean photo flo out of the reels?

 

[Gregoris]

The old toothbrush and washing up liquid thing seems to have cleared the crud. I haven't done a test with film yet, but it certainly looks promising. Soaked them in very warm/hot tap water for some time before scrubbing with the toothbrush. The older Paterson reel literally went from grey/green to light cream colour. Never thought this would work!

 

[Bill Clark]

Great.

Sounds like you're on your way!

 

[bence8810]

I always just soak the reels in as hot of a bath as I can get from the faucet and add in some dish washing soap. Usually after every developing session I dump the reels into the above said bath and leave them while I clean all the rest of the equipment / hang the films to dry etc - usually I'd say about 5-10 minutes. When I am back to them, I just scrub them with a tooth brush and my reels aren't discolored and do not get films stuck in them ever since I started doing this (right after I started this thread). The reels have seen 132 rolls of film through them so far.

I never drop the reels into the wetting agent though so that might have helped me staying out of trouble.

Ben