back to basics

[colpepper]

Two rolls of Neopan needed processing yesterday so I loaded the dark bag. First roll went on a treat, the second one jammed. I don't know whether it was damp or a ball bearing was sticking but it was the kind of mistake I made in 1975, not 2010.
In the end I had to remove it three times and some frames are still blotchy where film has touched with plenty of half-moon creases. My hands were getting sweatier all the time too. Oh well, a reality check I suppose.

 

[karmagarda]

That's happened me a couple of times now... What's the best advice to stop it happening? Practice?

 

[TheBigYin]

If it was anything like the temperatures/humidity we were having here I think the reels would have been sweating themselves It's this kind of weather that I'm glad i've got a light-tight loft where I can load films etc. rather than use the changing bag. Palms are getting damp at the thought of the bag as I type

 

[david1701]

ouch, done that before

 

[colpepper]

Well I took the spirals apart and left them outdoors on the window ledge all day to dry. Then got a 6B pencil and gave the bearings a good scribble.
As TBY said it's probably the humidity in the bag that caused it but we shall see next time.

 

[Mohain]

Try cutting the corners off the film leader if it sticks.

 

[Scarecrow]

Like you I remember this problem back in the days, and found it quite frustrating. Chamfering the corners of the film leading edge used to help, but I still had problems when developing several films, and rushed the drying process of the spiral before using it again. Nothing guaranteed to make a film jam more than a damp spiral.

In the end I swapped over to a manual feed stainless spiral. It took some getting used to when trying to load a film for the first time, but soon became second nature. The other advantage is that it used a lot smaller tank, so extended the life of chemicals as well, as it didn't use as much for each film.

 

[colpepper]

Stainless spirals are something I've tried before but never got on with, perhaps because I haven't persevered long enough. If plastic spirals are totally clean and dry you can normally push a 35mm film on while keeping the edges under tension and just finish the last foot or so with a twisting motion.

The best B&W printers I know standardise on one film, one developer and honed exposure practice. I've tended to be a materials tart but I'm setting up a new darkroom and want to stop bad old habits but I'm obviously a bit rusty.