Polaroid 350 rollers

I have a working 350 and have successfully run a pack of 667 through it. Decided to try a pack of Fuji FP-100C, and immediately

encountered some problems. Black cover sheet came out fine. For the first shot, the white tab would not pull through except with great

effort (and a little tearing), and the actual print came out white. Second and third shots were great, clear, properly exposed, no trouble

pulling the tab or the print. Fourth shot, white tab was resistant to pulling, but it came through, and brought unexposed shot #5 with it! #4

was only partially exposed, big swath of white on the left side of the print. Looked at the number on the latest white tab, and it said #6.

Gave it a tug to see if I could get things aligned, and out came prints #6, 7 and 8. Yikes. Opened up the back and pulled out the pack, and

saw that there was a big gooey mess on the rollers and surrounding areas, like a chemical packet had burst into the compartment, rather

than spread over a print. I cleaned it up but haven't run anything through it since.

 

Has anyone had this happen? I figure it was one of a number of things: I didn't clean the rollers as thoroughly as I thought after the first

pack; the Fuji pack was defective (chem capsule burst wrongly); or the rollers may be a bit more resistant than they ought to be (?). No

clue here, very new to Polaroid pack cameras, and I want to be sure I'm doing everything right when I put my next pack in. I truly love this

camera, and the images I've gotten with it are kind of breathtaking in their clarity and their unique "Polaroid" qualities.

The rollers should be pretty hard to move... in fact they should mesh together without film running through them. It sounds like you have chemicals on the rollers after the first roll, or the pack was defective. If you have frozen them, the chemicals don't like that much. I have had a similar experience, but the film was expired by many years, and the chemicals blatently had glued together inside the pack, causing the paper tabs to pull out the white prints without the black negatives. Be sure to clean the rollers and the opening thoroughly and especially the corners where "goo" can collect. Honestly though it sounds like a defective or frozen pack. This camera should produce stunning quality images as one of the best of the auto-exposure pack-film cameras Polaroid made.

Thanks, Patrick. The packs weren't frozen, but we had a few days of 100-degree weather, and I tossed them into the fridge

for a while, where they were at about 40 degrees. Pulled them out when the heat wave broke a couple days later. Hope I

haven't ruined them all! The images I've successfully gotten from it have been outstanding.

Was the film still cold or had it reached room temp? If cold, it can be a little hard to pull.

 

I have a 350 and a 360. I had to put a tiny drop of oil on the ends of the rollers of my 350, as they were reluctant to turn when I first got it.

 

Also, I have noticed in both cameras that the Fuji packs are much more difficult to pull on the first exposure than the Polaroid packs ever were. After the first one, it's OK.

If the packs were sealed in the silver wrapper when you put them in the fridge then they should have been OK, however if you opened them before they adjusted to the heat, it's possible you got condensation inside the film from the heat. Moisture inside the film pack could cause the chemicals to glue together or the sheets of film to stick together. As long as they are sealed in the silver packages you can put them in the fridge, (not the freezer) but you still need to let them sit on the counter for several hours to aclimate to the surrounding temperature before opening and using the packs.

You need to bend the springs in the film door down to accomodate the fact that Fuji packs have a plastic casing vs the metal of the Polaroid ones. The plastic flexes under the spring and makes it hard or impossible to pull the film.

 

Either swap the plastic for a metal back (easily done before inserting a new pack) or bend/remove the springs.

 

Rollers dont even need to turn to work, it just helps.

<p>Hello. <br /> <strong>Nate</strong> .... I have the same problem with Fuji packs. Before I start modify all "springs" mayby you could tell wchich exactly springs you mean need to be bend. There are 3 "springs" on the film door:<br>

http://www.duzeformaty.com/polaroid_faq/polaroid350_springs_01.jpg<br /> http://www.duzeformaty.com/polaroid_faq/polaroid350_springs_02.jpg<br /> http://www.duzeformaty.com/polaroid_faq/polaroid350_springs_03.jpg<br>

One of them? All of them?<br /> Regards<br /> Baldi</p>

<p> </p>

<p>WOW, I have just found and examined great and simple solution on ragefinderforum.com without bending anything ...</p>

<blockquote>

<p>DRabbit wrote: "Get a couple of Polaroid brand pack films and, after using them, save them. You can swap the metal back with the plastic one on the Fuji film. It helps. However, be very careful, do it a darkroom or in a very dimly lit room, and don't push on the flim itself. I've used this method too and it definitely helps."</p>

</blockquote>

<p>And it works!<br /> B.</p>

<p>The psinrgs to remove are in photo #2.</p>

<p>I dont know if Id consider #1 or #3 to be "springs" in the sense of pressure.</p>

<p>My solution if the spring thing isnt something you want to try or cant because youre out in the field:<br>

when you feel a white tab about to break, STOP.<br>

open the back door slightly. just enough to unlock it and relieve the pressure.<br>

pull the white tab slowly until the 2nd tab comes thru the rollers.<br>

close and lock the back door.<br>

finally remove, if not already, the white tab.<br>

pull 2nd tab as normal.</p>

<p>only needs to be done for the first 1-4 shots.</p>

<p>Thanks Nate.<br /> I also had this problem a few times with last two shots ... but it was probably rollers problem ... I will see right now with this described before "swap" idea. <br /> Thanks for your help.<br /> B.</p>