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why cant I open my patterson reel to 120?


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My Paterson reels all have three different settings-- 35mm, 127 and 120. I recall you twist the reels counter-clockwise to open, and then clockwise to re-engage. However, I have noticed one of my reels now doesn't want to disengage, probably because I had previously re-engaged it onto the wrong channels (one is wider than the other two). I'm sure that if I am determined I can still get it apart, and they are cheap enough that even if broken it is worthwhile to replace.

 

Plus I can use them for sheet film in a pinch. But that's another trick altogether.

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yeah, the above pic examples are it. I change mine back and forth all the time. One thing I do though, and really didn't think of it till now, is that I take them apart after each use and rinse them off and let them dry apart from each other (the two halves). Perhaps you have been using them awhile and never really flushed out the chemicals that might have settled and dried up in there? I could see that making it next to impossible to get them apart then. Try soaking them in water over night, and see if they come apart then. And then get rid of any gunk that might be in there.
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I have a lot of plastic reels and they are not built equal. Some are easy to asjust. some are difficult. And some are so tough and nearly impossible to adjust and make you really wonder if you did it the right or wrong way/angel/direction :).

 

I experienced all of them and right now pleasantly stay with stainless steel ones. There is no need and no way to adjust those.

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After many tries and many failures, I tried the push in and twist recommended above and

viola! open :) But not the patterson, this was another reel. Then today, after using the

patterson, I had it soaking in hot water to rinse it, figured maybe it was gunky as also

mentioned above. A few minutes later, it too opened! Yay! Thank you everyone! Now, if

only I could figure out what I am doing wrong otherwise.... ;-P I got 2 frames off this roll!

Jen

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  • 8 years later...

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