There's no chemicals in my Fuji 3000B?!

[Corran]

I stocked up on Fuji 3000B instant film at the end of last year and some at the beginning of this year. Now it seems I may have a bad batch? Or is it me?

When I pull the film from the 405 holder there is not a trace of chemical agent. There is none in a pod or anything. It comes out as just a separated negative/print pages not stuck together with anything.

Is the chemicals for development/printing just not there? Could they really have screwed up that badly? And why haven't I heard about this anywhere? In the box I just used I got 2 working prints out of 10. #5 through #10 just pulled blank.

I've cleaned the rollers on the 405 but surely if it was that there'd be gloppy chemicals somewhere, right? Anyone hear about this issue anywhere else? The other problem is I bought several different batches over some months when they announced it was going to be discontinued and so I have no idea what batch is from where. I also have some older 2011 film that was working fine so I'm almost 100% positive that batch is okay.

Thoughts?

[taulen]

Do you see any difference regarding pod from those that work and those that do not ?
I have never heard about this from fuji, but I guess it would be possible.

Or the chemicals just have dried out ?

[koh303]

dried out pods. It happens when film is old or not properly stored.

[vdonovan]

I've shot thousands of sheets of FP-3000b, some of it a year or two past expiration date, and I've never had a problem like you describe. I've only seen it with really, really old (like 1980s) Polaroid peel-apart film.

I wonder if there is a problem with your rollers? If they are not properly seated they might not give enough pressure to break the pod. Have you checked the pods of the unsuccessful shots? Cut the pods open with a knife and see if there is liquid developer in them. If so, there's something wrong with your rollers.

[Corran]

Well I feel stupid.
Yes the pods aren't getting opened. I didn't realize where the pods were.

So, what's the issue? Pressure on the rollers? How do I fix this?

Edit: apparently one of the rollers isn't moving freely. So should I lube it or something?

[Tin Can]

Carefully take the rollers out and clean them with clean soft cloth and water only. They need cleaning almost every pack.

Be gentle taking them apart and remember how the tiny side plastics go back in.

Compare roller action to a known good one.

One rolls easily and the other roller has friction applied by the spring bar.

[Corran]

The rollers are very clean as they are...

Should the spring bar be engaged or not when reinserting the roller bars?

I have another 405 somewhere but it's missing in action right now. Hmm.

[ac12]

As Randy said, clean it first and make sure the mechanics are working properly.
If things are gopped up, lubing won't do any good, and in fact could make the problem worse.
I learned many years ago that WD-40 was not the magic cure-all lube that I thought it was. It turned out that it has cleaning properties also, and sometimes the cleaning was more effective than the lube. Having said that, say away from WD-40, it is a water displacer and the aerosol can is VERY difficult to control application to a specific place.

[Tin Can]

It all goes together at once. The nylon end pieces have a hole and a slot. The rollers gum up at the ends and the axle can be gummy, even if a roller is smooth and clean. Many rollers interchange from other types. I keep spare ones, like RZ which I don't use. Never use a scratched roller, replace it from old Polaroid cameras, however some cheap polaroids don't use rollers, they use clamping bars, but work fine on my 2 NOS cheapos.

The springs go on in a fiddly way, which is hard for my arthritic fingers, but I can do it.

Ship it all to me with film and I will test a dozen packs...

Actually I will be shooting 5 packs tomorrow with an RB. Many 30 year olds have never seen Polaroids and think it's a hoot.

The rollers are very clean as they are...

Should the spring bar be engaged or not when reinserting the roller bars?

I have another 405 somewhere but it's missing in action right now. Hmm.

[Tin Can]

Ya, no lube, dry as a bone.

As Randy said, clean it first and make sure the mechanics are working properly.
If things are gopped up, lubing won't do any good, and in fact could make the problem worse.