Readyload holder cleaning

[Tom Westbrook]

Just got back from a couple of weeks in the southwest US. The trip included a stop at Arches Nat'l Park where I dropped my Kodak Readyload holder in a pile of sand. I managed to get most of the grit out of it, but it was a bit of a pain to use for the rest of the trip--three sheets of film wasted from jams.

My question is, now that I'm home and with the tools I need, are there any problems with disassembling the holder? I mean will I be able to get it back together? I am somewhat mechanically inclined. It's one of the more recent models: black all over with a red release button.

Also, what do the members recommend for a tool set to carry around with them for these sorts of field repairs?

Thanks!

[Kirk Keyes]

I'm not sure about the newer Readyload holders, but the older ones (including the rev 4 (iiii) holder with the black pressure plate) can be disassembled by using a screwdriver to unhook the plastic catches that hold the holder together.

I'm going by memory here - place the holder face-down (pressure plate side down) on a table. There are 6 slots/openings on the edges of the holder (3 per long side). Look inside the slots and you can see the ends of some plastic hooks that are molded to the front side of the holder. Using a flat-bladed screwdriver with a large tip, gently push the hooks off the edge that they are caught on - push to the outside edge of the holder I think. Do this with all the hooks/slots. At this point the back of the holder should be loose. Lift it up and carefully examine the arrangement of all the pieces inside the holder. You can then go and wash with water and dry the parts and then reassemble them. The hooks will recatch in the slots on the back when you press them back in. Pretty easy to do. I've disassembled my holder about 3 times now over the many years I've had it with no appearant ill affects.

I found out how to do this by calling Kodak when I dropped my holder in the sand at Antelope canyon, so I can empthize with you! You may want to call Kodak if you have one of the new holders if these instructions don't make sense for it.

I don't know that I would do this in the field, perhaps back at a car where I could get a semi-clean work area set up. As I said, only tool needed is a large slotted screw driver.

Kirk

[Mike Lopez]

I dropped my Readyload holder once and thought I saw a slight separation between two parts (on the long side--the panels). Luckily, I was in the city, so I bought some electrical tape to wrap what I thought might be a leak. Now I keep that tape in my camera bag.