Maybe others have run into this little glitch....

A few days back I was running a short cartoon on the Kodak CT-1000. I grabbed a brown reel/spool, threaded the leader and started up the projector. Here is what happened (Note: I recreated the issue in order to take these pics)




Obviously, something was not right here! I took the cover off and looked at the mechanism. Everything looked fine....
After several minutes of head scratching, I took off the brown take up reel/spool and put on a plastic gray one....

Everything back to normal! The hub on the brown reel/spool that didn't work was a very tiny 1.5 inches in diameter...unusual in size for the 400 ft. reels/spools I typically have ...

The gray reel/spool hub size was 2.5 inches in diameter....


So thankfully the issue wasn't anything mechanical as I first feared, but only an odd ball reel/spool. Apparently, the one inch reduction in hub size does not allow the film to put enough pressure to pull up on the last roller (which I believe is "Lever guide roller 4"). The result is failed film take up. In pics 3 and 4 you can see how this last roller is in different positions with the two different hub sizes... Glad it wasn't anything more serious, but apparently my take up reel issues are continuing....

Greg
That's probably why the projector, and its Elmo twin, come with a 800ft take-up spool in the storage space at the back.

I just use a 2,000ft spool for the take up, unless the film is bigger; never used a 400ft spool as a take up.

It could be an issue with your belt in the take up spindle Greg. My Elmo 16-CL has had issues with this as well.

Don't forget that the Elmo and its brother Kodak had a later belt change to a modern toothed take-up belt. Perhaps Greg's & Douglas' projectors have not yet been modified.

All very good suggestions to look into....I should probably just designate a specific larger reel/spool for take-up purposes. I usually try and match the supply and takeup reel/spool sizes when projecting, but the simpler approach of a permanent take up reel/spool is probably better and would have avoided my recent experiences. I will take the arm cover off to see if there is a toothed belt in place....

I always use a 2000' take up on 16mm...even for 50-100' trailers.

Me too, only my 2000’ size is the Taylor Reel with 2300’ capacity. Not scared anything won’t fit anymore :-)

Maurice, I recently modified and updated mine with the toothed gear and belt. It certainly makes a difference. Like Vidar, I always use my 2300' take up reel regardless of the film length being shown.