Eumig 824 help

[Jimmy Nicola]

Hi Guys and thank you for letting me join.

I recently bought a Eumig 824 from a lady who's late husband used to sell them. This item was an open box and looks immaculate inside and out. From what I can see.
I have looked through instructions again and again and have chewed up the beginning of at least three super 8 films.

I feed the film in, hold down the toggle switch so the film feeds all the way through to the empty reel but it seems to go into the gate then lots of flicker noise and ends up getting chewed up. I just don't know what wrong. And with it being a very dense mechanical projector it's quite hard to see even with a torch.

Please can someone advise as I really want to view my home movie from years ago.
As mentioned I have followed instructions but can afford to chew up even more valuable film.
Hope someone can help.
Thanks again.
Jimmy

[Dominique De Bast]

Hello Jimmy. Not knowing how you're familiar with films and projectors, I see a basic question : is the projector set for super 8 and not standard 8 films?

[Jimmy Nicola]

Yes I believe there is an S on the gate which I think is for super 8 films

[Dominique De Bast]

Indeed, but if the film chews before reaching the gate, maybe the sprockets are not the right ones (there is few chance the gate is correct and not the sprockets, but since it's an easy fix, it worths checking). Another easy trouble-cause to check is that the film is correctly trimmed.

[Jimmy Nicola]

Hi Dominique. What does correctly trimmed actually mean. And how do you know if it is.

[Dominique De Bast]

Hello Jimmy. Your projector should have this accessory. You can check if the leader of the film was correctly cut. To make your tests, I would strongly suggest you not to use precious family films, but the cheapest film you can find on eBay.

(picture from Van Eck's website)

[Jimmy Nicola]

Hi Dominique yes I have a
Built in trimmer and trim it accordingly. Maybe it's bacause I now don't have any leader tape at the beginning. And the gate entry hole is not very forging.

[Dominique De Bast]

I don't think that a white leader would make a difference. I'm afraid the problem is more complicated than hoped.

[Joseph Banfield]

Check to see if the upper sprocket can be turned by hand with the machine powered off. If it can be turned it is slipping and will allow the film to pile up and be shredded by the claw. A very common problem with the 800 series machines! And do be sure you are aligning the dot on the inching knob to the dot on the body of the projector when changing the gates because if you break the claw you will have a very nice boat anchor!