How does Super 8 Jam in a Camera?

[kq6up]

I am curious as to why super 8mm film would jam in the cartridge, I have a new to me Canon 1014 that bogs down and eventually jams after a few feet of film. If I release the trigger and start again, everything is fine for a few more feet. Then it does the same thing all over again. I am not sure if it is the film or the camera. I moved the cartridge over to my ol' faithful 814AZ, and it shot just fine. The film was Kodak Plus-X. The motor is strong on the 1014 and I had installed fresh batteries. If I run the camera with no film, it runs just fine for a long time. I can hold the plate that turns the take up spool inside the camera. The clutch releases easily, and the motor does not bog down at all, so I don't think it is because the take up spool is bogging down, it must be the claw is having a hard time pulling the film through the gate. Maybe an old pro can verify this would be the case.

I read another post somewhere on here saying that it is necessary to take up the slack out of the cartridge before installing it the camera. I have shot about 10 rolls of super 8 on other cameras and have never had to do that before. How do I take up the slack without the supply reel in the cartridge letting out more slack. This does not quite make sense to me.

Thanks,
Chris Maness

[beamascope]

I'm no pro by any means but the fact that it does it in one camera and not in the other camera makes it seem it is an issue with the camera and not the cartridge. My simple guess would be old sticky grease making the thing work too hard. A simple test might be to warm the camera up a bit with a hair dryer or let it sit in the sun then try it. Obviously don't melt the poor thing just warm it up a bit. Not sure if this helps but it's a simple test that "might" tell you something. If it's easy to open the camera with a few screws you could blow the hairdryer right onto the greased gears. I've never had one of these sweet canons so i can't help you much more on it.