Squeezed Reels?

[jpolzfuss]

Hi!

Today, I was tinkering around with a projector that I’ve bought recently. I noticed that the „take up“ didn’t work properly. But after a short examination, I noticed that the problem was not caused by the projector, but by the reel:

0400CA75-90F8-470D-948A-5282647AA128.jpeg

It’s hard to see on the photo, but the reel‘s sidewalls aren’t parallel in the yellow area. I fear that the reel was squeezed while in storage (= given the dust on the projector for at least 20 years).
This is my „first aid“ for the reel: I rolled three handkerchiefs and put them between the sidewalls.

B589112F-25AA-4C05-88A1-3AF7493271B6.jpeg

Would this be sufficient to save the reel? Can it be saved at all? Any ideas/hints?

Thanks
Jörg

[rlorenz2]

I recovered a reel with a similar issue. I stressed it like you have shown, but that dident hold until I did it an left in the summer sun all day. It helped to add heat to reform the plastic to its normal position.

[jpolzfuss]

Thanks! I‘ll try that ASAP...

[Andreas Wideroe]

Yeah I got a batch of Gepe 120m/400ft reels where most of them had this issue. Might try to put them out in the summer sun with some styrofoam pieces in between. Thanks for the tip.

Andreas