Can't Eject My Tape
 

I'am wondering if any body can help. I have a tape jammed in
my XL1. I have tried everything. Is there away I can manually eject my tape?. I'm wondering what the little hole at the bottom
of the inner door has anything to do with manual ejection, Just
like on some Betacam camera have. Any help would be greatly
appreiciated. I'm hoping I don't have to send it to Canon as I
have alot of jobs to do. Thanks Gary

To the best of my knowledge there is no manual eject button on the XL1 series. The following procedure works in about 50% of the stuck tape situations.

1) Power down the camera

2) Remove the battery

3) Rotate the dial to the VCR mode

4) Slide the tape eject button over and hold it securely in place

5) Reattach the battery and continue to hold the tape eject switch in the eject position

6) Be careful not to old the cassette door closed

7) If your lucky the tape will eject

Thanks Jeff, I have tried that still no go. This tape seems really
jammed. I was capturing fotage from the camera to my NLE
when it happened. Everything was fine and then it happend.
The camera is telling me to REMOVE THE CASSETTE, and the
eject in the viewfinder is flashing a red Eject.

How critical is the tape? If the material is not that important you can always use an X-Acto knife and cut the tape. Which may not solve anything. If the tape jam is a mechanical problem, putting in another tape will just cause a jam all over again. It's your call. it might be worth it, it might not. If the tape is critical, its time to send the camera to Canon.

Can't get the inner door to open. How can I get in to cut the Tape?. I just thought there might be away to manually open
the door somehow. Thanks for your input.

Best to leave it to Canon at this point. If your bend the tape carriage, that is an expensive replacement. I was hoping you were getting a partial eject and you could cut the tape. But if it's not moving, best to leave it alone and ship it off.

How does a jam like this happen?

I was shuttling through the tape to find a shot, and then everything just stopped. In the viewfinder a message came
across and said "REMOVE THE CASSETTE" which is what I'm trying
to do. I do know that some damage was done to the tape long
before when I was looking at the footage on my AJ D450. (the tape a little bit eaten)
but I did look at the footage in my camera before and had know
problem. I thought there might be away to get the tape out
manually. Has anyone else ever have this happen?

Gary,
I'm sorry I can't offer you any more advice than already offered here. I've not had this happen to me.

But I am curious: what brand of tape is jammed in the camera?

Never, never, ever play a partially damaged tape. The tape needs to move at a constant speed through the machine. The tape is transported by the take-up reel and post(s) along the tape path. When the damaged section of tape moves over the rubber rollers, that provide friction to move the tape, constant speed can not be maintained. The tape will either develop slack (excess tape) and the slack will wind itself around various posts or it will develop excess tension (too much friction) and not be able to move (essentially wound too tight). Either way your screwed.

To remove the tape the camera will have to be partially disassembled. Not a job for the inexperienced.

You must send this camcorder in to Canon Service immediately.

See http://www.dvinfo.net/canon/skinny.php#service

Good luck,

Thanks for all the advice. I'm sending it out to Canon Today.
Just another leason learned.
Thanks again

I had the same problem two years ago with my XL1. The tape was brand new. There was no other way to solve the problem than to send the camera to Canon. The hole system transmitting the tape had to be changed.

Timo Laine

Just got the quote from Canon Canada. It's going to cost me
$1050.14 (CDN) to get it fixed. WoW They had to replace the whole tape recorder section. Just thought other people out there might want to know how exspensive a tape jam can cost.
Plus they did the regular service.
Gary

Damaged tape, even if it feeds OK, may be sluffing off magnetic material, leading to potential head clogs or worse damage.