New55: Anyone having issues with pods not bursting?

[adelorenzo]

I finally got a chance to try my New55 from the Kickstarter. I was one of the last rewards shipped and my pods are stamped 3/30/2016.

I've used expired Polaroid material with my 545 holder and it worked fine. There was a real hard pull when you felt the pod go through the rollers.

With my New55 the pod goes right through the rollers with little resistance and the pods are not bursting. I wasted a few units last night before I managed to get one to burst and spread, although to do that I had to run it back and forth through the rollers a few times.

So the problem likely boils down to too-thin pods, my rollers having too much of a gap (can they be adjusted?), or my technique being wrong. If anyone has any advice or suggestions to share I'd love to hear it.

 

[bvy]

I have the opposite problem whereby nothing at all will budge once inside the holder. Like you, I've also wasted a few sheets and have nothing at all to show for my efforts. Very frustrating.

There are some tutorials online for disassembling/reassembling and cleaning your holder, which may help.

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

Weird. Mine are from 2015 and all burst/spread fine. They were hard to pull out, mind you. Ruling out your holder, have you contacted New55?

 

[adelorenzo]

There are some tutorials online for disassembling/reassembling and cleaning your holder, which may help.

I think my holder is in pretty decent shape. I have pulled the rollers out and they are clean and everything seems to be working as it should.

I did find a New55 post about too small of a gap (with a work-around) but haven't seen anything about what I can do about too large of a gap. Maybe I'll try shimming the little hooks that hold the rollers down.

 

[adelorenzo]

Weird. Mine are from 2015 and all burst/spread fine. They were hard to pull out, mind you. Ruling out your holder, have you contacted New55?

Yes, it's weird. Like I said I've used some old Polaroid stuff and I was expecting it would be hard to pull. The first sheet I used basically flew out of the holder. I'll drop them a line as well and see what they say.

 

[swhiser]

Gentlemen (Ladies) -

Anthony's difficult Pods were from Mar/Apr 2016 with manufacture date-stamps around that time. Contact support@new55.net if you have one of those.

Spreads have improved and results today (Nov '16) are good.

For those experiencing stiff Sleeve retraction, see "New55 PN - The Clip Tip-Tap Tip" to prepare your film packets for shooting with minimum distraction from your subject.
http://www.new55.net/tutorials/

Video Archive
https://new55-film.wistia.com/projects/oo9yfpsytg

All questions, comments & feedback are welcome on support@new55.net.

-Sam