At a glance
- A tube-filling machine (injector) pushes loose tobacco into an empty cigarette tube to produce a finished cigarette.
- The basic cycle: fill the tobacco chamber, slide an empty tube onto the nozzle, and push or crank the handle to inject the tobacco into the tube.
- Most jams are caused by tobacco that is too moist, too coarsely cut, or packed too tightly in the chamber.
- Under-filled tubes usually mean too little tobacco was loaded or the tobacco was too dry and compressed during injection.
- Manual injectors require no electricity — the entire process is mechanical.