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Topic: Break Downs Happen Every?????

Andrew McCrea
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 645
From: Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Registered: Nov 2000

posted 12-30-2000 10:21 AM

Hey,
I was wondering how often/common it is that a projector breaks down at a theatre. According to Famous Players, it's becoming a thing of the past.

How often does it happen at your multi-plex and what do you do about it... SilverCity gave us green emergency exchange vouchers, worth 1 free admission to any film.. Valid for a year.

Andrew McCrea

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Scott Norwood
Film God

Posts: 8146
From: Boston, MA. USA (1774.21 miles northeast of Dallas)
Registered: Jun 99

posted 12-30-2000 10:45 AM

I've never seen this happen, personally. I've only lost two shows ever, and that was the result of a dead Dolby power supply. I have heard of a few other problems, but losing an entire show is probably quite rare.

This is why I think it's so funny that, in the latest issue of Boxoffice, the TI people are boasting that, with DLP, they've lost less than 1% of all shows. To me, losing one out of a hundred shows is a really terrible level of reliability. That's one show a month if you run three shows a day at your theatre, times the number of screens. If you have a 30-plex, for example, that 1% failure rate would result in a lost show once every three days, which would be unacceptible to the majority of theatre owners...

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Andrew McCrea
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 645
From: Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Registered: Nov 2000

posted 12-30-2000 02:05 PM

No... I wasn't talking about an entire show exacty... I was talking about all break-downs... And We didn't have to leave. After 5 minutes, we had settled back down and were ready for our show.

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Darryl Spicer
Film God

Posts: 3250
From: Lexington, KY, USA
Registered: Dec 2000

posted 12-30-2000 02:34 PM

Usualy unless you lose an entire show they are not considered projector breakdowns. I have had diodes go out and had the problem fixed and the show restarted in fifteen minutes. But with any incident projector or film related we usualy give the customer a raincheck for a free movie on their next visit. I try to keep these problems to a minimum. keeping the equipment well maintained and being aware of any print problems (static) keeps these incidents down to a minimum. do not venture to far from the booth and keep checking your machines every 20 minutes or so. Sometimes you can catch a problem before it becomes one. In most projection booths static is the major cause of these problems. As far as the T.I. claims who knows who is being fully honest. Remeber they are trying to sell these things.

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Jon Bartow
Master Film Handler

Posts: 287
From: Massachusetts
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 12-30-2000 04:27 PM

I service about 140 screens. Some are state of the art and some have been around for quite a while. I get maybe 2 calls a month that a screen is "down" (i.e. unplayable) Usually we find any problems during routine maintenance or a problem will start out small and get worse over time so that we can catch it before it becomes unwatchable.
A screen actually being down for more than a couple of shows is very rare. Occasionally we will have to wait on parts for an extra 24 hours or so. (i.e. call comes in at 10pm "show is down" order parts in the morning, install parts next morning)

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Erik Schill
Film Handler

Posts: 38
From: Rochester, NY, USA
Registered: Nov 2000

posted 12-30-2000 08:42 PM

We lose full shows every now and them, about once every few months, but that is because of film crashes, due to our crappy layout, in the 3+ years I've been at my theatre there is only 2 times that I can remember having to cancel shows because of projector breakdowns, and both times we called in the Tech. in our area Dave Blake *my hero*, there was one time we were on the clock hardcore, trying not to cancel shows, and he came in, after 3 hours of us standing around not being able to figure out the problem, and he came in and after about 2 hours got everything fixed, no more them 30 seconds before the show had to start....I was impressed

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Scott D. Neff
Theatre Dork

Posts: 919
From: San Francisco, CA
Registered: Oct 1999

posted 12-30-2000 08:55 PM

Whenever I've had to cancel a show it was usually because I had a bad platter... CFS or AW2 or some low-rate POS like the same.

When I moved to a theatre with AW3's -- it was usually because a lamphouse wouldn't strike.

But aside from those -- I think the only breakdowns that we had were from ill-trained projectionists.

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Randy Stankey
Film God

Posts: 6539
From: Erie, Pennsylvania
Registered: Jun 99

posted 12-30-2000 10:10 PM

I've got about 100 screens in 4 states. I have one, maybe 2 "projector down" calls per month. I get calls for "projector in trouble but not down" about every week. Half of them can be handled by phone or by e-mail.

A good number of calls were unnecessary, such as messing up a diode change or not knowing how to handle "contingiencies". (ie: What do I do when I change a lamp and it still won't strike?) Usually I don't try to help them over the phone unless I know exactly what the problem is. I just hop in the car and go there. If somebody is having trouble routine problems like diodes I don't wan't to tell them to put a meter across the 3-phase contactor unless I know that guy personally and I know he can do it without killing himself.

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Paul G. Thompson
The Weenie Man

Posts: 4718
From: Mount Vernon WA USA
Registered: Nov 2000

posted 12-31-2000 01:06 AM

From 1991 to 1996 in Southsound Cinemas at Port Orchard, I did not lose any shows due to mechanical breakdown of the projectors or related equipment.

From 1985 to 1991, I lost one show when the damn thing fell out of my trunk of the car and landed in a BIG puddle of water.

A little preventative maintenance on the machinery and a drop of oil or two now and then does wonders....

I was running a drive-in theater in the 70's when the water cooler lines plugged up for the water cooled jaws in the arc lamp. I got water to it via garden hose stretched across the concession stand floor, outside, and through the booth window to the lamphouse. After a big cloud of steam, we were running again, and I didn't lose the show. As was said in Apollo 13, "Failure is not an option". To me, losing a show because of a mechanical failure is likewise "NOT AN OPTION". In my experiences in the booth for 33 years, the machines will give you warnings of impending failures. Pay attention to detail, and abnormal sounds that develope. It'll save your day!

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Randy Stankey
Film God

Posts: 6539
From: Erie, Pennsylvania
Registered: Jun 99

posted 12-31-2000 09:38 AM

When I was working on the "front line" in the booth, we rarely ever lost a show in 4-plus years. I'd say you could count them on one hand.

Three that I can remember were because the projector motor "smoked" itself. We had to order another motor and that's why we lost a show. I can remember one where the platter smoked itself. I was up until 5am soldering it back together. It was running for the next day. (Then I came back in to open at 11am!)

I know that there are times when nothing can be done and you HAVE to go down but I really think that people are forgetting... The show MUST go on!

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John Walsh
Film God

Posts: 2490
From: Connecticut, USA, Earth, Milky Way
Registered: Oct 1999

posted 12-31-2000 11:18 AM

I know the old saying is "The show must go on..." but the money for repairs does not go on. Obviously, it's better to allow a $10 part to be destroyed than refund a 600 seat house. But if there are 100 people in the house and (say) the lamphouse blower dies, they can all go home. If the lamp explodes, it going to cost more than what we would make to repair it.

It just depends on how many people there are and what the problem is.

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Paul G. Thompson
The Weenie Man

Posts: 4718
From: Mount Vernon WA USA
Registered: Nov 2000

posted 12-31-2000 12:52 PM

Randy and John - I had a spare backup lamp and a power supply in event of a lamp failure. All my setups were conventional, so I simply plopped the lamp on the pedistal and plugged it in. For burned out motor start windings, I started the motor like a chain saw (wind a rope around your shaft, or what have you, and give 'er a nice yank!) This is quite effective on the motors that the RCA and Simplex sound heads use. The older Ballentyne Pro-35's can be started with a good swift pull on the motor drive belt.

For exciter power supply failures, a 5-volt video game power supply is mighty handy.

There are all sorts of things one can do to validate the term, "The show must go on" without causing damage to the equipment or the product.

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Paul Konen
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 981
From: Frisco, TX. (North of Dallas)
Registered: Jun 99

posted 12-31-2000 12:53 PM

Before I get slammed, I am providing my results on the TI projector.

We have not experienced one breakdown of the projector in the year that we have had it. During its run of Toy Story or recently with Dalmations or Emperors, it has been fine. And no, the TI guys aren't around constantly, in fact, hardly at all.

There was only one day that we had to run the backup (Film) print at the same time but that was because of a QuBit Player configuration problem. (It didn't switch to the mirror set fast enough and caused a freeze, similar to DSS in a storm, to appear on the screen).

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Darryl Spicer
Film God

Posts: 3250
From: Lexington, KY, USA
Registered: Dec 2000

posted 12-31-2000 02:07 PM

It has been my personal pollicy to do whatever it takes to save a show. I don't care how many people are in the theater. A couple of months ago I saved a show for two people by replacing diodes in fifteen minutes. People come to the movies to watch the movie not to be sent home disapointed. I have had exhaust blowers on the roof go out and to save the show I pull off the vent cover and slap a spare exhauste fan on top and blow the air in the booth. The booth may get a little warm but the show goes on.

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George Roher
Master Film Handler

Posts: 266
From: Washington DC
Registered: Jul 99

posted 12-31-2000 02:58 PM

I have lost maybe 5 or 6 shows total (still too many). One was due to a lamp blower dying, another time the shutter gear box crapped out on a Victoria 5, the rest were due to rectifiers failing.

I have had several breakdowns that didn't result in losing the show. These mostly happened a couple years ago when polyester film stock was at it's worst and I was sharing a booth with certain people who caused a lot of problems and headaches for me. Breakdowns are pretty rare now, although last week an automation unit went dead on me and shut down the show (had to run manual the rest of the day).

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