|
|
This topic comprises 3 pages: 1 2 3
|
|
Author
|
Topic: Simplex Millenium - what do you think?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Brad Miller
Administrator
Posts: 17775
From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall)
Registered: May 99
|
posted 06-27-2003 04:19 AM
My own observations and opinions here. Your mileage may vary...
I am not a big fan of the Simplex. Never have been. It is built like a tank and will certainly run for a nice long time without breaking down, but I don't like the way they handle the film. Two identical films ran side by side by the same projectionists in the same booth, one on a Simplex and one on a Century...the Century print will look better at the end of the run every time. A Century projector (made by the same company as the Simplex, Strong International) handles film much more gentle. Even more gentle film handling than a Century would go to a Cinemeccanica projector and possibly a Kinoton (I need to play with a Kinoton before I claim that it is better). If you choose to go with a Strong projector, I would recommend you go with the Century or check out the Apogee which is about to be released. From what I saw the Apogee seems to have all of the positive points of a Simplex and doesn't have that stupid pressure roller in the soundhead which does a lovely job of pressing in loose dirt into the emulsion.
Not a big fan of Strong lamphouses either. They have a hot spot that drives me nuts. The Highlight II is better by leaps and bounds than the Highlight I, but that hot spot is still there. If you go with this unit, I would heed Don's advice and go with the high reactance power supplies if you are going to put in a 4K or larger lamp. I have also seen a lot of ignitor issues with the Highlight II units and boy are the cooling fans good and loud! You should check out the Christie SLC console instead. It is a superior lamphouse with a more even light output across the screen and their failure rate is damn near zero. Plus the xenon life out of an SLC is incredible compared to a Strong. If you do choose to go with a Strong lamphouse, I would go with their new model that should be on the streets soon. (They had it at ShoWest and is featured in the Strong video download.) It was designed with the service technician in mind (easily accessible parts/nice and roomy).
I also hate, hate, hate, hate, hate Strong's turret that you will find on a Simplex or a Century. After you have to readjust the stop settings a few times to keep your apertures lined up perfectly, you will hate, hate, hate, hate, hate it too. It needs to have allen wrench alignment controls like the Christie projector does on it's vertical alignment (or like Strong used to have on their older turrets), then I would like it. Every time they introduce a new turret, it has more problems with maintaining alignment. Hopefully someone will redesign it for the Apogee and make it available as a retrofit for Simplex and Century. That would be nice.
To answer your question about the rubber O rings, no that is not a possiblity on the Simplex.
| IP: Logged
|
|
|
|
Mark Gulbrandsen
Resident Trollmaster
Posts: 16657
From: Music City
Registered: Jun 99
|
posted 06-27-2003 04:55 PM
OK, Thats a fair question.... If I had been Strong I woulda thrwown the Simplex out completely and come out with a whole new design for the new Millenium.
It would have at least these features:
All gear driven and all orthagonal gearing for longest life span. Large oil sump of at least a quart. At least two stages of oil filtering, plus magnetic filtering. Hardened(I mean really hardened correctly) star and cam, not the crap being made today. Also, the star and cam wouldn't need to be huge like the Ballantyne....it would just be designed correctly instead!
One piece machine with integral analog, DTS and SRD readers as standard. Film runners made from A7 tool steel hardened to at least RC65. Not the typical butter soft metal as is used in alot of todays runners and other wearing parts in U.S. built projectors.
I am 50/50 as to liking the Simplex. However, with Kinoton, Ernemann and other better projectors being in the same price range now and actually offering more for your money and a better product I would probably shy away from Simplex in the future.
My personal observations as I have installed quite a few of them:
I HATE the gate design.
There are WAY TOO MANY parts in a Simplex head. Those that have rebuilt lots of different types of heads would have to agree on that one. Even a complete DP-70 has about half the amount of parts that are in just a Simplex projector head!
The intermittent star and cam are not machined to tolerances nearly as good as the old machines were. Old Simplex's have a rock steady image, particuluarly the machines with the two piece cams. Newer machines that compare in steadiness to those older ones are by chance. While Ernamann and Kinoton are today still churnning out machines that are even better than the early Simplexs.
There is still not much oil in the mechanism, but the shaft seals have allowed for some increase. Since no one changes their oil as often as they should the "lack" of oil in a Simplex to me is a hindrance.
On the positive view side:
The leaks are almost non-existant now thanks to modern powder coating finishes sealing the castings, and the addition of seals on the main drive shaft. The newer style red gear door gasket is also a ten fold improvement. Later machines have the heavier gear door, and a alot heavier main casting. The later turretts are a tad bit better too and almost always work. As long as you change the oil frequently Simplex's will have a long trouble free life. Like Don S. says...if it makes it past 25 hours it'll last forever.
Brad,
It would be easily possible to make a lateral guide roller and sound drum for the 5 star that are non-contact. Copying the Phillips sound drum and lateral guide would be VERY easy to do. In fact I'm surprised that Strong has not made that improvement to the 5 star. That alone would be a huge improvement!! Its about all there is they can do to it anymore. I can only hope the Apogee does not utilize a tight loop scanner!!! THEY ARE CRAP AND TOTALLY UNNECESSARY!
Also.... The new single piece Simplex with integral sound reproducer does look nice. It rids the sound head of the drive belts and eliminates the two piece design that shoulda been thrown in the dumpster along time ago. Why on earth do we need two piece machines for any longer.......? All the worlds best projectors have long been one piece units ![[thumbsup]](graemlins/thumbsup.gif)
Mark
| IP: Logged
|
|
|
|
|
|
John T. Hendrickson, Jr
Jedi Master Film Handler
Posts: 889
From: Freehold, NJ, USA
Registered: Apr 2001
|
posted 06-27-2003 08:44 PM
I don't pretend to have the technical knowledge that many forum members have, but I know what I like, and what I don't. We purchased eight Milleniums and ten Highlight II consoles for our expansion. We are now three and a half years down the road from our reopening. This is what we've experienced.
Two power supply switchers have died so far. Getting replacements from Strong took so long we were forced to buy two spares to have on hand for the next failure (one 4K and one 2K). Now keep in mind that we are a thirteen screen independent. Unlike the chains, it costs $ to have these things sitting around waiting for the other shoe to drop.
Four of the eight Milleniums leak oil, so Strong finally has it's act together in this department? ![[Eek!]](eek.gif) And yes, I change out the oil every six months.
Three of the consoles have faulty LCD displays, which need to be replaced. Half of the display fails to function. In adition, several have faulty current adjustment potentiometers.
I have replaced one FP-350 Cue Detector and Failsafe, and just last week an entire CNA 100 automation board because the stop switch and the cue input switch stopped functioning. These two items ARE NOT repair/exchange items. We had to eat the entire cost.
Lens alignment? Lots of fun! Not a week goes by that I don't have to realign at least one lens on one of the eight Millenium turrets. (Vertical allignment)
Heaven forbid your hand should slip while cleaning the soundhead. Hit the little plug that powers the LED, and it will wiggle like a loose tooth, and if you are not careful, you will lose your analog sound. I've replaced two LED's already. From what I've read, these only last about five years anyway, so I've had some practice.
Two projectors have noisy intermittents, so I figure I'll be replacing them next.
Lastly, I had an unsteady picture early on in our biggest house. Spent hours on the phone with the folks at Strong. Replaced an intermittent, then a gate. You know what it turned out to be??? Vibrations from the cooling fan on the front of the console. I was about to replace that, and what do you know, when I took off the housing the vibrations stopped and the picture was steady again!!!
Another thing I've found. If we keep a print longer than three weeks, chances are better than good that the automation will start blowing cues and the cue tape has to be replaced. This is not a problem in the three old houses that have Kelmar automations. And speaking of Kelmar, we had two of our old Century SA's rebuilt with automated Kelmar turrets and traps. Rock steady picture and I have NEVER had to realign the lenses. The three remaining Century SA's(which were not rebuilt) are merrily rolling along and approaching thirty years of age with no major problems (of late). If I knew then what I know now... ![[Roll Eyes]](rolleyes.gif)
I was weaned on XL's and always thought they were terrific projectors, and I like Century SA's a lot, too. The newer Strong equipment leaves a lot to be desired, IMHO. Our owners think so,too. Not likely we will be purchasing from Strong anytime soon.
| IP: Logged
|
|
Mark Gulbrandsen
Resident Trollmaster
Posts: 16657
From: Music City
Registered: Jun 99
|
posted 06-27-2003 09:19 PM
"Four of the eight Milleniums leak oil, so Strong finally has it's act together in this department? And yes, I change out the oil every six months."
_________________________________________________________________
John, I would go after your dealer and see why the leaks have not been taken care of...... If you work for a large chain....ohhhhhh wellllll.........
I've never felt that the little amount of oil in an X-L should go as long as six months, especially on older machines where there is even less oil. If it were a pint it might last that long, but the 6 to 8 ounces of oil in a Simplex should be changed monthly if running on platters.
We recently had the oil that Strong sells analyzed and the report cam back as it being pure mineral oil with no additives what so ever. Perhaps the folks at the oil labs where we sent it were wrong, but IMHO thats not what I would use in any projector. The little oil in the machine would break down and become contaminated long before the six months was up !!
Remember there is no real "FILTER" in the Simplex. That little screen thingy on the pump is no more than a strainer that keeps large particles from getting sucked up and sent though the mechanism.
I see way more intermittents in general come in for overhaul and or total rebuild than I did say 6 or 7 years ago. The quality of parts seems to be declining and I once had a number of stars, cams, and film runners of various manufacturers tested for hardness and the results I saw were less than pleasing. Sort of hardened to barely hardened would be about what I saw. While testing parts from some European machines gave much higher hardness test results. The noise in yours could be caused by various problems, but typically I am seeing cam pins that just do not last like the old ones did. Take apart a year old machine and usually you will find flat spots where the pin strikes the slot in the star. I've torn down a couple of dozen DP-70 intermittents lately to give them a cleaning, and the cam pins typically look like brand new....so do the slots in the star!!
We have not experienced switcher failure very much out here and I've gotten great lamp life from them. Again, having difficulites in geting relpacement switchers usually lies with your dealer....whoever he is ![[eyes]](graemlins/eyes.gif) .
Mark
| IP: Logged
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Thomas Procyk
Phenomenal Film Handler
Posts: 1842
From: Royal Palm Beach, FL, USA
Registered: Feb 2002
|
posted 06-28-2003 09:51 AM
When I worked at the Regal Royal Palm, I was there right after the installation of all those Simplex Milleniums! Now keep in mind, these are all brand new machines...
What I liked: Very roomy projector head with lots of space to thread. This also made cleaning really easy. I also liked the big upper feed sprocket. For some reason, it felt more "reassuring" than the small ones on the Century. Speaking of the Century, I like the fact that the Simplex had a large opening for the film to go through at the top, unlike the Century. With Centuries, since the opening is so small, if you mount a film cleaner on top you have to start adjusting rollers so the film feeds into the hole right. (yeah, yeah... not if you do it this way or that way, I know...) I think I'm in the minority when I say I LIKED the fact that the lens turret changed slowly. Ours always seemed to be in time perfect with the masking curtains. (SCOPE lens would "click" into place right when the curtains were fully extended) This probably saved the lenses from the "jolts" other, faster turrets cause. I liked the design of the sound drum, too, except for that rubbery thing. ![[Smile]](smile.gif)
Now the bad stuff: Just like everyone else said, the gate sucks. In Florida, (especially the south) if the air is off for any period of time, things get damp. We came in one morning to find that the gates on a couple of projectors wouldn't open. Lo and behold, the little pin had RUSTED into the hole!! Well, at least we know how to keep it shut during a show... The oil leaks were a huge problem at first, but were pretty much solved by the time I left that location. The worst was when oil would leak onto the flywheel and spray up onto the port glass, causing the picture to "go out of focus."
Lens turrets also had problems, but only two or three in the whole complex. Either they would mis-align, go back and forth like Sean said, or just keep spinning round and round.
Now the thing that I absolutely HATED WITH A PASSION about those machines was that stupid little "ring" held in by a hex screw that would serve as the intermittent shoe tension/position. These would work their way loose every few weeks and either cause there to be a huge gap between the sprocket and shoes, or it flips around so the shoes are GRINDING against the film and snowflakes fill the projector head. What was even a bigger problem is that the projectionists would get so frustrated with these things that they would tighten them down so hard to the point of snapping the hex screw off in the shaft. Strong had a replacement for this whole mess shortly before I left.
I worked with the Hihlight II consoles at another theater. I absolutely hate these things. Good light output, easy to maintain, yadda yadda... but the simple fact that it sounded like 8 air-raid sirens in the damn booth made me lose all respect for these. ![[Mad]](mad.gif) Those huge, loud fans were PERFECT for sucking in dust, film, and small animals, too.
Overall, a good projector and I'm somewhat partial to it since I learned on one. (Very easy for a newbie!) But like all things, it has its little flaws. I would purchase one unless there was a Kinoton of comporable price.
=TMP=
| IP: Logged
|
|
|
|
All times are Central (GMT -6:00)
|
This topic comprises 3 pages: 1 2 3
|
Powered by Infopop Corporation
UBB.classicTM
6.3.1.2
The Film-Tech Forums are designed for various members related to the cinema industry to express their opinions, viewpoints and testimonials on various products, services and events based upon speculation, personal knowledge and factual information through use, therefore all views represented here allow no liability upon the publishers of this web site and the owners of said views assume no liability for any ill will resulting from these postings. The posts made here are for educational as well as entertainment purposes and as such anyone viewing this portion of the website must accept these views as statements of the author of that opinion
and agrees to release the authors from any and all liability.
|
Home
Printer-friendly view of this topic