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Author Topic: soundhead roller sticking Carl Martin Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1424 From: Oakland, CA, USA Registered: Feb 2002 posted 05-06-2004 05:35 AM                        century r3 soundhead. the lower damper roller (directly under the drum) has a history of getting stiff. for now it will still turn with film running over it, but not much longer. my understanding is that this is a grease-sealed roller and so shouldn't need oiling. there's no apparent way to remove the roller to clean it. in the past whenever this problem reared its head, wd-40 would be carefully applied to free up gunk. no doubt that has contributed to the formation of more gunk. while i know that will work temporarily, i'd like to find a better solution. or does the roller just need to be replaced? carl  |  IP: Logged Richard Fowler Film God Posts: 2392 From: Ft. Lauderdale, FL, USA Registered: Jun 2001 posted 05-06-2004 07:21 AM                     The lower damper roller, if the old style , will have a sleeve bearing, newer more common have ball bearings. There is a clamp point on the arm holding the roller stud to allow it to be removed for cleaning. If you plan to remove the stud do it carefully since the damper arm is a fairly fragile aluminum casting prone to cracking. The ball bearing type if there are sticking rough points in the rotation of the roller it should be replaced and the stud also in case if the stud arm has been grooved by the roller. This roller receives much abuse due to the size of roller and the tension. These parts are under $50.00 list  |  IP: Logged Paul G. Thompson The Weenie Man Posts: 4718 From: Mount Vernon WA USA Registered: Nov 2000 posted 05-06-2004 10:52 PM                     Don't know for sure, but if that sleeve bushing is an oilite bushing, it needs no lubrication. Keep it away from WD-40. Keeping the bushing and the shaft clean from oil and crud should make your problem go away - after you dismantle it and give it a good bath.  |  IP: Logged Carl Martin Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1424 From: Oakland, CA, USA Registered: Feb 2002 posted 05-07-2004 04:46 AM                        richard, i'm not sure what you mean by "clamp point". i figured there would be some sort of spring-loaded thing to press that would release the roller, but there's no such thing. given the age of equipment in my theater, it's probably an old-style. i noticed today that, unlike the upper damper, this one presses against the drum when no film is threaded. it spins a little easier when pulled away from the drum, but still somewhat stiff. i imagine it would be a good idea to adjust the screw on the arm to give a tiny bit of clearance. but any further help in disassembling the roller would still be appreciated. thanks, carl  |  IP: Logged Richard Fowler Film God Posts: 2392 From: Ft. Lauderdale, FL, USA Registered: Jun 2001 posted 05-07-2004 06:54 AM                     The screw with spring on the arm should be adjusted so as not to touch the drum while unthreaded. The clamp point of the damper arm to the roller stud there is a small screw / nut /washer which help clamp the stud to the arm...rough handling has been known to break the damper arm or crack the clamp point. The whole butterfly damper assembly is held by three screws to the soundhead chassis.....if you are still using a standard forward scan slit lens it should not be too hard to take out, just do not disturb the lens setting. If you have reverse scan analog reader it may be more of a problem to remove so as not to disturb the connections to the reader so this would have to be a judgement call. Removing the unit allows you to get to access points more easily away from the machine to do adjustments. If you can remove the assembly make sure that you replace the unit exactly to the chassis and if there are shims that they be reinstalled to preserve alinement Note also that the lower damper has a dashpot tank with silicone oil; this is held in by a set screw. You should remove this prior to removing the damper assembly so as not to spill the contents ( hopefully you have fluid ). Go to the manual section and look at the R-3 soundhead information.  |  IP: Logged Carl Martin Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1424 From: Oakland, CA, USA Registered: Feb 2002 posted 05-08-2004 06:41 AM                        thanks, richard. actually, only the upper damper has a clamp point. the lower is held in with a set screw on the top side. we have reverse scan so i couldn't take the whole shlemiel out but i managed to dissassemble it enough to get at the set screw. got it all back together again too (whew). the manual helped a bunch; should have looked there first. i cleaned some crud off the roller's shaft and it definitely spins better now. thanks for the help! carl  |  IP: Logged

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