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Author Topic: Projector Sealant Andrew Bangs Expert Film Handler Posts: 148 From: Kerrville, Texas, United States Registered: Sep 2008 posted 10-04-2008 01:07 PM                        "Item #121 on todays Glitch-list." (JP) The seals between the oiled Gear box and the film house on a couple of my projectors are failing as I am getting oil leaking through. Is there a way to reseal it or is this something that should only be done by the producers of the equipment?  |  IP: Logged Mark Gulbrandsen Resident Trollmaster Posts: 16657 From: Music City Registered: Jun 99 posted 10-04-2008 10:10 PM                     This is not at all uncommon on the Chinese machine tools I've owned to see premature seal failure and probably not any different on your projectors. Carefully remove the seal and take it to a bearing distributor and have them match it up so you can replace it with a new one. Also, check the shaft to see if it's at all torn up where the lip of the seal rides... You may see a faint line... rub your finger nail down the shaft and over that line and see if your nail catches, you could also use a razor blade but the fingernail has worked well for me... if there's a bad groove then you also need a new shaft.  |  IP: Logged Tony Bandiera Jr Film God Posts: 3067 From: Moreland Idaho Registered: Apr 2004 posted 10-05-2008 12:19 AM                     Andrew, if I had the resources I would DONATE some decent projection equipment to you so you could dump all that Chinese crap into the nearest dumpster. I can see your owner spending so much money in tech time and lost income from refunds and dissatified customers to re-equip your booth with some decent used, DOMESTIC equipment. The equipment is out there if you know where to look. I find it ironic that you have CP-650's and digital (not a cheap propositon by any definition) and yet ended up with such cheap crap for projectors and platters. Someone needs to be beaten repeatedly with a baseball bat for that spec. Mark's suggestion is a good one, as I'm sure the seals you get from your local bearing house will be cheaper and better quality that the originals. As a footnote, it may be possible to read the numbers off the seals without removing them, wipe them off and use a magnifying glass, and give that numer to the bearing house, they can look up the right sizes for you.  |  IP: Logged Louis Bornwasser Film God Posts: 4441 From: prospect ky usa Registered: Mar 2005 posted 10-05-2008 07:15 AM                        I saw that equipment years ago at Showest. My first impression is that it is no better than my (worthless) metal lathe, also Chinese. (Now replaced with a 1962 Pratt & Whitney lathe.) Who would buy these? Now we know. Must have looked like a good deal at the time. Stick with Simplex XL or Century. Louis  |  IP: Logged Mark Gulbrandsen Resident Trollmaster Posts: 16657 From: Music City Registered: Jun 99 posted 10-05-2008 11:11 AM                     Really... If Andrews theater is doing any sort of good numbers then going digital as these machines drop or become un-repairable makes much more sense. If he replaced the stuff with more film equipment how long will he be using it before it also hits the dumpster... perhaps 5 years... not worth the effort! Louis, Be careful on those Pratt & Whitneys... I almost bought one a number of years back but discovered that they have their own thread standard... makes replacing a screw or bolt nearly imnpossible unless you have a complete set of Pratt & Whitney taps and dies!! A standard lathe cannot cut the threads either... The Chinese tools I bought back about 20 years ago were actually not too bad, especially the large verticle mill... but the Chinese seem to have gone down hill completely over that amount of time. Enco is also not the company it once was having been bought at fire sale by Manhattan Supply Co. after the Owner of Enco died. Enco used to quality check each machine tool before it left their facilities. They even made a house call to repair a minor problem for me once. Mark  |  IP: Logged Andrew Bangs Expert Film Handler Posts: 148 From: Kerrville, Texas, United States Registered: Sep 2008 posted 10-05-2008 11:44 AM                        I am a little confused... Perhaps this is more of the Chinese Problem but it may also be part of my inexperience. The seals I am talking about look to be some type of black liquid sealant that was put in then compressed under the tension of screwing down the Film house arm into place. This has developed a leak (or so I think) and needs to be replaced. I assume with another liquid sealer, almost like caulk. ( now having said that I could be way off base) I do not think their is any way to get the old sealant out except for scraping it out in which case I do not think their is a way the recover any part number, not that I think one even exists. The leaks are not bad just an annoyance so I will wait on this one for our tech. but I will try to take a picture so you guys can see what it is I am talking about. In the end I may have may terms mixed up or these Projectors are just that different. Again I will say that this Equipment is not that bad I think allot of our trouble lies with the last guy not doing his job and keeping these things maintained properly. He thought cleaning the projector out meant taking an air compressor to it and that was all. This guy was also not into being proactive about getting things fixed. He would simply put a band aid on it and think everything was ok and never really took care of the problem. Also if I am correct I think we got a couple of Projectors that were the first off the line so we were the Guinea Pigs and the company has learned from our real world experience. They were sending over techs from China with a translator for the first year. It has been some time since we have seen them. I think they have made so many changes these are not the same projectors they are putting out now and they have moved on. Also the plan was to only have these for a few years then switch to digital. Since digital has been pushed off for us for at least another couple years so cost effectiveness is an issue. We know we will be replacing them so how much work do we want to put in?  |  IP: Logged Tim Reed Better Projection Pays Posts: 5246 From: Northampton, PA Registered: Sep 1999 posted 10-05-2008 12:22 PM                       quote: Andrew Bangs I think allot of our trouble lies with the last guy not doing his job and keeping these things maintained properly. You mean, projectionists are actually supposed to DO something, other than just run the film through?! What a concept!  |  IP: Logged Mark Gulbrandsen Resident Trollmaster Posts: 16657 From: Music City Registered: Jun 99 posted 10-05-2008 12:41 PM                     quote: Andrew Bangs The seals I am talking about look to be some type of black liquid sealant that was put in then compressed under the tension of screwing down the Film house arm into place. This has developed a leak (or so I think) and needs to be replaced. I assume with another liquid sealer, almost like caulk. I can sympathize with you since there are no techs still working in Texas that are willing to deal with this sort of stuff... We have quite a few customers down there as a result. Boy oh boy... I hope its at least a simple "O" ring thats compressed down a bit to keep it sealed up... Otherwise good luck with that one! It may also be possible to machine the casting to properly install a decent seal. Being proactive or not doesn't have alot to do with the reliability of the projector if you have a reliable projector to begin with... all that really needs to be done is to keep them clean and change the oil... I've seen many a projector that only gets service every couple of years and they are still running just fine... sound is usually whats a bit off. Mark  |  IP: Logged Monte L Fullmer Film God Posts: 8367 From: Nampa, Idaho, USA Registered: Nov 2004 posted 10-05-2008 03:35 PM                     Wonder if he could use the red Permatex "Form-a-Gasket" adhesive? - just clean both surfaces to smooth and use the gasket stuff that way.. (..and how many times have I seen this stuff used in Simplexes to cure their oil leak problems .....) -Monte  |  IP: Logged Mark Gulbrandsen Resident Trollmaster Posts: 16657 From: Music City Registered: Jun 99 posted 10-05-2008 03:39 PM                     You could dip a Simplex in permatex and it would still leak....  |  IP: Logged Andrew Bangs Expert Film Handler Posts: 148 From: Kerrville, Texas, United States Registered: Sep 2008 posted 10-06-2008 12:53 AM                        Thanks for the suggestions I will look into that. and like I said I will try to get a photo for you guys one of these days. quote: Mark Gulbrandsen all that really needs to be done is to keep them clean and change the oil... Right and if he had done that... Like I said all he did was hit the Film house with an air compressor and just made the dirt dance as far as I am concerned. But yes I will admit this equipment was probably not the best to begin with as it did give us alot of problems out of the box as it were.  |  IP: Logged

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