Servicing Simplex Reel Arms (Part 8170/8159)

[Ryan Gallagher]

Here is one for those that have been doing this longer...

Finally tackling servicing/oiling our feed and takeup reel arm clutches. But after opening the feed arm clutch i'm left wondering if these were ever meant to be oiled? I didn't take a picture but here is a sketch, the clutch surface is comprised of a ring of felt dots that are dark grey, almost black in color... I was expecting to find a solid felt ring like on the Kelmar arms.

Feed_Clutch_Pad.jpg

Part of me almost wonders if these were graphite impregnated clutch pads or something from the factory and meant to be run dry. (or maybe prior operators serviced them with graphite powder?). If they were ever oiled certainly very little evidence of it remains. Tried pressing them on a sheet of paper and did not get any oil transfer.

ArmUpperOperatorSide.jpgArmLowerOperatorSide.jpg

Also any pro tips on the easiest way to remove the lower takeup v-belt appreciated (Century JJs). I have not tackled the take up clutches yet, but I expect to find a normal felt pad in those indicated by No.5289 in the diagrams. I am hopeful not to have to pull those takeup arms off the soundhead. Our feed arms were already off switching over to 70mm.

Here is the exploded diagrams from the warehouse:

Exploded_View.png

[Ryan Gallagher]

Aside, cheers for the rubber band clacker tip in the reel arm bells (reel end alarms) thread. Silencers installed!

IMG_6526.jpg

[Steve Guttag]

Their origins were Ballantyne, not Simplex. Strong did revise them over the years, made the take up diameter smaller for a faster spinning reel and adapted them better to projectors like the Simplex, which they made. As I recall, they came with a small bottle of red lubricant...most likely ATF. I, honestly, don't recall ever applying any thing to them and we did use them as they were MUCH more stable than Kelmars...with better reel latches.

[Ryan Gallagher]

Their origins were Ballantyne, not Simplex. Strong did revise them over the years, made the take up diameter smaller for a faster spinning reel and adapted them better to projectors like the Simplex, which they made. As I recall, they came with a small bottle of red lubricant...most likely ATF. I, honestly, don't recall ever applying any thing to them and we did use them as they were MUCH more stable than Kelmars...with better reel latches.

We still have a small bottle of Ballantyne clutch pad lubricant in our booth, so that makes sense as to the origins and that lubricant is expected. Thanks for the insight.

My reason for servicing them is that one of our takeups definitely has some tension “bounce” when measuring it with the spring scales. The take ups also have some friction “chatter” if you turn them slowly by hand. But otherwise yes they are very solid and hold your tension setting.

The 35mm latches are very positive, but we learned after using FT’s 24” reels, they don’t quite accommodate that wider width of reel. Had to improvise additional rim locks. The 70mm however have tons of extra space, but those latches are not as reliable and we used to add washers and tape them closed on our Goldberg sheet metal reels, less of an issue with the tighter fitting FT reels, but we still picked up some 3/8th spacers to make the reel location static.

[Tj Hopland]

The 'bounce' could be from the pads sitting in one position on the clutch face for an extended period of time(s). You would get different sorts of oxidation corrosion stuff going on where the pads are vs where its more open you could have alternating areas that are more sticky vs clean areas so the clutch face would be the area I would be working on cleaning assuming you don't find something like bearing issues causing it.

I do remember the red Ballentyne lube being in the Ballentyne booths, must have come with the original package. I never had to use it since the Pro35's tended to leak enough oil that there was plenty to go around to keep the amplifier, automation, and take up clutch well lubricated. There was even plenty for the lamp power supply.and the black from the belt shedding make it all that much better. I remember a few non Pro35 places that had the arms but they were not common for me. Lots of Kelmar and what wasn't Kelmar was a mix of Wolk, Eprad, and Teco sorts of things.

[Ryan Gallagher]

The 'bounce' could be from the pads sitting in one position on the clutch face for an extended period of time(s). You would get different sorts of oxidation corrosion stuff going on where the pads are vs where its more open you could have alternating areas that are more sticky vs clean areas so the clutch face would be the area I would be working on cleaning assuming you don't find something like bearing issues causing it.

I do remember the red Ballentyne lube being in the Ballentyne booths, must have come with the original package. I never had to use it since the Pro35's tended to leak enough oil that there was plenty to go around to keep the amplifier, automation, and take up clutch well lubricated. There was even plenty for the lamp power supply.and the black from the belt shedding make it all that much better. I remember a few non Pro35 places that had the arms but they were not common for me. Lots of Kelmar and what wasn't Kelmar was a mix of Wolk, Eprad, and Teco sorts of things.

Yep I plan to clean and inspect the surfaces of the clutch faces on the takeups. The feeds were fine but I had never been in them... just cleaned the face opposite the felt pads, I put two drops of the lubricant on each pad and it absorbed them extremely fast, the face soiled a rag with a dark deposit (whatever those dark felt pads are made of).