From: David Tetzlaff (email suppressed)
Date: Sat Feb 20 2010 - 08:43:04 PST
Connie:
To add to what David has already said:
Once you get inside the projector and examine the mechanism you might
find that an idler wheel with a rubber edge is part of the drive
train. If so, and this rubber has hardened with age, it might lose
it's grip, causing slippage. And just due to the oddities of physics,
this could happen in one direction, but not another. Electronics shops
usually sell a fluid designed to soften and revive such hardened
rubber parts which might be of use if that's the issue (though with an
upper sprocket, I'd guess David's diagnosis of a frozen gear is more
likely).
In any event I wouldn't call the likely fix 'easy' for those who are
not used to tinkering with this kind of machinery. I would guess
repair by a professional shop would cost more than the projector is
worth. Someone in NYC must know someone who tinkers with this stuff
for fun or barter of intoxicants (in my youth back in the Midwest, I'd
get buddies to help we out for a sixpack, or maybe a case, but somehow
I doubt brewskis are the prevailing medium of exchange in the Gotham
film world...)
It _might_ be easier to just look for another projector an eBay. The
newer Japanese made models seem to be very pricey, but the older
domestic ones go pretty cheap. Caveat emptor, so I wouldn't buy one
unless the seller verifies it projects OK (lamp comes on, it holds a
loop etc.). There's an eBay auction going now with a low opening bid
for a Kodak Moviedeck, item 380207853442. The Moviedeck was an
unconventional design that didn't use conventional spockets, and was
therefore resistant to eating the film. It's what we had at school
when I was making Super-8 films 31 years ago, and i liked them.
In any case, it sounds like your B+H is film destroyer as-is, and with
even S8 films being worth more than anything you project them on these
days, I wouldn't chance using it again.
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