The micro conversions for them made that machine alot more reliable, providing they are the soft spring microswitches.

In one of our theaters (a six-plex) that was new, I installed 6 new Strong platters with these nice smooth pay-outs. Every payout head failed in a span of about about 2 years. I converted them to Microswitches, and had no problems for the remaining time with the exception of that funky mode selector switch Strong used. (Lost 3 of them.)

I have two linear feed pay-out heads that just recently took a dump right in the middle of a movie on two separate machines. One was so weak, I contemplated powering up the pay-out with the MUT. That head was then taken out of service.

Take notice of the older platters that used roller bearings on the rollers!

I personally like metal rollers over the nylon/plastic! Much easier to clean plus aids in eliminating static electricity!

The plastic/nylon roller swivels can and will crack!

Platter design is excellent high quality. But the spin forming can be much cleaner! What about painting the platter surfaces with a electric conducting paint or hard anodizing?

Loose the print clamps that do nothing but scratch surfaces!

Replace brush motors with brushless sealed can motors--expensive but worth it!

Take up tension arms need a few locating pins or a machined dove tail assembly--the bolts tend to loosen up causing arm to droop.

The take up cluster needs improvement. Bolts that hold roller swivel to carrage tend to loosen up causing rollers to drop down and possible film rubbing on platter surface.

Platter lights are almost useless--need more wattage!

Need to redesign and beef up MUT!

Use pinch rollers on take off because print will/can jump off rollers if there is any slack.

Redesign pay-out heads!

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REALLY?? You mean that parts are once again availible for CFS Supers and NSP3's?!?

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I will, had lunch with him 2 days ago cought up on some old times.
As far as the platter trick goes, I just could not help myself..

Ken,

Actually the platters at where I worked were in excellent condition and the booth was spotless!

Many of the things I listed are from an engineering standpoint.

Take notice of the older platters that used roller bearings on the rollers!
No need to. Platters that use bearing in their rollers tend to have issues with the film flying off (not talking about Strongs here since they have thick flanges) and they like to overspin and dump film onto the floor if the projector to platter distance is too great.

I personally like metal rollers over the nylon/plastic! Much easier to clean plus aids in eliminating static electricity!
Clean? I've ran the same sets of platters for stretches of years and have never had the need to clean them. If you keep your prints clean, the rollers will stay clean. Pretty simple. Also, I think Kodak's work on anti-static coatings go far beyond the benefits that metal rollers provide.

The plastic/nylon roller swivels can and will crack!
Really? I've never seen one crack. Again, this sounds like operator abuse.

Platter design is excellent high quality. But the spin forming can be much cleaner! What about painting the platter surfaces with a electric conducting paint or hard anodizing?
I have no problems with the current platter deck. This seems more of an opinion than anything else.

Loose the print clamps that do nothing but scratch surfaces!
Well duh! I'll certainly agree with you there. Print clamps shouldn't even be in a booth unless prints have to be carried down stairways. Even then, they aren't required. There are better ways to move prints.

Replace brush motors with brushless sealed can motors--expensive but worth it!
Again, I've not had a problem. Just how long did you work for this theater that had motor problems? How long were they open before you started working there? The benefits are not worth the added expense.

Take up tension arms need a few locating pins or a machined dove tail assembly--the bolts tend to loosen up causing arm to droop.
Ever heard of a lock washer? Again, I've not had this problem.

The take up cluster needs improvement. Bolts that hold roller swivel to carrage tend to loosen up causing rollers to drop down and possible film rubbing on platter surface.
There should have been a nut on the other side of the bolt, but if for some reason that's not enough for your needs, there's always that lock washer. Also, the tall metal rail that holds the takeup cluster has two bolts that can be loosened and the entire rail raised or lowered.

Platter lights are almost useless--need more wattage!
Take the cover off. I have good night vision and have no problem with them the way they come out of the factory, but I can see where some people might want more light.

Need to redesign and beef up MUT!
No they don't. The classic MK makeup table is the best design out there. What is the problem? It doesn't rip film on and off of the platter fast enough for you? The day Christie stops selling their standard MUTs, I will stop recommending and installing their platters.

Use pinch rollers on take off because print will/can jump off rollers if there is any slack.
You are kidding me, right? I've not had this problem. Again, this sounds like an operator error. Those rollers can be threaded with a huge loop of slack between the two outer rollers and the film will STILL run just fine and dandy.

Redesign pay-out heads!
NO! They are perfect as they are. No other payout head is as easy to thread, un-thread, and the slight bend of the film required to enter the head helps to split layers of film in static conditions.

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Whats eatin' you--you really want to argue--HA HA!

OK

Before I started working at this theater, some yutz used lubriplate to lube the pay-out heads and roller shafts! What a mess this made! I ended up cleaning all of this crap off (what a pain!) and relubed with clear silicon bicycle chain lube. Much cleaner and better! But the payout rollers still dont roll worth a damn--and they love to squeek! Constantly cleaning these is a royal pain! I have seen roller bearings in action with the wider flange rollers and I like them much better!

As for the motors: The brush caps need to be removed at least every 6 months to blow carbon dust out to prevent the motor from possibly shorting! Another pain in the ass! Christie uses those FASCO motors that have cast composite magnets and not stacked steel ones. On one occasion, I went to blow the motor out only to find that the magnet was cracked/defective and blew fragments up into the communitator/rotor! Had to replace motor! Can motors are more precise and much better!

What about that bad lot of hockey pucks that Christie purchased and ended up having to replace!?

Do you know what spin forming is!? Look at how the bottom portion of the platter deck is formed--an amature can do better work! And yes, I have spun formed parts before!

Payout heads: Heaven help you if for some reason all three rollers do not roll evenly! The nylon fingers are a pain to clean and form flat spots over time because they do not rotate.

If there is any film slack between the payout head and the tree rollers, the film can and will come off of the roller and possibly ride on roller flanges causing scratches. Thats why I recommended pinch rollers! I was in the habit of inspecting all 10 machines 2-3 times during each show to make sure that the film was tracking correctly!

The mut legs, roller brackets and post can surely be beefed up!

I got used to retightening hardware in certain places--even though correct locking hardware was used--just the design construction of the part!

This was a complete Christie booth. Projectors, soundheads, platters, make-up tables, commodes, you name it.

I'll have to bone up on this crap. Looks like I am going to be the dude to keep it running.

There were cool things that I liked about the Strong platter and there are good things about the Christie as well. For one thing I like the larger center ring that comes standard with the Christies (you can even get a bigger one). This makes payout even smoother by not needing to spin so fast at startup. I don't necessarily agree with the way Christie says the platters should be timed... Brad has a way to get them to pay out much smoother, thus never throwing prints even with horrible static at the end of the movie and no FilmGuard. The platter simply cannot speed up and slow down fast enough to toss the print.