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Topic: Covering films overnight?

Stephen Furley
Film God

Posts: 3059
From: Coulsdon, Croydon, England
Registered: May 2002

posted 06-06-2003 06:40 AM

Kinoton re-invents the spool box

http://www.kinoton.com/spulenkasten.htm

I haven't seen these in use anywhere.

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Steve Guttag
We forgot the crackers Gromit!!!

Posts: 12814
From: Annapolis, MD
Registered: Dec 1999

posted 06-07-2003 09:50 AM

I'm actually a STRONG advocate of the pre-show warm of of the projector...especially the mechanical ones.

One of the biggest load points of the projector itself is the intermittent...turn the machine by hand with and without film in the gate...you don't need a tension guage to feel the difference.

In the case of Bill's theatre, he has Simplexes....the intermittent has only a oil film left from the previous night to start up on...then the pump needs to start drawing and sputtering...finially it makes it out the discharge tube and heads to the govenor weights...to be slung to the intermittent funnel...then it must slowly wick down the funnel to the drop tube to land on the intermittent flywheel gears to finally be drawn into the intermittent cam and star. This isn't an instant process and in fact takes several seconds. Furthermore, this gives the oil a time to heat up and thin down a bit.

After several minutes of operation, recheck the oil and verify a nice smooth stream of oil is still flowing out of the intermittent funnel tube and you know the oil level is not only good but the oil system is functioning properly, before the show starts!

This procedure will also help the operator discover little surprises that the previous operator may have left...I'm sure I'm not the only one to come into a stripped feed sprocket gear. The previous operator always pleads ignorance but the dented tooth brush always gives them away. Again, better to find out before the show than during.

Steve

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Daryl C. W. O'Shea
Film God

Posts: 3977
From: Midland Ontario Canada (where Panavision & IMAX lenses come from)
Registered: Jun 2002

posted 06-07-2003 03:51 PM

I'm with Steve on a pre-show warm up of the projector. In the winter I'll even manually turn some projectors (especially Brenkerts) for quite some time before I'll start the motor.

This practice has also saved me from starting late (albeit only a minute or two, but still late) due to belts breaking on startup (Cinemeccanicas). Out of all the belts breaking on startup I've only once had one that waited until I actually started the show, the rest have been when I first turn the machine on when I walk in the door.

Lots of people think I'm wasting time running the machines before I thread them, but it really doesn't take any extra time, especially in a multiplex. In a plex, I walk around turning on house lights (and sound racks if they are off for the night) and removing platter covers, while also starting the projectors. By the time I get all of the equipment turned on and the machines started, I start back at the beginning and thread each one. Since it takes a minute to thread each platter and projector (darn non-op side platter) each machine will have been running (usually) long enough to exhibit any problems they may have.

In change-over situations, with only one or two, or three screens, I'll go booth to booth turning everything on, starting the projectors and placing the supply reel on the supply arm shafts. Once again, by the time I get back to the beginning the machines have had time to warm up.

quote:
I'm sure I'm not the only one to come into a stripped feed sprocket gear. The previous operator always pleads ignorance but the dented tooth brush always gives them away.

You sure aren't. Unfortunately it doesn't stop at feed sprockets.

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Frank Angel
Film God

Posts: 5305
From: Brooklyn NY USA
Registered: Dec 1999

posted 06-07-2003 04:01 PM

Without my knowledge, one day some construction guys came into the booth to install some required fire alarm indicators. They drilled through the foot thick cement booth roof. Did they bother to cover any equipment? Not a chance. I discovered a coating of plaster/cement dust covering everything the next time I went up to the booth. It took a week to clean the projectors and get that highly abrasive dust cleaned up. I had to uses a wetvac that sprays a liquid cleaner in front of the suction squeegy as it sucks the dirty water back up. And that was just the floor. You have no idea how difficult it is to get that scouring dust off surfaces -- you literally have to create a negative pressure in the room while you are cleaning otherwise the stuff just moves from one place to another. It's a disaster.

From that point on, I cover all the projectors. Luckily the booth has fireproof film cabinates from the days of old -- 16 bins in all for the longest double features -- so that is not an issue as reels sit in the bins overnight, but covering the projectors is now routine. Also, our operation is such that weeks can go buy without running a film, so it's not like the machines get a cleaning every day. Covering up the equipment for the specialty booths that don't run every day is also a good idea.

Frank

PS -- I also changed the locks. Now the college morons have to call me before they can have at my booth.

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