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Topic: Worlds leakiest projector

Mark Gulbrandsen
Resident Trollmaster

Posts: 16657
From: Music City
Registered: Jun 99

posted 07-21-2001 07:51 PM

Typically Ballantynes should not leak a drop unless there are bad seals or O rings. In that case its time for an overhaul. They can be made not to leak again if the job is doen properly.
Mark @ GTS

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Mark Gulbrandsen
Resident Trollmaster

Posts: 16657
From: Music City
Registered: Jun 99

posted 07-21-2001 07:56 PM

Indeed they can be porus but keep in mind that this is microscopic type porus and it takes the oil quite some time to make its way through. I have machined close to 100 X-L's for TU-2000 turretts in my own shop and when you get to a thin enough piece of alumnium that is going to be machined off anyway, it is usually possible to break it away and when you do that its easy to see the crystalline structure at edge of the metal. Later X-L's of the Simplex 35 variety have much stronger castings as do recent X-L's. And everyone thinks the older X-L's are better? They simply are not as good in the main casting department.
MArk @ GTS

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Barry Floyd
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1079
From: Lebanon, Tennessee, USA
Registered: Mar 2000

posted 07-21-2001 11:01 PM

Somebody mentioned a "special paint" or coating on the inside of the main casting to prevent the oil from leaking through the wall of the projector...

Is this why the insides of all of my Brenkerts are painted RED ? I've always wondered why the inside of the gear train housing was painted.

------------------
Barry Floyd
Floyd Entertainment Group
Nashville, Tennessee
(Drive-In Theatre - Start-Up)

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Stefan Scholz
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 223
From: Schoenberg, Germany
Registered: Sep 1999

posted 07-22-2001 07:02 AM

Yes, it is the red paint to cover the porous castings from soaking from the start. But once it's started, the capilary effects starts going.

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Will Morrow
Film Handler

Posts: 91
From: Mt. Pleasant, MI, USA
Registered: Mar 2001

posted 07-22-2001 11:39 AM

Mark G is RIGHT about the the Vic 4's. We have 11 of them at the theater I work at, and about 8 or 9 of them leak oil. They are messy machines. But, they are what we have, and they do throw a decent picture on our screens.

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Matthew Bailey
Master Film Handler

Posts: 461
From: Port Arthur,TX
Registered: Sep 2000

posted 07-23-2001 12:19 PM

I don't like the drain plug on the front of my Simplex 1014
below the sight glass. When I try to drain it into a cup
it gets all over the motor mount. Is there some way you
can screw a fitting in
place of the drain plug & slip a flexible plastic piece of tubing
onto it then have a removale plug on the other end?
I want to have the tubing stick into the cup to keep things from
getting messy.

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David Whitbeck
Film Handler

Posts: 70
From: Tempe, AZ
Registered: Jun 2001

posted 07-23-2001 01:37 PM

Will, you say you are using some Vic 4's. We have one just laying around and I want to use it couse our Simplex 35's basically suck. They leak a decent amount but nothing like our sister theatre's X-L's those are pretty nasty. Anyway, I had been told that you couldn't hook up stereo heads to the Vic 4 and maybe you'd be able to hook up a penthouse reader but that's it. What are your machines like soundhead wise?

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Carl King
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 199
From: Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada
Registered: Mar 2000

posted 07-23-2001 02:28 PM

Vic 4s leak around the gear door as well as the oil plunger on the operating side. I use 4 of them and they all leak. Good steady image, though. I can't say the same for the Vic 8s that I use. They don't leak much oil but are a little shaky on the screen.

Maybe I should put them all in a bag and shake them up. Might get a non leaking /steady projector that way.

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Will Kutler
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1506
From: Tucson, AZ, USA
Registered: Feb 2001

posted 07-23-2001 02:35 PM

Hi Mark!

In response to machining aluminum! The EPA frowns on it , and it puts off very noxius fumes, but automatic transmission fluid is one of the best cutting fluids when machining aluminum!

I am assuming that the problem parts are sand cast. If they are, then remember that the casting process will leave a thin "skin" of silica and metal on the surface which will reck havoc on the cutting tool. If this is the case, then go a little deep on your first cut starting off the part so that you can get below that "skin".

Sounds like these parts are a low grade casting. You don't see oil leaking through aluminum engine blocks--do ya?

What about hard anodizing--yes, it is expensive, but is should work. There are also a variety of epoxy primers/sealers on the market.

Another solution. If the origonal patterns are in existance, they may be able to be modified to allow the parts to be investment-cast in brass?

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Michael Miron
Film Handler

Posts: 9
From: Houston, TX, USA
Registered: Jul 2001

posted 07-23-2001 03:35 PM

I'll chime in voting for Brenkert - our BX-40s have consistent drips. I've been told by service company it's due to their design and when I finally got a look at some mechanical drawings it was clear there are bushings in most places where sealed bearings might be used today, so some oil will always migrate through at those places. When I replaced the gear cover recently after an oil drain/fill I smeared Permatex #2 on the rubber gasket (as per the vintage manual copy) and that may have helped along the perimeter...

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