This is topic Lubricate MARS in forum Film Handlers' Forum at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.
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Posted by German Marin (Member # 918) on 02-13-2002, 03:31 PM:
Can I lubricate MARS's plates with "lubriplate"? I use this lubriplate on rollers but i've never tried to use it on platters.
Posted by Will Kutler (Member # 770) on 02-13-2002, 04:20 PM:
NEVER NEVER USE LUBRIPLATE ON ROLLERS!!!!!!!!!Using this crap on rollers causes nothing but a mess! Using the Christie AW-3 as an example, this is what WILL happen.
It WILL work itself all around the rollers including the film path and really cause a mess! Lubriplate will gum up, attract dust and not allow your rollers to operate smoothly and properly! This stuff really creates a mess and will be a real time consuming bear to clean...and I am being very polite with my language 
! Prior to my employment at my old theater, someone used this crap to lube the rollers 
! I had the pleasure of spending a lot of time cleaning this crap off of 20 machines and relubing them with CLEAR SILICON BICYCLE CHAIN LUBRICANT !
I know that Brad, Joe and I have our different opinions, and we have disagreed about this in other threads, but I do prefer the old style rollers that used roller bearings !
I have to go back and look at the Christie AW-3 book, but I believe that the only place that Lubriplate should be used is on the platter bearings....
Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 02-13-2002, 05:04 PM:
Lubriplate sucks! there is no difference of opinion here. You either use that crap or something good. Anyone using Lubriplate should be sent to the Gaybar hotel to serve 6 months hard labor cleaning this crap out of projector gear trains and roller bearings. I'd rate that stuff up there with WD-40 and 3 I One Oil. Only use the stuff available from this company. http://www.super-lube.com/
No I don't own stock in them either....
Mark @ GTS
Posted by German Marin (Member # 918) on 02-13-2002, 05:12 PM:
I use lubriplate on idle rollers (it hasn't bearing) once each two weeks, I don't use it on sproket bearings or MUT rollers' bearings.
I've removed the platters from MARS system 'cause it were so slow (hard to spin).
Thanks Will for your advice. 
Posted by Dave Williams (Member # 299) on 02-13-2002, 06:16 PM:
Thirding the opinion that Lubriplate is horrid! Turns to black, makes your rollers squeek, locks em up, that is unless you are willing to keep cleaning and relubing all the time. Best bet, just have good clean rollers and shafts. I have used christies and specos, and the best bet is to NOT lube the rollers. They run better without it IMHO.Dave
Posted by German Marin (Member # 918) on 02-13-2002, 07:00 PM:
I've applied "singer all-purpose oil" to platters' bearings (it has never cleaned before, it was full of old turned black lubricant). Now it spin little softly but not as good as it should.
Posted by Wes Hughes (Member # 981) on 02-14-2002, 02:05 AM:
It was always my understanding that the SPECO and Christie rollers that you speak of (without "real" bearings that just ride directly on their shafts) were made of a UHMW (Ultra High Molecular Weight) plastic that does not need any lubrication...they supposedly lubricate themselves???I have an early christie AW and serveral SPECO LP-270's that I have never lubed. Sometimes they get a little stiff so I remove them and clean them with denatured alcohol. I have never had problems. I have also seen people lubricate the variac trolley rails and twisted rod on the SPECO's...in my practice this is unneccessary and leads to worse sticking problems after a few weeks. I clean with alcohol.
Posted by German Marin (Member # 918) on 02-14-2002, 04:16 AM:
I've never tried to "not-lubricate" idle rollers 'cause its sound very bad when it need lubricant. I just removed the roller, cleaned the axis and put new lubriplate. Now I'll just clean it with alcohol (I prefer isopropylic). Thank you for teach me more (I like to learn here!)
Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 02-14-2002, 05:42 AM:
I'm with Wes. Just don't do anything and things will run quite nicely! That sounds crazy, but the only thing I've ever had to do to keep a Christie or SPECO roller spinning freely was to occasionally remove the roller from the shaft and clean off the shaft (which over time rusts a little bit, thus increasing it's shaft diameter and keeping the roller from spinning freely). If you have a squeaky roller, yes WD40 works wonders. Just hit the shaft while the roller is turning with the tiniest squirt you can and the squeak will be gone for at least 6 months, usually a lot longer and will not cause any detrimental effects. (This is actually the ONLY reason I keep a can of WD-40 in the booth.)As for Lubriplate, do throw that out before you thread your next projector!
Posted by Christopher Santapaola (Member # 1015) on 02-17-2002, 03:39 PM:
Just a note on using denatured, isopropyl, ethyl, or for that matter any alcohol for cleaning. For a gerneral rule NO alcohol should be used to clean plastics or rubers. The problem is that alcohol effects the hydrogen bond and weakens them and also causes all moisture the be "dried" out. While it might not be apparent over time alcohols all do some amount of damage to most polymere chains. There are a few exceptions of plastics that are designed to be in contact with alcohol but most are not load bearing.-----------------------------------------------------
ethyl-alcohol CH3CH2-OH
isoproplyl-alcohol CH3CH(CH3)-OH
It is the -OH that mainly affects the hydrogen bonds.
Chemists have solutions!
Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 02-18-2002, 02:14 PM:
ISOPROPANOL (2-propanol, secondary propyl alcohol,
dimethyl carbinol, petrohol, anhydrous) can be used as a film cleaner:
http://www.kodak.com/US/en/motion/hse/solvent.shtml ------------------
John P. Pytlak, Senior Technical Specialist
Worldwide Technical Services, Entertainment Imaging
Research Labs, Building 69, Room 7525A
Rochester, New York, 14650-1922 USA
Tel: 585-477-5325 Cell: 716-781-4036 Fax: 585-722-7243
E-Mail: john.pytlak@kodak.com
Web site: http://www.kodak.com/go/motion