Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Bringing old Simplex portables back to life

This is topic Bringing old Simplex portables back to life in forum Film Handlers' Forum at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Harry Robinson (Member # 265) on 06-20-2003, 10:17 PM:

Now that the dust is settling from having brought a ton of gear back from the University of the South's old projection booth, I'm beginning to have some questions.

Should the main shaft handle on the back of the Simplex SPS portable spin freely? I suspect so, which means both projectors are frozen solid. This doesn't surprise me, as one of them still had the last reel it was showing when it was taken out of service...Dr. No. I think that means it could have been forty years these guys have been sitting in an air conditioned room.

What's my best move? Do I dessemble the whole works, or is there something I can spray in there that will loosen everything up? I poured a bunch of Simplex oil in the thing, but it doesn't seem to have made a difference. I'm patient, though. I have all the time in the world to fool with these things.

Also, is there a way to fire up the motor without involving the whole power supply? Everytrhing seems to be wired together in what would today have to be a squirrely mish mash of cords. Any advise will be greatly appreciated as always.

Posted by Dick Prather (Member # 1136) on 06-21-2003, 12:30 AM:

Harry,
The first thing I would do is try to get some manuals if you don't have them already. The SP was not a common machine. I have seen and taken out a couple of Simplex Acme booths with small arcs from schools. Does this have the lower magazine inside the projector or in front? Do you have any pictures of them you can post?

I have used a couple of drops of penatrating oil on ahafts ang gears to just get them loose and then make sure everything is properly oiled with Simplex oil. Once they start spinning, unless they are rusted, it should loosen up nicely.

Film-Tech has a SP manual in the manual section. Best of luck. I alwaye enjoyed playing with new "old" toys.

Posted by Harry Robinson (Member # 265) on 06-21-2003, 11:51 AM:

This does have the internal take up magazine. The pix in the SP manual are the same machines. I'll try the penetrating oil. Is that something you get at a hardware store, or is it more specialized?

Posted by Dick Prather (Member # 1136) on 06-22-2003, 03:28 AM:

Harry,
Any kind of penetrating oil will do. Try your friendly NAPA store for some. They also have CRC 336 which is like WD-40 but does lubricate and not gum up. That is also handy to have around. The spray kind is even easier to use. Lightly spray anything that turns or moves on a shaft. Once you get it free or loose wipe it off and use Simplex oil to finish the job.