Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: A.V.E. 16mm projectors

This is topic A.V.E. 16mm projectors in forum Film Handlers' Forum at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Gene Stavis (Member # 110) on 08-27-2003, 01:15 PM:

I picked up 2 used A.V.E. xenon projectors with power supplies. They were a little grungy from storage, but they have cleaned up nicely. Inside, they are pristine - belts fine, even the mirrors are in great shape. Of course, no lenses or lamps, but the manual advance is smooth as silk and eveything looks AOK.

Problem is I have no information about the machines, e.g. what wattage xenon (550W?), projector mechanisms (Hokushin?), manuals, service, etc. It appears to be 220V, but I am not sure. Both the machines and rectifiers are very heavy 75 lbs. each?) I know the company is long defunct, but has anyone run into these or might be able to lead me to someone who is familiar with them? Thanks in advance.

Posted by Gordon McLeod (Member # 33) on 08-27-2003, 10:54 PM:

Post a picture as they were built offshore and AVE sold several different machines with there name on them
Some were built by china some were rebranded Hokushins

Posted by Jeff Taylor (Member # 443) on 08-29-2003, 07:43 AM:

If the machines are in fact Hokushin clones Rangertone of Clifton, NJ is the source for info and parts. I believe they also handle(d) some of the Chinese 35mm projectors which surface from time to time. Their website is not very informative, but it does have a phone number. Good luck.

Posted by Dave Macaulay (Member # 813) on 08-29-2003, 09:17 AM:

If you can get hold of a xenon lamp catalogue, you should be able to guess what lamp will work. Measure the distances involved and the hole diameters if it mounts with a pin or figure the thread size if it mounts with a threaded pin.
The Osram catalog has good detail on the lamp specs, probably the others do as well (but Germans are rather obsessive about details).
It's probably in the 500W range, could be as high as 1K. Does the rectifier have any specs? The DC voltage and current spec will tell you what lamp size to look at. The AC specs will give a ballpark figure but efficiency is unknown, DC output might be 50% to 90% of the AC load.

Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 08-29-2003, 09:34 AM:

If there is a lamp still in the machine, it should have a part number on one of the electrodes, and you can cross-index from there. (Use proper xenon lamp safety procedures, even for "small" lamps!)

Posted by Richard Fowler (Member # 893) on 08-29-2003, 10:20 AM:

The unit is a 500 watt xenon, usually with a Kneisley rectifier. I serviced many of them long ago and I know of one still being used for film festivals. Rangertone also took over the distrbution of the AVE 35mm line which was basically Shinko of Japan machines.

Posted by Gene Stavis (Member # 110) on 08-30-2003, 09:27 PM:

Thanks to everyone who replied. It turns out that they are Hokushins and Rangertone does indeed service these machines and, yes, it is a 500W Xenon. The only thing missing is the power cord to connect the rectifier to the mains. If and when I can test, I'll report the results.