Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Film Cleaner For 16mm

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Posted by Robert E. Allen (Member # 1351) on 01-14-2004, 03:38 PM:

One of the projects I'm working on is a screening room for a private film club. I'll be using a Eiki 1500 xenon machine that has been modified to run 6,000 ft reels. I've never seen a 16mm film cleaner. Can the 35mm cleaners be set up for use with this machine?

Posted by Daryl C. W. O'Shea (Member # 1303) on 01-14-2004, 04:34 PM:

Yes, just remove the spacer between the drive wheels and replace with something of the correct width, like some washers.

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 01-14-2004, 06:41 PM:

I've been meaning to do a tips page on this for some time. It's somewhat easy, but for now it's on my "to do" list.

Posted by Mark Hajducki (Member # 1732) on 01-14-2004, 07:09 PM:

The film cleaner that I mentioned in this thread , an ELF PREMIER drikleen works for both 16mm and 35mm however I don't know if there are any dual format cleaners still in production. There is an indented grove in the rolers for the 16mm film.

Posted by Thomas Procyk (Member # 1170) on 01-15-2004, 07:38 AM:

Brad -- There's a sneak preview for ya! [Wink]

=TMP=

Posted by Ken Layton (Member # 133) on 01-15-2004, 09:53 AM:

ECCO makes a rewind bench mounted film cleaner unit for 8mm, 16mm, 35mm, and 70mm.

Posted by Chris Medley (Member # 2145) on 01-15-2004, 10:10 AM:

kelmar makes or made a film cleaner that could be converted to either 16, 35, or 70.

Posted by Jeff Taylor (Member # 443) on 01-15-2004, 10:55 AM:

We've had threads about film cleaning and "film society" venues before, and the one potential drawback to the Kelmar type wet media Film-Guarding in that environment is that it seems to take several runs before a print shows maximum benefit, while I would guess most of your prints would be rentals or, more likely, borrowed collector prints which will only be shown once and then returned. If so, you may be better off doing a hand cleaning between rewinds prior to the show. That way you'll probably get more dirt than on a single pass with a media cleaner, and you'll also get that wonderful Film-Guard side benefit of eliminating base scratches and giving the print the glow of a mint print. I'm not knocking going the Kelmar route, but I think Brad would agree that Film-Guard was designed for theatrical use where the print would receive multiple, regular passes. Good Luck. BTW: If you've got the same EX-1500 model I had that big reel setup (with the external take up motor and no rewind) was a factory job. One other point, the rectifier on that unit, as I recall, can crank up to something in the range of 18-20 amps. You should consider ditching the 300w xenon in favor of a 350 from the later EX-3500 series machines. You'll get nearly double the rated lumens, and it's almost a direct substitute--all you have to do is attach the permanent strap lead on the 350 lamp to the projector stud instead of the strap lead from the projector being attached to the lamp. It's a 2 minute job. Eiki was substituting the 350's after the 300's were discontinued, and now Superior Quartz is making a beautiful copy of the Ushios for around $290. Call up Dennis Losco if you need one. Trust me on this--it's worth doing if your budget permits.

Posted by Robert E. Allen (Member # 1351) on 01-15-2004, 02:58 PM:

Thanks all for your responses and good wishes. And Jeff I'll sure check it out. You're right, our prints will be mostly rentals coming from Swank or Criterion and several Christian film producers.

Posted by Jeff Taylor (Member # 443) on 01-16-2004, 10:31 AM:

Bob: One other tip on the EX-1500's relates to the belts. You have one main drive belt inside the machine with the rest of it geared like an old RCA 400, and two belts on the takeup arm. Most of those machines require belt replacement by this time, and Eiki is long out of the business of supplying them. I found perfect replacements at McMaster Carr and Grainger. Just check under poly "O" rings. You'll have to do some trial and error as I long since sold my machine and didn't keep the parts numbers, but they're cheap enough you can order several sizes and pick the best by trial and error. Finally, if you open the back on the projector you will notice the lead from the solar cell plugging into the amp. As good as the amp is, I got noticeably better sound by pulling the signal off the solar cell lead, padding it down with a 500 ohm or so resistor, and feeding it directly into my sound rack with eq, bass synthesizer, and bi-amped QSC's. I just used a old Altec michrophone preamp I got for $25 on ebay and it worked like a charm. I don't know how far you want to go with the project, but at least those 1500's are so big and open you can work with them easily. Good luck.