Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Speco LP 270

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Posted by Ian Bailey (Member # 1752) on 01-15-2004, 09:12 PM:

I have a SPECO-LP270 which has the following information on the identification plate
LP 271
LP 270-3
S0692661010
Serial no.3645 Manufacture date 30/8/94
We have 2 problems with this machine
1:none of the lights(which are mounted under each deck)are working(bulbs are ok)They were all working at one stage but then stopped-I think this was after one of the light fittings was damaged.
2:When starting a show you have to manually give the take-up platter a good spin with your hand just as the projector starts up or you run the risk of the yo-yo hitting the bottom of it's travel and activating the micro switches or the FM-35(which is mounted under the sound head)stopping the projector.This platter has a removeable BRAIN and the same problem occurs no matter which deck is used for take-up.The motors are 110vac and we have a 240vac-110vac transformer mounted at the base of the tree to supply AC to the motors.

Posted by Paul Trimboli (Member # 1509) on 01-15-2004, 09:32 PM:

Well over here in Perth I have run into a similar problem, the work around solution was to get a magnet (or a block of wood and hope it does not fall off) that sits a bit higher then the bottom of the YoYo micro switch so that when the YoYo drops it does not shut off but give the motor a chance to catch up, just make sure you remove it after its gets going so it stops at the end of a show. Once we had the motor rebuilt it runs fine and the magnet is not needed, those motors seem to get slower with age from what I have seen anyway.

Posted by Michael Elam (Member # 788) on 01-16-2004, 04:07 AM:

Light Problem: Inside the cover, the cover that is over your 3
multifunction switches is a transformer, the only one that is there,this transformer runs your lights---nothing but your lights.

YO-YO, One check the YO-YO, the spiral and straight rod make sure both very clean, add a drop or two of oil, rub and spead
it over the length of the rods, my hand pull the yo-yo up and down to make sure it is travleing smoothing.

If the above does not solve your problem: In the black box
underneath the yo-yo is the variac, in between is nylon coupler,
make sure both of these are turning freely and together at the same time, often the allen set screw has come lose on the coupler causing the variac to turn faster than the coupler.

Posted by Chris Greenwell (Member # 1660) on 01-16-2004, 07:36 AM:

Ian, with your light problem, is the button lights working?? I know that both the button lights and the tier lights are ran off that transformer in the control box up top. You have the newer specos so you should have a fused transformer unlike the old drive in platters. Most likely if the buttons dont work as well the fuse is most likely the problem. Also on the yo yo, I have ran into the same problems , I just in the past have used a little Xecote on a rag and wiped down the two rods, and that seemed to clean it up and help it out a little bit

Posted by Ian Bailey (Member # 1752) on 01-16-2004, 09:24 AM:

Chris,the button lights are working but now that I know where the transformer is located it should not be too difficult to track down the fault.As for the slow take-up I have lubricated the shafts with a light machine oil and that has improved the situation.

Michael I will check the variac/nylon coupler once I am a bit more active-broke a bone in my foot 3 days after Xmas,the busiest time of the year for us.The take-up is still slower than what I feel it should be and it is common to all decks.

Paul because the problem is the same for all decks I just can't see how 4 motors would be all low on torque at the same time but I am going to have a very close look at them so I know what condition they are in(motor brushes/drive shaft rubbers/bearings/AC supply from the 240v-110v transformer etc)
Thanks for the help guys!

Posted by Gordon McLeod (Member # 33) on 01-16-2004, 03:53 PM:

What type of projector do you have I have had problems with speco's and some very fast starting machines before

Posted by Ian Bailey (Member # 1752) on 01-16-2004, 09:18 PM:

I don't know which Simplex model it is(no identification plates on it).All I can tell you is that you remove the trap for cleaning rather than the gate(different from our 1050's where you remove the gate for cleaning)I will post a picture of it when I can to have it identified.

Posted by Ian Bailey (Member # 1752) on 01-17-2004, 02:52 PM:

Thanks for your help guys it is much appreciated.
I'm pretty sure I'm on top of it now the SPECO had 2 pretty obvious problems,which I found once I got of my fat arse and had a good look.
1: The YO-YO shaft was dry so a bit of light oil fixed that.
2: The rubber drive was slipping on the edge of the deck on take-up.This was caused by a combination of stiff motor mounts,weak "hold-down" springs and shiny rubber on the drive.The four motors all needed the same attention.