Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Replacing knackered cork spacer on Eiki NT-1 feed spool arm assembly

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Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 01-25-2008, 04:48 AM:

In the shaft which links the feed spool arm to the mechanism, there are two cork spacers either side of the belt pulley. Both have worn quite a bit, and one is a bit damp with oil, meaning that the spool runs a bit loose while feeding.

I'm sure no-one makes the spacers anymore, so I've been looking for an alternative solution. The only cork I can find at the local DIY shop is about three times the thickness of the spacers, so I presume that wouldn't work. Is there any reason why I couldn't make some new ones out of a kitchen lino tile (about the same thickness), using the cork one as a template to cut around and then drilling a hole in the middle? Can any Eiki experts tell me if there's a reason I'm not getting why the material has to be cork?

I like these 16mm machines very much - film path is very easy to keep clean and the usual spares (belts and lamps) are easy to get hold of. But Eiki seems to have had an annoying habit of using perishable materials for come critical parts. For example, there is a rubber gaiter on the shaft of the focusing knob which grips the lens barrel. Needless to say that perished: I replaced it with some 4.7mm plastic tubing from a home winemaking supplies shop and it works perfectly, and so I'm guessing that there has to be a non-organic solution for the cork spacer problem, too. All suggestions gratefully appreciated.

Posted by Bernard Tonks (Member # 809) on 01-25-2008, 06:25 AM:

Have a look at the small and thin cork pads of various diameters you can buy on a card from Homebase DIY stores. You will of course have to remove the sticky adhesive side with a suitable solution. Perhaps a good model shop might stock some small cork material.

I very much doubt if thin lino would work, and would only slip. Pure leather might be the better alternative. I would however do your utmost to still replace with the cork if possible.

When I installed 6,000 spoolboxes in my old cinema, the leather clutches were completely perished. I made replacements from plain pure cork (no designs on) table mats. I smeared the clutches with oil and run them in for 30 minutes, then dried the oil off with a cloth. Those corks ran perfectly and would take-up and run 2,000’ 5,000’ light and heavy 6,000’ spools without having do any adjustments, these were in use for 4 years.

Although I changed to a long playing Tower I retained the take-ups for occasional spools use. No 2 projector had spool use for the Adverts and Trailers when the Feature always run on No 1 projector was in Scope!! Both cork clutches were still in perfect condition when the cinema closed 24 years later.

Hope this is of some help. Just a thought, sandpaper down a pure cork table mat for the right thickness!!

Posted by Hugh McCullough (Member # 1542) on 01-25-2008, 07:02 AM:

Leo.

You need 2mm thick cork for this repair.
Cork mats/tiles can be purchased in a variety of thicknesses at Craft and Model shops.
Failing that you might like to try gasket material from car accessory shops.

Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 01-25-2008, 09:06 AM:

Thanks chaps - cork it has to be, 2mm thick or sanded down to thereabouts. There are a couple of craft/model-making type shops in town, so I'll give these a try over the weekend. Watch this space!

Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 01-25-2008, 05:15 PM:

KMR Electronics in the US has Eiki parts. I bought a focus knob from the recently, so those are definitely available. It's worth a call, anyway.

Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 01-27-2008, 06:42 AM:

Well, I am now the proud owner of a pack of five 50cm2, 3mm thick cork floor tiles. It was the smallest quantity I could buy, and probably enough to replace the spacers on every last Eiki NT still in existence, I'd imagine! Haven't really got time to sand and cut today, but watch this space for the outcome.

Many thanks again for the tips.

Posted by Bernard Tonks (Member # 809) on 01-27-2008, 11:16 AM:

Hope the cork floor tiles are not too hard, with the top layer lamination treatment for wear not throughout the cork. The plain cork oval table mats I've seen in B & Q recently are on the soft side, the same that I used for my clutches.

Posted by Dan Lyons (Member # 1454) on 01-27-2008, 11:57 AM:

quote: Scott Norwood
KMR Electronics in the US has Eiki parts. I bought a focus knob from the recently, so those are definitely available. It's worth a call, anyway.

I didn't know they still offered 16mm stuff. They had a 16mm "yard sale" at their offices a few years back. I picked up a BRAND NEW Elmo slot loader for only $5.00 [Eek!]

Posted by Bill Enos (Member # 440) on 01-27-2008, 10:05 PM:

Try Robert Film Service in Montreal, they have lots of Eiki and Bell and Howell 16mm stuff. The geared belt in Eiki are off the shelf pieces orderable from any belting specialty house, The round belts can be made from endless Roundthane or O-Thane available from the same place, it's much better than the gummy belts from Eiki.

Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 01-28-2008, 12:57 AM:

Eiki belts are all available here from a company called ES Photographics, which sells them through the UK eBay site (solid synthetic belts, not the reddish gooey soft rubber ones which come as Eiki factory fit and to which Bill refers). The main projector lamp (A1/259 24v 250w) is still made and available everywhere, and exciters can still be had from three or four places in Britain alone. One of the things I like about the Eiki 16mm portables is that all the parts which are designed to or may need regular replacement (i.e. lamps, belts and fuses) are still easily available, unlike Hell & Bowell and the infamous worm gears.

One of my two Eikis has a worn bearing on the take-up spindle. Regular repacking with lithium grease has stopped it from wobbling and squeaking too much thus far, but I might well see if KMR or Robert Film Services has a replacement. Shipping for something that small and light isn't likely to cost much.

Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 02-07-2008, 01:04 AM:

Update: the good news is that Operation Replace DIY Cork Spacers is a mission accomplished. I did the feed spool ones and the cylindrical cork lining in the take-up clutch, too, and the feeding and taking up is a lot better.

But in the course of doing this I managed to create another problem (I'm buggered if I know how, but I did). The intermittent pulldown is now not working properly. When I restarted the projector, film began slipping upwards through the gate until the bottom loop had gone and the film was hitting the loop reforming roller, about 5-10 seconds after the mechanism came up to full speed. This kept happening however I adjusted the take-up and feed tension. I then adjusted the claw protrusion setting, and on its absolute maximum 'poke', it's only slipping a single frame every 20-30 seconds or so. But there's still a problem.

Given that adjusting the claw protrusion helped it a little bit, I suspect that the problem must lie in the combined shutter/intermittent unit (what the service manual calls the cam tank module). I guess that the only solution is to remove this module, strip it down, clean, relubricate, reassemble and readjust as per the manual, and hope that this works.

But I've never removed this unit from an Eiki before, and am a little bit nervous of slipping on a banana skin and damaging something! From the service manual it seems straightforward enough: remove transformer, remove gate/lens assembly, remove motor drive belt, disengage timing belt, unscrew cam tank module, then simply pull it out (as the actress said to the bishop). But if anyone's done this before and can give me any pointers as to silly things to avoid doing, it would be much appreciated.

I'm away all next week, so it'll be a fortnight or so before I'll be able to have a go at this, but watch this space for news of whether I've fixed it or fooked it!

Posted by Hugh McCullough (Member # 1542) on 02-07-2008, 06:10 AM:

Leo.

I had to remove the Cam Tank on my NT0 a few weeks ago as I was having shutter sync trouble. The screws on the shutter blades had come loose.

I started by removing the drive belt from off the motor pulley. On my machine this is a flat toothed belt.
To make more room to work in I then removed the flywheel, transformer, and motor.
Then removed the gate assembly.
Undid the three screws holding the cam tank in place, and gently pulled towards me, giving a slight twist to the left to enable the claw not to catch on the front of the machine.

Replacing is just the reverse of the above, but two things to look out for.
1. The auto threading lever is easily bent.
2. Before completely tightening the module screws, replace the gate assembly, and make sure that the intermittent teeth are actually poking through their aperture.

Posted by Kenneth Wuepper (Member # 1174) on 02-07-2008, 06:52 AM:

The school district from which I retired had 25 of the Eiki machines. I was fortunate to have attended the factory service school on maintaining these machines. Although they were much more reliable than the RCAs they replaced, the cam tanks received annual tear down and lubrication to keep them that way.

We used trained student operators and had not received any reports of film damage from our junior high and senior high schools. Elementary schools used faculty operators and the damage reports from there were still minimal.

KEN

Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 02-07-2008, 02:13 PM:

Many thanks as always. Despite the fact that I really should have spent the last two hours ironing shirts and doing other boring stuff in preparation for going away to a conference on Saturday, it was a fraught day at work and I thought that if I could get the projector fixed, then at least I might be able to claim that something positive was achieved today!

So I took the projector to bits.

I went at it in a slightly different way from Hugh, getting the cam tank module out as described above. The felt pad above the rotating cam within the cam tank that forms the intermittent motion was as dry as a bone. So I wiped away all traces of (mainly dried up) grease around the shaft, re-lubed the felt pad with 3-in-1 oil and re-lubed the shaft and stop-motion lever with lithium grease. The auto-threading lever wasn't an issue, because my projector is a manual threading model (i.e. there isn't one). After reassembling the whole shebang (point taken about making sure the claw teeth are poking through the hole - took a little bit of fiddling) it runs fine with a loop and an 800ft film. When I get back the week after next, I'm going to try running a 50-minute/2,200ft reel to check that it can cope with the tolerances: but I think that's cracked it.

Many thanks Hugh and Kenneth.