Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: XL to Ballantyne Model 7

This is topic XL to Ballantyne Model 7 in forum Film Handlers' Forum at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Phil Housh (Member # 1721) on 03-23-2008, 06:24 PM:

Has anyone here ever seen an XL head mounted to a Ballantyne Model 7 soundhead? Is it possible? If it is, is it worth doing? [uhoh]

Posted by Richard Fowler (Member # 893) on 03-23-2008, 06:39 PM:

It is possible but why [Big Grin]

The model with a motor mounted on the from had drive kits for Century and Older Simplex with belts and one kit with a Simplex type of gear drive....so it is possible if someone is still making the parts.

Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 03-23-2008, 07:24 PM:

GKC used to have Century SA's mounted to Model 7 sound heads... I have mounted an X-L to a Century R-3 and that is actually ALOT nicer combination than an X-L and 5 Star. The R-3 is a far superior sound reproducer. I'd stay away from anything Ballantyne... Strong has discontinued many-many Ballantyne parts in the last year or so. Even so the only ones that were any good were the ones with the rotary dashpot.

Mark

Posted by Phil Housh (Member # 1721) on 03-23-2008, 07:29 PM:

Hi Mark,

I still dabble for a friend in Emmett. He is on a STRICT budget and has a tired Pro 35. I'm just trying to find him an alternative that wouldn't tip him over.

Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 03-23-2008, 09:33 PM:

You need the motor mount, motor, and some pulleys... if not available new the motor mount will be hard to find since its not the standard Ballantyne Pro(?)35 way of driving. Remember the sound head is driven by the Ballantyne Projector. Personally just get him a nice Super and SH-1000.... There's still plenty of Supers and parts for them laying around places.

Mark

Posted by David Zylstra (Member # 4230) on 03-23-2008, 10:25 PM:

Years ago the company I worked for had an 8 screen with XLs mounted to model 7s ('86 or '87 vintage) - worked great except having to replace soundhead drive shafts/bearings every couple of years, I'm not sure if that was a common problem with the soundhead or due to the configuration (the rest of the company was Century).

I wasn't involved with the original install so I'm not sure what parts it took to mate the XL to the Model 7.

Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 03-24-2008, 08:43 AM:

quote:
worked great except having to replace soundhead drive shafts/bearings every couple of years,

That was a big nissue with Ballantynes for a few years back in the 90's. I had a friend into metalurgy check one of the shafts for hardness and it was more or less the same as the raw metal stock being used. Later batches we tested were hardened to about R-40 which still isn't much but then the problem went away.

Mark

Posted by Tristan Lane (Member # 1169) on 03-25-2008, 01:42 AM:

I'd suggest finding another Pro35. The northwest is loaded with them. I pulled a ton of them from closed theaters in northern Idaho and you could probably find a used unit for very, very little money. There's an independent discount in Spokane, WA that is sitting on a bunch of used heads, and I'd guess that the owner would be happy to sell one.

Or, You could try American Cinema Equipment, they've still got a lot of them as well.

Those people out there that hate 'em, keep in mind that a lot of theaters are on very tight budgets. As unrefined as a Pro35 is, it still does the job.

Posted by Jack Ondracek (Member # 1466) on 03-25-2008, 11:02 AM:

Much as I dislike Pro-35s, I'd have to agree. You can find them around... sometimes at garage sale prices. Thanks to Tom Moyer's "Luxury Theatres" (pre 'Act III and Regal' out here), they seem to be everywhere. On the other hand, with some patience, you can probably find a base and a Century or Simplex sound head almost as cheaply. Your lamphouse should move right over.

No matter how you go about it though, this is an area where it seems you 'get what you pay for'. Don't expect the cheapest stuff to arrive with lots of reliable miles left on it. It's a good bet that whatever's worn out in the Pro-35 you have is probably headed that way in whatever used models you're likely to find out there. As cheap as theatre owners tend to be, you should think about why they'd be pulling out one brand of projector, in favor of another.

Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 03-25-2008, 04:10 PM:

I think the IDEA and CONCEPT of the Ballantyne was good at the start but the execution of the whole thing was too piss poor and too inconsistant. Again you have the variety of the gates typical of Strong with some having now non-existant parts available. The weakest part in the whole projector is not the coupler but the Star Wheel itself... None of the movement parts are hardened steel [Eek!]

. All it takes is a single simple ESTAR film pile up to bend or worse yet break the tip of the starwheel. My gut feeling is that these machines have seen better days. If they were still viable Strong would still be making them and all the associated parts... many parts have been doscontinued rendering some of the projector heads unusable. When you hit that mark you've reached the end of the line.

Mark

Posted by Richard Fowler (Member # 893) on 03-25-2008, 06:09 PM:

They where good at the start. I had an early one running in a museum running up to 12 hours a day for six years.....a few years later, when a four plex was a big multiplex site, they where the source of most of my projector service problems [Frown]