Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Restoring a Simplex X-L

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Posted by Jeff Else (Member # 4063) on 10-31-2008, 04:20 PM:

I am restoring an old black Simplex X-L that sat in an abandoned theatre for 20 years. It is in good condition, considering, and even runs quietly when the motor is plugged in. I'm sure the gear compartment needs to be cleaned well of this ancient oil. What should I use and how should I do this? and once its clean, what oil should I use?

Posted by Tony Bandiera Jr (Member # 2365) on 10-31-2008, 08:21 PM:

Jeff:

Start off by squirting kerosene into the gear box side, and using a small brush (commnly called an acid brush) to get into the corners and hidden spots. Be careful not to leave brush bristles in the head. Rinse the head out throughly first with clean kerosene then with Simplex oil. Make sure ALL of the kerosene is gone.

Fill the gearbox up with Simplex oil, squitr a generous amount of oil directly into the intermittant using the holes you'll see above the drive gear, and run the head normally for about 20 hours, change the oil with fresh, then run for another 20 hours. Change the oil one more time and it's ready for service. Depending on how much you run the head, change the oil every other year or whenever it gets dirty.

And use genuine Simplex oil from a dealer!! It doesn't cost that much more than other oils, and one quart can is more than enough to do this whole process and leave enough for a few more changes.

If you have the time, patience and mechanical ability the best thing is to take the head apart for cleaning, but note that upon re-assembly you will probably have a fair amount of gear whine until they seat in again. And proper alignment of the vertical shaft assembly can be a bit tricky.

Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 11-01-2008, 10:56 AM:

quote: Tony Bandiera Jr
If you have the time, patience and mechanical ability the best thing is to take the head apart for cleaning, but note that upon re-assembly you will probably have a fair amount of gear whine until they seat in again. And proper alignment of the vertical shaft assembly can be a bit tricky.

Exactly... The gaskets are probable hard as steel and doing very little to actually seal the projector. The gear compartment gaskets are known to turn to goo after many years.... especially the black ones. Be wary... your X-L WILL leak no matter what you do to it short of an expensive casting sealing process that is also available... so keep a drip pan with cat litter on it underneath the thing when you get it set up on a base...

Mark

Posted by Don Anderson (Member # 397) on 11-01-2008, 12:02 PM:

Mark is right, they tend to leak. I did have great luck replacing the entire case with a new gasket and presto, no more leaks. Gotta love the valve on the top of the case to add oil. Use Simplex oil to keep her running.

Mark, by the way...its the XL in auditorium 2, lower level south east side. That baby hasn't leak a drop in 2yrs.

Theatre no longer runs any movies. Bombed as a dj venue and live entertainment spot. They ripped out half the seats in the 2 lower auditoriums for a RAVE.

[ 11-02-2008, 06:39 PM: Message edited by: Don Anderson ]

Posted by Tony Bandiera Jr (Member # 2365) on 11-01-2008, 02:47 PM:

quote: Mark Gulbrandsen
....Be wary... your X-L WILL leak no matter what you do to it short of an expensive casting sealing process that is also available...

I disagree Mark. With a drive seal kit installed, replacement of the door gasket with either fresh surgical tubing or even the new gaskets from Wrong Intl. I have had no problem making an XL oiltight.

One thing most folks don't know or overlook: ANY oil at all, even a minute amount, on that rear gasket or the mating surface on the casting, will create a major leak, no matter how tight you tighten the rear door. Oh, and that's another thing: most people overtighten that rear door. That will cause leaks!! Clean the gasket and mating surfaces carefully, put the door on and snug it down FINGER TIGHT. If the door had been overtightened in the past, you have to replace the gasket!!

None of this applies to the hideous GPL/Singer generation XLs, they were made of very inferior castings and will as Mark suggests leak due to porosity. Amongst other problems.

Posted by Jeff Else (Member # 4063) on 11-01-2008, 03:57 PM:

mine is made by general precision in pleasantville, NY. is this good or bad??
where can i get a new gasket kit?

Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 11-01-2008, 10:47 PM:

Tony,
Back in the 90's I used to machine off the front of X-L's to install the manual TU-2000 turrett... Steve Guttags favorite one! You would be amazed at how porus those old 1950's main castings are... they are in reality extremely awful and the alumnium is not heat treated either... which is why they eventually warp after being in front of a powerful arc or xenon for a long time. I've probably machined off close to 100 fronts! The later GPL X-L stuff had much higher quality main castings and they were much thicker up front and heat treated. I agree that seal kits and the new Wrong Intl. door gasket is great though... Best thing to do to an older X-L is to powdercoat them... this provides alot of sealing... but still not perfection to that porus alumnium. There is a process that is provided by Loc-Tite Corp that pressure seals castings of all sorts... Its expensive but it took care of all Harley Davidson's oil leaks. Always wanted to have that done to X-L's and DP-70's during rebuild but the closest place I can get it done is in Billings, MT!
The latest ingestion of Wrong Intl. main castings is superb... if only the rest of the parts were half as good. The new gear doors are also a major improvement to stop leaks...!

Edit: I forgot to mention to tear down the upper and lower sprocket assys.... they will more than likely have clogged oil spirals on a machine of that age!

Don,
Sorry to hear about the downtown theater... It was always one of my favorite places to do a service call. I installed all the gear downstairs many, many years ago. Doing work for Bob and John Johnson was a quite a bit of fun in itself... They both were really into the biz.

Mark

Posted by Tony Bandiera Jr (Member # 2365) on 11-02-2008, 02:29 PM:

quote: Mark Gulbrandsen
... The later GPL X-L stuff had much higher quality main castings and they were much thicker up front and heat treated.

What generation were those? The ones I've run into were painted the puke green and had major issues with warping under the heat of a 4k and up xenon. I had a drive-in client with a few of those, and compared to the black Int'l. Proj. Co. XL's the GPL's were horrid.

Sadly, I agree about the latest XL's from Wrong. The castings are pretty impressive, the rear door is much better, but the crappy assemblies (including the new intermittants) totally downgrade what could be an awesome machine.

And what's up with the sprockets on those new XL's? The design is the VKF from lavezzi, but the finish looks like a rough cast from someone's garage.