Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Elmo rubber belts

This is topic Elmo rubber belts in forum Film Handlers' Forum at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by David Weintraub (Member # 9579) on 08-08-2016, 10:32 AM:

I recently bought an Elmo 1200 and the belts inside were all gooey. Thankfully the seller refunded my purchase price and 2 way shipping. Are the original rubber belts for all ELMO's subject to this type of failure? I realize that rubber will decay as all natural materials do. However, the only problem I have had with other projector belts was stretching, breakage or fraying.

Posted by Pete Lawrence (Member # 130) on 08-09-2016, 09:45 AM:

I don't know about Elmo 8mm gear as I've never owned any. But I have a number of their 16mm portable machines that have similar problems. There are four metal rollers in the film path with rubber 'tires' bonded to then. In about half of my machines those tires have turned to goo. There is a still a source for those parts, but not from Elmo. Haven't had any belt issues with their 16mm machines, but Elmo did change their take-up design sometime in the 80's.

It's not just an Elmo problem. It's more related to when the rubber parts were manufactured. I had some very high end video equipment from the 70's and 80's that had belts and rollers that turned to goo. Some 35mm platter drive rollers were also known to do that.

Posted by Mitchell Dvoskin (Member # 751) on 08-09-2016, 01:27 PM:

Try contacting:

Richard Patchett at (248)980-6488

Richard Burgess (828)595-3398

Both repair and sell parts for Elmo Projectors.

Posted by David Weintraub (Member # 9579) on 08-09-2016, 02:43 PM:

Thank you.

While we are on the subject of replacement parts... I am researching PTR rollers and saw this item

http://www.ebay.com/itm/191931796441

Is there a PTR roller INSIDE an ELMO 16 AL or CL? The vendor didn't reply. I guess he is not into details as much as he is into sales.

Posted by Dave Macaulay (Member # 813) on 08-09-2016, 09:04 PM:

It seems this guy just doesn't know what a PTR is. These look like rollers for the sound reader. True PTRs must be cleaned, so they would never be hidden inside a projector.