Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Philips FP3 intermittent adjustment

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Posted by Matthew Taylor (Member # 2310) on 12-17-2019, 11:20 AM:

I have the option to obtain a Philips FP3 portable projector but unfortunately the intermittent is quite noisy, unlike normal FP3's which are beautifully quiet.

I had a look at the mech the other day and it seems that the cam enters the star nicely but there is a small amount of play between the cam and star slot which is causing the noise. There is no play once the sprocket has been turned so the picture is fairly stable.

My question is whether there is any adjustment that can be made when taking apart the intermittent to stop the play between the cam and star?

Oh yes, I realise that taking apart and servicing a mech is not a job for someone who isn't adept/experienced at such things. However, there's not much to lose here; If I wanted to obtain the projector, I'd have to source a replacement mech anyway.

Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 12-17-2019, 04:27 PM:

I have never had an FP-3 apart but have worked on them, I have worked on many other Philips movements. Normally either the cam or the star is in a bushing that is slightly eccentric and can be turned by loosening a clamp of some sort. This allows the clearance between the star and cam to be adjusted properly. This "radius" adjustment and the pin entering the slot have to be adjusted by feel as too tight and it'll be too bad for that movement, ideally, there should be just enough clearance for oil to lubricate the two radius surfaces. It may also be that someone ran it a long time without oil and ruined it.

Mark

Posted by Matthew Taylor (Member # 2310) on 12-18-2019, 10:54 AM:

Thank for the reply Mark - that is interesting.

Just got to figure out how the adjustment works on this mech.

Posted by Matthew Taylor (Member # 2310) on 12-20-2019, 03:50 PM:

Ok, so I took apart the intermittent and I cannot see how the star or cam can be adjusted. However, I had a hell of a job separating the two halves of the mechanism and it seems that someone at some point has used some glue or liquid gasket to cure an oil leak problem on one side. As the gasket was totally ripped apart I decided to clean all remnants of it from both faces and when I put them back together, the backlash and the noise has gone when I turn it over by hand.

I'm wondering if the DIY oil leak cure had actually upset the angle of the two halves very slightly thereby causing problems.

Now, to test it properly I need to reassemble with a new gasket and some oil but I'm not going to get a new gasket for this old projector so any suggestions as to what I could do?

Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 12-28-2019, 01:19 PM:

Yes, thats entirely possible. I hope they did not run it very long like that because it would cause the cam pin and slut to wear unevenly. On some, but not all intermittents, the cam pin can be tapped out with a drift and then turned around and put back in and the unused side of the pin is now the good side. This is commonly done on Simplex and Century.

Mark