Simplex 35 PR1014 Tension Issue

[Yves Leibowitz]

Hello All,

One of the reel to reel projectors has a tension issue between the top sprocket down to the Intermittent on a Simplex 35 Model# PR1014
This issue is causing base scratches. Any ideas. Much appreciated.

[Mark Gulbrandsen]

I am assuming this has a curved gate. Probably the stopper screw that sets how far the gate closes is set wrong, or it fell out. I would get a real tech in to adjust that properly...

[John Eickhof]

im with mark, if the primary stop screw is out of adj the film will contact the aperture plate causing emulsion side scratches, if too large of an upper loop, the film will rub against the top spjkt stripper plate causing base side scratches, also if the incorrect length screw is holding the intermittent shoe and protrudes through the curved casting, a centerline scratch can occur on the base side. get a technician in to check it out.

[Randy Stankey]

What do you mean by "tension issue?"
Too tight or too loose? I assume that it's too tight. Yes?

Does the film move in sync the way it should?
In other words, does one frame of film get fed in from the upper, feed sprocket before the intermittent takes it away?

The Simplex is direct, gear driven so it should stay in sync unless you've got a serious problem.
If you do have a problem, there, the film probably wouldn't run at all so I suppose we can eliminate that. However, it would be good to check over your film path to be sure that all your pad rollers and film guides are all in place and properly adjusted.

I don't think that you have any of these problems but, as they say, eliminate the easy stuff before you go digging into more complex problems. Not only will that save you time from having to tear things apart, unnecessarily, it will make things easier, down the road, because you know that everything else is working right.

All that, having been said, I agree with the others. You might have an issue with your film trap being misaligned or out of adjustment.
Do check to be sure that your tension and stopper screws are all in place and set correctly. If this was my projector, I'd take two minutes to verify that the stuff I mentioned, above, is okay then I'd move on to the gate and check for problems there.

Can you take a short piece of damaged film, about two or three feet long, and thread it up in the projector the way you normally do? Then you can follow the film through the projector to see if there are any places where marks in the film match an obstruction in the film path or a part of the projector that the film shouldn't be touching. Not only can that reveal the thing that's scratching the film, it might point you to the thing that's causing your tension problem.

Years ago, I experienced a problem where an entire print was scratched, right down the middle, for almost the entire movie. After hours of scratching our heads, we discovered that a tiny chip of glass was missing from the corner of the sound head door. It turned out that somebody had a habit of slamming the door after they threaded up and it caused the glass window of the door to crack. That little chip fell down and wedged itself into the sound head where it gouged a line right down the middle. The crummy part was that the damage occurred AFTER the picture had been projected so you wouldn't notice the damage until the NEXT showing.

It wasn't until we took a piece of film, threaded it up and followed the film through the projector when we finally found the glass chip, nestled right between two rollers.

The story isn't necessarily about how freak accidents can cause damage but it does help point out how some basic troubleshooting can go a long way toward solving obscure problems. Think logically. Be practical and eliminate potential problems, one at a time, until you find a solution.

As others say, I think you should go through your film gate and intermittent area with a fine toothed comb to be sure that everything is aligned and set properly and that there aren't any screws sticking out of missing.

Oh, and one other thing. Be sure that your entire projector and film path are good and clean.
I'm not suggesting that your projector isn't clean but, in the name of practical troubleshooting, it bears mention.

I had a theater that would constantly call me up, complaining of a blurry, jumpy picture where it turned out that operators weren't cleaning projectors between shows. They were using Christie projectors and that vintage machine didn't like to run right unless it was clean. All it took was thirty seconds work with a clean shop towel to solve the problem but, even after telling them a hundred times, they weren't cleaning between shows like they should.

Again, the moral of the story is that little problems can add up to big problems if you don't take care of them.

[Yves Leibowitz]

Update: The gate was changed out with another one and all seems to run well. Ran a reel a few times and no scratches. Also there was a sound associated with the previous gate that disappeared too. This is still good advice and worth revisiting in the future. Thank You all. I have a new issue with the same projector model, but I will create a new thread for that.