Posts: 3468
From: Sunnyvale, CA USA
Registered: Sep 2011
posted February 03, 2019 07:12 PM
In the process of disassembling the autofeed Assy on my Elmo K-100SM a spring fell out and I can't figure where or how it needs to go. I haven't worked on one of the projectors before so I could use some help. If any of you have this projector perhaps you could take a look and see if you can see the spring or take a picture and describe how it works.
I'm thinking the spring is connected some how to the small guide pictured next to it below...but how?
Any help would be appreciated.
-------------------- Janice
"I'm having a very good day!" Richard Dreyfuss - Let It Ride (1989).
Posts: 280
From: Rajburana, Bangkok, Thailand
Registered: Aug 2017
posted February 03, 2019 08:25 PM
My best guesswork is that this torsion spring is used to "push" that guide up,pinching the film to that feed wheel when threading so the film can be pushed into the gate when threaded. this guide should be disengaged during normal projection. Seen similar mechanism in my Fujicascope dual 8 projector. Hope this helps.
-------------------- Just a lone collector from a faraway land...
Posts: 3468
From: Sunnyvale, CA USA
Registered: Sep 2011
posted February 04, 2019 01:42 AM
Update: After trying 100 ways...on try number 101 I think I figured it out... Well at least it seems to be working
Here is the projector all put back together. I ran a film through it and it threaded fine.
It was difficult to get good pics of how the spring fit.When the control knob is set to forward (threading) it pushes a linkage to the right which pushes the lower guide up. When the film is threaded and the lamp is turned on the linkage retracts and the guide moves back down again. I wrapped the small end of the spring under the right side of the guide to create the tension needed so that the guide would spring back down when the linkage retracted. (you can see in the photo.)
-------------------- Janice
"I'm having a very good day!" Richard Dreyfuss - Let It Ride (1989).
Posts: 280
From: Rajburana, Bangkok, Thailand
Registered: Aug 2017
posted February 04, 2019 07:37 PM
Really LOVE this kind of design, when you simply unscrewing something looking innocent then PARTS (sometimes half a dozen of them) suddenly flying out - literally all over the place. And you spent the rest of the day finding those runaway parts&figuring out how to put them back together,pretty sweet. (Been there,done that,probably several times)
-------------------- Just a lone collector from a faraway land...
Posts: 3468
From: Sunnyvale, CA USA
Registered: Sep 2011
posted February 05, 2019 01:06 AM
Nantawat LOL! You described the situation perfectly! The initial problem started when I noticed the larger plastic guide where the film turns and goes down to the gate was very loose so I started unscrewing screws to see if I could get to the problem. However when I unscrewed the small lower guide the guide and the associated spring just went flying. turns out I didn't have to remove that guide....isn't hind-sight great!!! I was able to fix the large guide with a little glue and attach it back up to it's spring...but I didn't have a clue to how to hook up the other spring. My son thinks I'm crazy...but I kept going back to the projector over 2 days trying every way I could think of...maybe I am a little crazy. ...but it was worth it
TECHNICAL TIP: It turns out the whole auto-feed section is connected to the chasis by 2 screws on the inside back of the projector. I think this projector is going to need new belts... so next time I take the back off I'll take a picture. This might help someone in the future.
Posts: 107
From: Williamsport, PA, USA
Registered: Oct 2016
posted February 05, 2019 09:29 AM
Janice your projects, and DYI's are always interesting! Obviously we all enjoy projecting films, but the other fun part of this hobby is working on the machines themselves! Some are simple fixes while others can be quite complex. I look back on the machines I really messed up, and realize it's given me better knowledge on how to approach a repair or upgrade.
Posts: 740
From: Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Registered: Dec 2014
posted February 05, 2019 09:35 AM
It seems to me that Film repair can be a dangerous thing..between loosing eyes from flying springs, capacitor dangers, fingers caught in film paths, burns from bulbs, etc... I feel we should all have more scars I wanted to help you here Janice, but believe it or not the K110SM is totally different it seems. I looked in vain for this spring but couldn't find to take a picture to help. Glad you figured it out and have it documented now!