8mm Forum: Elmo GS1200

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Posted by John Mark Sumner (Member # 4578) on December 21, 2014, 01:16 PM:

When in reverse play, projector very quiet, but when in rewind it screams blue murder! Anyone know why this should happen? Also optical sound is not very good, low volume and very crackly. Replaced exciter lamp and cleaned the lenses to no avail. Any ideas?

Posted by John Mark Sumner (Member # 4578) on January 10, 2015, 08:52 PM:

Problems with my Elmo GS1200 partly sorted by means of the Elmo service manual. Optical sound corrected by adjusting the position of the tiny lens which directs the light from the exciter lamp onto the optical track on the film. If the lens is out of alignment, the track will not be read correctly by the receiver, hence the low volume and crackle. There are 4 adjusting screws, 1 on the lens holder and 3 on the lens holder bracket. The lens slides back and forth and the bracket moves in and out. Adjustments should be made with a film running and the volume turned up. Correct alignment will be achieved when the sound is clear and at optimum level. I will need to dismantle the front spool shaft in order to grease the dry cogs inside that cause the rewind noise. Hope this helps other users.

Posted by Maurizio Di Cintio (Member # 144) on January 11, 2015, 06:15 AM:

Isn't there a toothed belt inside the reel arms?

Posted by Vidar Olavesen (Member # 3354) on January 11, 2015, 06:20 AM:

The cogs might also have broken. Mine did and I sent it to Mr. Parsons for fixing. He has some better cogs to replace the old plastic ones with

Mine was pretty much the same, noisy going reverse

Posted by Steve Klare (Member # 12) on January 11, 2015, 07:12 AM:

I've been inside the Elmo reel arms. It looked like the gears would be pretty easy to replace once you sourced new ones.

Posted by Graham Ritchie (Member # 559) on January 11, 2015, 12:22 PM:

One thing with all old projectors, that I think can help prevent problems, is to never use the projectors for reverse or rewinding films, best idea is to use hand re-winders... a most valuable tool for all film work [Smile]

Posted by Adrian Winchester (Member # 248) on January 11, 2015, 08:45 PM:

Graham - I'm sure that in general you have a point, but if I remember rightly the GS is perhaps an exception, in that it has a motor specifically for rewind/reverse, so rewinding isn't putting a strain on a motor that isn't specifically geared towards this.

Posted by Graham Ritchie (Member # 559) on January 11, 2015, 09:58 PM:

I agree Adrian that the rewind motor would be ok for the task. Its those little plastic gears that run of it that might not like the whizzing around under load, that with age, they might not like it.

The thing is with the GS1200, is that when you pull out the "rewind lever" the film can take of with quite a jerk...that in itself is not good on the film or those tiny plastic gears.

Graham.

[ January 12, 2015, 02:52 AM: Message edited by: Graham Ritchie ]

Posted by Alan Rik (Member # 73) on January 11, 2015, 11:46 PM:

I know first hand the little gears that Graham is referring to! I had to replace 2 of them on a GS. They run around $70 a piece! And they are so tiny and plastic. Now if you want to use the GS1200 to rewind, best to get the upgraded brass gears from Wittner. But then again they are over $100 a piece. But they will last longer.

Posted by Paul Adsett (Member # 25) on January 12, 2015, 09:12 AM:

Graham and Alan are spot on about that little plastic rewind gear on the GS1200. The noise is not from the rewind arms at all, but from the tiny plastic gear attached to the rewind motor shaft. I have had them crack on both of my machines, and although I have been able to repair them with epoxy they now kick up a racket when rewinding. When you look at that gear you have to wonder what on earth the Elmo designers were thinking when they decided to make it out of plastic! [Frown]

Time to spring for a metal one from Wittner's.

Posted by David Fouracre (Member # 3883) on January 15, 2015, 07:02 AM:

Crackly intermittent sound on Optical sound prints GS1200.
I recently discovered that one problem with crackle, can be due to a mini-build up of stripe oxide at the back of the stabiliser capstan. This took some finding, as the deposit was very small, but allowed a static discharge when projecting optical prints.
The problem with static crackle did not occur with mag prints, possibly because of the much lower cell output level compared with well modulated mag prints.

Posted by John Mark Sumner (Member # 4578) on February 12, 2015, 06:39 PM:

Thank you everyone for your most helpful replies. I think I have sorted out the optical sound problem and as for the noisy rewind, I will take Graham's advice and use rewind arms!

Posted by Edwin van Eck (Member # 4690) on June 19, 2015, 06:29 AM:

Were are producing again all required spare parts for the Elmo GS-1200 using 3D printing technology. The currently available parts can be found here:

http://www.van-eck.net/itable.php?lang=en&size=0&cat=film&merk=elmo&type=GS%201200

If you can't find the part you are looking for, please let me know!

Posted by Antoine Orsero (Member # 41) on June 19, 2015, 08:39 AM:

Problem with ma GS1200:

In the main engine there are two white wires. Where are they connected?

I can't see where they lead.

Can you help me because I have the impression that this cable is cut ! The engine is not running !

Thanks

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