8mm Forum: Good news for Eiki owners

This is topic Good news for Eiki owners in forum 16mm Forum at 8mm Forum.

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Posted by Adrian Winchester (Member # 248) on January 20, 2005, 04:58 AM:

Eiki users may be interested to hear about an interesting telephone conversation I had this week, with Bob Halls of Projex Sales in Plymouth. If anyone in the UK knows more about Eiki projectors, lenses, spares, etc, I'd like to know who they are!
Bob confirmed that the 16mm part of Eiki in Japan certainly is still in business and although new projectors are not held in stock, they are still available 'to order'. These are projectors in the SNT series, i.e. the generation that followed the NTs. Apparently, the latest quote for a new one was £1,800. The full range of new lenses are also still available, including what sounds like a fast and impressive 12.5mm lens, although I don't suppose many people need that sort of magnification! Bob also says that the quality of the current zoom lenses is considerably better than those made decades ago.

Projex have a good stock of new and used spares and can order from Japan if necessary. It seems that some Xenon spares may be drying up, but if you have an NT, SL or one of the more recent non-Xenon machines (including the Eiki's sold under the B&H name), you are unlikely to have any problems getting new spares for 10 years at the very least. Bob mentioned one exception with regard to a lamphouse cover for one model; the mould got damaged so no more will be made.

Bob also indicated that there seems to be an upturn in 16mm usage in the UK - he should know as he gets called out to do various installations. Apparently, it's now more common than it was a few years ago for film schools to include tuition in 8 & 16mm film production. There are also art galleries using projectors to present the work of film-using artists using 16mm in innovative ways. Bob mentioned one touring presentation that uses a bank of three Eiki SSLs working non-stop, 7 hours a day for weeks on end!

I must say that this all makes me more optimistic about the future of 16mm projection than I was a few months ago.

Posted by Bruce McGee (Member # 299) on January 31, 2005, 06:35 AM:

I just want round motor drive belts for my EX-2000A's without having to pay a fortune for them.

Any help?

Posted by Adrian Winchester (Member # 248) on January 31, 2005, 05:31 PM:

I don't know this model, but if it takes the common type of belts seen in the NT, etc, the belt should not cost you a fortune. I know that Jim Smith (cinemaflick@hotmail.com) in the USA can supply most Eiki belts. You see some offered for low prices on eBay, but many of these are not manufactured by Eiki, so may not be perfect in terms of tension, etc.

Posted by Michael De Angelis (Member # 91) on January 31, 2005, 10:51 PM:

I am delighted to hear that there is life in the Eiki line of 16mm Projectors.
I do not own an Eiki and I am curious if the belts that you mentioned are flat banded belts as the Bell & Howell 1500 series, or are they toothed to a drive on the motor?

Thanks again.

Michael

Posted by John Whittle (Member # 22) on February 02, 2005, 07:50 PM:

No the Eiki belts are not like the B&H 1500 series belts.

The Eiki motor and arms belts were round polyurtheane from the MS-860, ST, RT, and NTs. Starting with the SL (slot load) the arm belts changed and midway thru the motor belt changed to a flat 3V belt. There were upgrade pulleys offered for the NT machines and the improvents were included on future NT machines, the SL II and then the last machines the SNT and SSL models.

Some of the xenon machines had special length belts which are no longer available from Eiki (for the EX-1520 for example). There are commercial suppliers that have poly belts and there are kits which allow you to cut and splice the material. Many users have reported good results with the splicing techniques.

Personally I've converted NT machines in the past to the 3V motor belt and also changed out the arms on the machine so they used the newer SL style arms (toothed belt for rewind/feed; flat belt for take-up). Minor drilling and machining of a couple of parts is required.

In the US it seems you're at the mercy of your dealer to be able to muscle Eiki to supply parts since they're now almost all custom ordered from stocks in Japan. KMR in Santa Ana has some stocks and Jim Smith has some parts. Jim also is an excellent technician and has good experience with the EX2000A/N machines.

John

Posted by Tom Photiou (Member # 130) on February 08, 2005, 11:25 AM:

No offence but living in Plymouth i took my NT1 there for a service, While the sales side is excellent i have to say my NT1 has necver worked properly since, i took it back several times but just gave up, supplies yes,servicing, STAY AWAY!!!

Posted by Jim Smith (Member # 348) on February 08, 2005, 08:57 PM:

I have brand new sealed, genuine Eiki round motor belts, part #ST-12181. They fit models ST, RT, NT, SL, EX2000A, EX2000N. They are made in Japan for Eiki by the only family that has produced these belts for years. However, they are not cheap. They are $20.00 each, but they are the genuine article.
I also have some other Eiki round motor belts that I have been testing for a while. They seem to work fine so far. I haven't been using them that long to tell whether they last as long as the genuine Eiki belts, though. They are $12.00 each.
I also have the genuine Bell & Howell Diamond-Cut Textured Gripping Surface motor belts for the 1500/2500 series projectors. These are the belts that came on the projectors when they were new. They seem to last forever. They are $7.50 each. Warmest Regards, Jim Smith

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