Posts: 4837
From: Plymouth U.K
Registered: Dec 2003
posted May 02, 2005 04:03 AM
I own one of these lovely machines and made the grave mistake of letting a so called Eiki dealer in Plymouth service it for me some time ago. He replaced the amp with a second hand one, no problem and the hum dissapeared,but also for some reson he decided to replace the film plate and pressure pad even though there was nothing wrong with image projection. Now i put a film through its fine when cold for about 200-400 foot then the image begins to move up and down and gets progresivly worse to the point of being un-watchable. I took it back several times but now i've given up. Can anyone give me any idea's. The annoying thing about all this is that the machine was a freebe so i thought (upon hearing of this dealer in my own town) that i'd treat it to a good overall. I now wish i had just done my own service like i do on my Elmo 1200. I knew this was a balls up when i went back there and he took me to his store, a dusty garage with a Xenon Eike sitting on the floor in the middle of the garage next to a pile of scrap. Be warned if you know of this bloke. Buying spares is one thing but dont let your machines near him.
posted May 06, 2005 03:59 PM
Hi Tom have you tried putting a little bit extra pressure on the front gate plate, pushing it back gentley towards the film. Alternatively he could have put new too strong springs in so its too stiff, but I`d expect more likely its too soft. Try applying that little bit of pressure to see if it helps, If it does take the front plate off and take the pressure springs out and pull them out very very slightly, back in and try again, then maybe out again depending how much you pull them out, do it finely as you don`t want then to strong or thats not too good and can also affect threading. Anyway finger pressure test first, Just a thought, best Mark.
posted May 06, 2005 06:07 PM
That's a good one. You might also want to make sure that the film gate and pressure pad are actually smooth to the feel and not sticky or rough, so that film can glide easily through the path. Some lubrication (FilmRenew works well) might also do the trick. As a last resort, is everything screwed securely into place? I would check and make sure there aren't any loose screws (in your projector, not the guy who worked on it)
-------------------- Call me Phoenix. *dusts off the ashes*
Posts: 791
From: Northridge, CA USA
Registered: Jun 2003
posted May 06, 2005 07:26 PM
If the machine had no jump before you took it to him and now it does I would suspect that he removed the cam tank to "lube" it and put it back in.
One of the problems with the Eiki is that it's ease of service leads people to undertake things like this without knowing what you REALLY have to do when you replace the cam tank (whether you've done anything to it or now).
You need to check the claw travel, centering and protrustion. My guess is you'll find it's now off spec and can be adjusted back in.
First put a short piece of film in the gate with it open and observe the claw as it enters and leaves the perforations. You do this with the manual advance and make sure the claw doesn't hit the perfs when it enters or exits and it has a clean pull. If it doesn't the "adjustment" is bending the claw lever holding the claw so it makes a proper entrance and exit.
Next you should check framing (even with the jump) and make sure you have equal movement of the aperture plate up and down.
If you don't, that will be tackled in the next adjustment.
Thrid check the protrusion. It should be .05-.06 inch. Take ten pieces of film, pile them ontop of one another in the gate and with the manual advance the claw should pull all ten pieces thru. If it doesn't then the claw isn't moving far enough into the film.
Now for the adjustment.
Open the projector machine size and look at the cam tank fulcrum. There will be two screws that you can loosen that will adjust the fulcrum point so that the claw will move left or right or up or down. If the framing is off or the left right was minor in the entrance exit, use that adjustment to fix the problem. Next there is a center shaft for the claw lever with a set screw and a screw. This will adjust the protrusion in and out. Adjust as necessary by the test.
Now I make the fulcrum point adjustment with old film and the machine running, but it's not the technique for first timers. You can also adjust for quite running and framing this way if you dare.
I can't imagine why he would have replaced the pressure plate. I really doubt he would have gone to the trouble to changine the springs since as I recall they're in the lens hold which has to come off to get at the 2.3mm screws holding the retaining plate (if I remember the NT correctly). If he changed the aperture plate, then you need a real technician to go thru the machine since there are several critical guiding areas and they all have to be set properly and they're just held in place by screws so if you take it apart you have really set-up yourself for a major learning experience.