Just bought a Pathescope Ace on ebay to replace my falling apart one. The new one has an electric motor with it. I was going to bring it to a local Electrical service company, who deal with larger items normally, or should I find a specialist?
If so, does anyone know any in Essex that could the motor a once over and ensure it is not going to catch fire!!
Posts: 1423
From: Weymouth,Dorset,England
Registered: Oct 2012
posted April 09, 2014 12:19 PM
Hi Andrew Any competent electrician worth his salt will be able to test it for safety. I use a local independent TV repair shop and I would imagine you must have similar in your area. I have to say that the Ace does not have a good reputation for being 'kind to film' so be careful if you have precious films that you would not want damaged.
Posts: 1423
From: Weymouth,Dorset,England
Registered: Oct 2012
posted April 10, 2014 02:49 PM
Hello Andrew All you can do is watch it carefully when you use it and stop it as soon as you see that the film is not passing through the gate properly or the picture image starts 'jumping'. There are many better projectors to use - Bolex Paillard, Specto, Pathe 200B to mention a few and they are far better machines to play old 9.5 film on. Just take great care and don't be afraid to stop the projector and re-lace the film if you think there is a problem.
posted April 11, 2014 06:07 PM
Andy, That edge of the hinged break arm above the projector gate is a real film scratcher on the ACE. The usual advice is to cover the curved part of that arm, where it can contact the film, with a piece of heat shrunk plastic tubing. The Ace was in production for over 30 years, incredible that Pathescope never corrected this obvious design defect.
-------------------- The best of all worlds- 8mm, super 8mm, 9.5mm, and HD Digital Projection, Elmo GS1200 f1.0 2-blade Eumig S938 Stereo f1.0 Ektar Panasonic PT-AE4000U digital pj