8mm Forum: My Specto mods

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Topic: My Specto mods

Dino Everette
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1535
From: Long Beach, CA USA
Registered: Dec 2008

posted August 24, 2009 01:54 AM

I love my Specto's but always wished they would have had a re-looper. anytime I run a film that has some pulled sprockets that I may have missed, or if it is even shrunken it will lose its lower loop and i have to stop the show. The first mod I did was to add a stationary lower roller so that when a skip happens it won't lose the loop.
Also over time I noticed that a number of the films I run are shrunken to some degree and come off the top sprocket with some hesitation since it is headed up to make the top loop, the film doesn't want to let go of the wheel. It always makes me nervous and on one occasion the film wrapped itself back up around the sprocket and broke. Not only does this cause the projector to run extremely noisy with the film making a clicking noise as it finally comes off the sprockets but it makes it bounce around as it heads into the gate. I decided to try and alleviate this by adding a rubber roller as the film comes off the first sprocket. It is placed so that as the film comes off the bottom of the roller it also passes under the rubber roller. This prevents the top loop from causing the catching. The next step was to add something that would guide the film into the gate and help with the loop since there was now less space to form it naturally (I didn't want it rubbing against the lamphouse). For this I used a spare from a parts specto and switched out the axle so that the rollers spin more freely....It seems to be working exactly as I had hoped so I will now make the pieces a little more sturdy. The only actual alteration to the machine was the one hole I had to drill for the lower loop roller. The guide for the gate was made to just sit on top of the lamphouse and can be removed by just lifting the top vent.. The rubber roller was just placed using the existing screw for the top sprockets guide rollers.

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"You're too Far Out Miss Lawrence"

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Paul Adsett
Film God

Posts: 5003
From: USA
Registered: Jun 2003

posted August 24, 2009 11:57 AM

Well done Dino! - it looks like a really neat modification.

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Dino Everette
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1535
From: Long Beach, CA USA
Registered: Dec 2008

posted August 25, 2009 01:40 AM

Thanks Paul, it is always fun to work on these old baby's...I just picked up an A.C.E. sound base for a GEM so I might have to play around with that projecor for a bit.... [Big Grin]

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"You're too Far Out Miss Lawrence"

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James Gillespie
Junior
Posts: 16
From: Toronto, ON, Canada
Registered: Nov 2013

posted November 24, 2013 07:20 PM

Dino, thanks for posting this a while back now! I am reworking a Specto 500 that I need to convert to Halogen 120V 300W ELH. I couldn't really make out how you derived the 120V line from the 240V . If you could share your experience with this in more detail it would be much appreciated.
At the moment I am considering running a separate 120V line to the projector to power the lamp via a fuse, the QLV-1. Would like to know more of the details of your success and the wiring details before I make that decision.
Hoping you're well.
Cheers, James

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Film is like rope ...
A Sailor's work is never done ...
Press on !!

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Dino Everette
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1535
From: Long Beach, CA USA
Registered: Dec 2008

posted December 04, 2013 01:08 AM

James
give your machine a second glance, unless you have one of the older models, almost every Specto 500 I have ever seen is fitted with a 115v lamp so you just have to hook the wiring from the little step down transformer in the lamphouse to the QLV-1 socket.

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"You're too Far Out Miss Lawrence"

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James Gillespie
Junior
Posts: 16
From: Toronto, ON, Canada
Registered: Nov 2013

posted December 05, 2013 09:00 AM

Hey Dino ...
With my Specto the 120V 500W lamp part of the circuit was dependent on the
Resistance in the pre-heat coil, and even varied with change in motor speed.
So, cleared away the old coil and left motor circuit intact at 240V.

So I have run a separate 120V line to the projector for the halogen lamp and additional CPU cooling fans run off of a wee 12V 1Amp transformer.

I removed all obstructions and established required 'working distance' of lamp to film plane, and have amazingly brilliant light in the frame but a strange large circle of fainter light from the reflector bulb ... Will post pics later

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Film is like rope ...
A Sailor's work is never done ...
Press on !!

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