8mm Forum: convert-gs1200 to take 1600ft.

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Posted by Andrew Wilson (Member # 538) on April 25, 2006, 03:20 PM:

hi there,can someone tell me if its possible to convert my GS1200 to take 1600ft.does it matter what year it is;and is it easy to do?.i always thought that they would be too much of a strain on the standed machine to do this.what do i need to do;ie do the belts have to be replaced etc.please can someone advise me;is it recommend or not?.cheers andy.p.s i think my elmo GS1200 is of the first genaration.

Posted by Tony Milman (Member # 7) on April 25, 2006, 04:25 PM:

Hi Andrew,

As far as I know there is no need to change anything in the GS. It should cope OK with the 1600ft spools that can be found at dealers and ebay. I tend to prefer 2 800's as these also fit on other machines but each to his own I guess

Posted by Michael De Angelis (Member # 91) on April 25, 2006, 05:38 PM:

Andrew,

Some hobbyists have modified the
GS 1200 reel arms with Elmo
16mm projector arms.

The modification includes changing the
take up and rewind motors as well.
However, I do not know if there
are any other aspects that are needed
to be addressed when upgrading with
this modification.

The modification will not permit the
operator to fold the arms back to the
original design.

To my understanding, the running time
can be over two hours for
a full-length film program.

Michael

Posted by Paul Adsett (Member # 25) on April 25, 2006, 07:17 PM:

I tend to think like Tony about joining up film's on these large reels. Certainly they are great for an uninterrupted viewing of feature films, but like Tony I seem to watch more of the 400 or 600 ft reels even if they are part of a longer feature film. This is particularly true of musical films, where it is nice to be able to pop on a favourite musical segment of the film. So the 1200ft capacity of my GS1200 is nice, but I only use it when I am putting on a show for friends, and I certainly have no desire for anything bigger than 1200ft.

Posted by Michael De Angelis (Member # 91) on April 25, 2006, 10:01 PM:

Paul this is an excellent point.

I would be wary of running so much film
at one run, because I am very fastidious
about keeping the gate and film path
clean. Any amount buildup, can hurt the
film and projector.

Michael

Posted by Jan Bister (Member # 332) on April 25, 2006, 11:01 PM:

http://wittner-kinotechnik.de/info/elmoarme1.html

Wittner Kinotechnik is working on a kit to replace the GS1200 reel arms with larger ones custom-made for 800m (2700ft!!!) reels. No info as to how far along they are or when it'll be available... but they do claim that the GS1200's own motors will be strong enough to handle the additional load. (I dunno about this... I spent a lot of time ensuring that my ST-1200HD could handle the modification I'd done on it, and that's only for 1600ft. reels!)

On a side note, I must confess it's somewhat satisfying to see I'm not the only one wanting larger reel capacities [Big Grin]

And I can already say that running a feature-length movie without interruptions does not cause any problems in regard to dust in the gate or oxide buildup from magnetic stripes and the like - no more than running a 1200ft. reel. [Smile]

I do see Paul and Tony's points, however I must add that none of the "1600ft." reels made for projectors with 1200ft. capacity can truly take 1600ft. of film - well, at least not acetate film - they seem to top out at around 1400ft., maybe 1450ft. but that's it. It's just physically impossible to cram any more on them... thus the whole reason I went about my modification in the first place.

Posted by John Clancy (Member # 49) on April 26, 2006, 02:27 AM:

Point taken with acetate stock. With polyester film I've managed to get about 85 minutes on a Tony Churcher 1600ft Supaspool. That must equate to at least 1600 feet of film.

Posted by Ugo Grassi (Member # 139) on April 26, 2006, 03:47 AM:

I think it's an horrible modify! at first you cannot replace both the arms in the "off position". Only one will be in the horizontal position; the other one will get a position at 20° ca.
Second: are we sure the arms engines will have the same life?

Posted by Andrew Wilson (Member # 538) on April 26, 2006, 10:46 AM:

hi fellow members,ive read your replies and it appears to me to be a big no no!.andy

Posted by Barry Attwood (Member # 100) on April 26, 2006, 11:08 AM:

Andrew,

I think your best bet are the 1600' supaspools if you really want 1600' on a GS (or any other 1200' machine). The only thing is with these spools I found is that you should really hand re-wind them with rewind arms, as I like to get as much tension into the spools as possible, and it's better for the projector, as it is really only tooled up for 1200' spools. If you want some Andy, then have a look on my new lists, you'll see I have 3 for sale.

Posted by Tony Milman (Member # 7) on April 26, 2006, 02:26 PM:

Perhaps we should start a post....
Cosmetic surgery for your GS 1200
...takes years off [Big Grin]

Posted by Kevin Faulkner (Member # 6) on April 26, 2006, 03:48 PM:

I would tend to agree with Barry on this one. Best use some of the Supaspools or equiv then there is no need to mod the GS. I think that anything whch may put a strain on those now obsolete takeup motors should be avoided.

Kev.

Posted by Jean-Marc Toussaint (Member # 270) on April 27, 2006, 01:35 AM:

I've given up on 1600ft spools.
As Jan says, some of them are just fit to hold less than 1400. Those which can actually hold 1600 feet around that ridiculously small core need to be handle like radioactive material as they have an annoying tendancy to unwind when you install then on the projector. As much as I hate 2x400ft digests packed on 600ft spools. So, like Paul, I've put some of my 4x400ft on two 800ft spools, which is not a problem since I run two GS1200s side by side for continuous projection. [Big Grin]

Posted by Graham Ritchie (Member # 559) on April 27, 2006, 03:42 AM:

Hi Andrew
I made some home made 1600ft reels years ago using small centres GS1200 handles it fine,here's a thought though for a DIY,I have seen reels made from old 33 records so if you have some old records lying around you could put them to a new use.
Regards Graham

Posted by Jan Bister (Member # 332) on April 29, 2006, 07:44 AM:

Reels made from vinyl??

That ought to garner some pretty strange looks from people when you have them wondering just what it is that your projector's supposed to play - movies or music!! [Big Grin]

Posted by Michael De Angelis (Member # 91) on April 29, 2006, 09:06 AM:

Graham,

Splendid modification, and with a retro look too!

However I have to agree with Jan's kidding,
because if people who recognize an LP, they
may begin to wonder where the tone arm is
vertically placed while playing the film? [Big Grin]

No kidding now, but these two ideas are
as close to the home version of the
Vitaphone process for movies that was
truly available years ago.

OK - Kev, John and Keith Wilton -
.....this could be your next project [Wink]

Michael

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