8mm Forum: Old Eumig Super 8 projector (cleaning) tips needed

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Posted by Sander Lahaije (Member # 5720) on December 30, 2016, 02:31 AM:

Hi, my name is Sander (30) from the Netherlands.
Dutch is my primary language so please excuse my rusty English. I am also completely new in the Super 8 and projector world so I don't know a lot of technical terms and might ask for clarification or better yet, some images [Smile]

My grandfather has always made homevideo's on 8mm tapes. These tapes date from approx. 1967 up to 1977. Along with the projector (an Eumig mark S 607) the tapes were stored in a cold and damp shed for at least 5 years.

I want to rescue the old home movies (for example, the 5th birthday of my dad) before it is too late.

So I started to read up on projectors and started dissasembling the machine with two purposes:
- To see how it works and
- To clean and do general maintanance.

I have done the following:
- Remove dust and foreign objects
- Remove old black grease and applied new general purpose grease
- Dissasembled motor and PCB, cleaned, applied contactspray and sawingmachine oil (motor, shafts and bearings)
- Dissasembled the lens completely and cleaned until allmost no dust particles were visible
- Cleaned te rubber rollers and friction plates with alcohol
- Sanded the bulb contacts and fitting (corrosion)
- Checked the voltage (it is on 250v) and set to 50Hz
- Plugged it in and ran some test tapes trough the machine.

A lot of text up until now, but here come the questions:
- I still have rough edges and suspect the claw (is that right?) to be filthy, how do I clean this without removing the whole shutter assembly?

- Did I mis anything on maintanance? The motor is still a bit squicky but other from that I don't hear any strange noises with my amature hearing [Smile]

- How can I clean the audio pickup (headers?)

- How do I prevent the crumbling of the very presious and none replaceable tapes?! Up untill now I have been feeding it manually because feeding with the projector on sometimes results in eating film up..

Thank you in advance!

Sander.

[ December 30, 2016, 03:09 PM: Message edited by: Sander Lahaije ]

Posted by Andrew Woodcock (Member # 3260) on December 30, 2016, 03:40 AM:

Sander, you're English is far better including you're spelling, than many native English speaking people's, so certainly no need for any apology on that front.

Onto your points raised and addressing each one in term if I understand your dilemmas correctly....

1/ You say you still have rough edges to your projected image despite your in depth service and clean up of your Eumig.
You will probably need to use a small cotton swab or aerosol can of air to clean the "gate" area in detail.
This is the area that sits in between the lamp and the lens and comprises of two sections, both with a rectangular shaped hole in them.
One is the fixed gate at the rear and made of metal (closest to the lamp), the other is sprung pressure plate (closest to the lens) that is made partially of plastic and sits up to the fixed side of the gate.
All of this cleaning is far better attempted with lamp and lens removed for better access.

Once you have given these rectangular shaped orifices a detailed clean, you should get crisp, sharp images upon projecting a film, all around the edges of the projected image.

2/ at this stage of proceedings, I wouldn't be too concerned by the odd squeak from a motor etc, the machine has been left in an inappropriate place for many years, the fact that you have it working at all, is excellent for your purposes with this machine.

3/ Magnetic Sound heads can be cleaned with pure alcohol solution and a cotton swab again. Just make sure the heads are not in the "loaded" position, as if a film was playing, before attempting to do so. Clean also the nylon pressers below the magnetic head at the same time.

The things you refer to as tapes are actually movie films.
They come in two different formats on 8mm width.

Make sure all the films perforations look identical to a successfully loaded one. If the perforations appear different to the ones you know run through the projector well, do not insert them into the projector as they will be the other format and then may become damaged or damage the machine.

Without more detail, I cannot tell for sure what format of films your grandfather used, but I'd guess it was Super 8mm as opposed to Standard 8mm or Regular 8mm as it is sometimes called.

If you post an image here of one of your films, showing the perforations, we could tell you for certain.
Also it would help if we knew the exact model of projector.
Name and numbers please.

You need to just ensure that all the films look the same so far as their perforations are concerned if you know for sure the projector and film so far used, are definitely Super 8mm.
There are many things that can cause "concertina" effect or "bunching" of the film while attempting to thread it into a projector, but one primary reason, would be if the film was an incorrect format or the projector is not being threaded correctly to operating instructions, including the trimming of the beginning of the film.

Good luck with your captures Sander.

Sorry Sander, I have just realized you did say the projector was a Eumig 607 model.
This caters for both Standard 8mm as well as Super 8mm films.
So it is important for you to download the instruction manual I have easily just found on the net.

Read all the instructions carefully, identify your format of films, then set up the projector accordingly.

Posted by Sander Lahaije (Member # 5720) on December 30, 2016, 04:15 AM:

Thank you for your quick response and compliment [Smile]

To begin with, I did read about clipping the beginning of the film, but none of the movies are clipped thus far, I will begin doing this when I'm confident enough to start loading the precious movies.

I have created an Google Photo album and I will be adding more pictures later. Please let me know if it is visable:
https://photos.google.com/s hare/AF1QipMAFJdt1EG5lCnMzqLR-FWAB4a1N5eFR_aW2aFzw8U-n5UTnq2hdfnJAsaq7DMinw?key=T05HS1dGMXBrcDJwcE42dUlqX1ZJaUl5WmNpQjJn

I'm pretty sure it's all super 8 film and I did run some compressed air all along the inside, including the shutter assembly.

According to the side of the projector, it is an Eumig Mark-S-706 (I said 607 earlier..) and it can run Super 8 and Single 8 movies. The state is actually amazingly good for such an old (inappropriatly stored) machine and I think it just needs some TLC.

In that spirit, I will go and clean the audio headers, gates and remaining guides with alcohol now [Smile]

Thanks again!

Posted by Andrew Woodcock (Member # 3260) on December 30, 2016, 06:04 AM:

Thanks Sander,

It's a good thing that your projector is a Super 8mm model only, it complicates things far less.

Try doing the film trimming and head cleaning exercises, then let us know how you are getting along with the viewing initially, of these films.

Posted by Sander Lahaije (Member # 5720) on December 30, 2016, 06:11 AM:

Will do and thank you!

Posted by Maurice Leakey (Member # 916) on December 30, 2016, 10:34 AM:

Sandor
The gate can be removed for cleaning. BUT, before you do this the knob at the left rear must be turned until the coloured "dot" is in the top vertical position (like a clock at 12 o'clock).
The purpose to set the knob in this position is to retract the claw, this will then give room for the gate to be pulled out towards you.
It is most important to rotate the knob as I described. Unfortunately, many owners do not know this and break the claw trying to remove the gate.
When re-fitting the gate assembly, make sure the knob has not been moved and is still in the same position as before.

Posted by Will Trenfield (Member # 5321) on December 30, 2016, 02:19 PM:

It's a Super 8 projector according to this
http://www.van-eck.net/itable.php?lang=en&size=0&cat=film&merk=57&type=Mark%20S%20706

Posted by Andrew Woodcock (Member # 3260) on December 30, 2016, 06:43 PM:

Discovered inadvertently, a while ago now, Will! 😀😊🎄

Posted by Joseph Gerard (Member # 5721) on January 01, 2017, 10:06 AM:

Hi Sander,
before you put any of your valuable film through it. I would get a new reel of black leader film (you should be able to find some from someone here on this forum) 50 Feet would do. It seems you will need Super 8 Leader film rather than 8mm Leader from the earlier posts on this subject so make sure to get the right leader or it won't feed/thread into your projector. You will need to trim the start of the leader to feed it into your projector. Once you have ran the leader through the projector then use either a magnifying glass or the lens from your projector to check the leader to make sure it isn't scratched or damaged. You should be able to see any damage on the leader. If its damaged then you will need to do further work on your projector and repeat the process before projecting any of your valuable film. Hope this helps. Put Plenty of leader (Recycle the black leader) at the start of your spool before your own valuable film to avoid your film getting damaged in threading the vintage projector.
Best Wishes for 2017. Regards From Eindhoven!

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