8mm Forum: eiki projectors

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Posted by Daniel Aveline (Member # 1714) on December 12, 2009, 02:06 PM:

I have been told by different people that eiki projectaors were not reliable .What is the truth?

Posted by John Whittle (Member # 22) on December 12, 2009, 02:31 PM:

I haven't found that to be true. There are lots of models of Eiki machines. Is there anyone in particular that they complained about and what was the complaint?

What happens with lots of projectors is they get "worked on" by people without the training or knowledge to do the job and they leave the projector in a mess. The problem the Eiki's have, if they have a problem, is that they will still run if out of adjustment. They'll have problems if misadjusted, but they'll run. A few minutes with a good technician will put it right if the machine hasn't been abused or have broken parts.

John

Posted by Daniel Aveline (Member # 1714) on December 12, 2009, 02:44 PM:

Thank You John,
Some of them told me that the sound device was of poor quality
and others told me that they actually scratch films.

Posted by Michael O'Regan (Member # 938) on December 12, 2009, 02:53 PM:

I use Eikis - I've found them to be totally reliable, unlike many other makes I've used.

Posted by David Erskine (Member # 1244) on December 12, 2009, 03:05 PM:

M- I'll second that! I've got around 20 of 'em, ranging from an RM converted to 9.5 up to EX-4000P.
Merry Grimble to all. Cheers, David E

Posted by Claus Harding (Member # 702) on December 12, 2009, 05:41 PM:

Easy, good-quality machines in my experience. I have the regular SSL and the X3500 Xenon, and they run well and consistently.
Some folks feel that Eikis don't handle damaged film as well as some other brands of projectors, but as far as basic picture/sound quality and ease of use, they are great.

Claus.

Posted by Bruce McGee (Member # 299) on January 08, 2010, 06:34 PM:

The only shortfall I see with Eiki is the use of the round urethane belts on early models. Eiki seems to think these things are gold.

Posted by Wayne Tuell (Member # 1689) on January 09, 2010, 01:53 PM:

IMHO EIKI's are good machines. I use or have used NT-O's NT-OT's (factory telecine) SNT's even an old XENON pedestal 5020. They are all just as reliable as my Kodak, B&H's and Elmo.

It is true that the amber EIKI belts can break what would seem pre-mature from time to time. Use ANY projector long enough and something will wear-out or break. To say the brand as a whole is not any good is just not true.

If the machines are scratching film, maybe it is a dirty film path which the blame should be placed on the shoulders of the projectionist not the projector.

Posted by Josef Grassmann (Member # 378) on January 12, 2010, 11:51 AM:

Eiki projectors are very reliable. They need service from time to time as every other brand of projectors.
Eiki still supplies spares and service /maintance nowadays.

Posted by frank arnstein (Member # 330) on January 17, 2010, 12:28 AM:

Hi to Daniel & all the others on this Eiki thread.
I love Eiki Projectors & collect and restore them as an ongoing hobby.
The ones I buy are RT1 & NT1 or later.
The SSSL slim Gold versions are beautiful and Slotloaders are fun to use.
The older early Green ST/M models are OK too but most are worn & some may need some attention to Spindle shafts which can be slightly bent from being bumped.
Then they flip off film when reverse projecting.
They also need special thin arm belts which tend to slip with full reels.

So I reccommend you stick to the Gold, the Blue or the Brown ones but give the Greenies a miss as I think they are too old & much riskier to buy at auction.

P.S. How many of you have added oil to the camtank of your Eikis?
There is a big felt pad inside the camtank that wipes the cam lobe each time it passes. After 40 odd years, the felt pads are bone dry on most of the ones I have checked. The cam will soon wear if fresh oil isn't added. There is a small oil fill point on the top of the camtank into which you need to add about 30 drops of new sewing machine oil.
If you do that, it will run for years without any trouble from the cam/claw mechanism. By the time you can hear the cam squealing its usually too late to save the cam surface which scores & from then on, they become noisy machines.

The moral is,
"A few drops in time, will save you a lot more than 9.($)

Dogtor Frankarnstein [Big Grin]

Posted by Michael O'Regan (Member # 938) on January 17, 2010, 03:06 AM:

Nice tip about the cam oil, Frank.

Is it possible to check the oil level in these?

Where, precisely, is the cam tank?

Posted by Josef Grassmann (Member # 378) on January 17, 2010, 07:51 AM:

You can´t see the felt as it is inside of housing, but is always dry as already mentioned. There is a nickel plated cover on top(size: finger nail of small finger). If you loose the screw (not easily to reach), you can shift cover to side and drop oil into hole.
After oiling - if possible- wait 1 or 2 days until oil has wetted through the felt towards cam. Felt is rather big, half size of thumb so oil needs time to spread.

Posted by John Whittle (Member # 22) on January 17, 2010, 12:22 PM:

One other note on early Eiki Projectors. The MS series and the ST/M series used windings on the motor to supply the reduced AC voltages to the Amp. The problem with this is that changes on the motor load will change the voltage. The RT and later series (as long as they use the low voltage lamp) have a transformer that supplies the Lamp current and Amp voltages for the amp and exciter lamp.

Also the amps in the RT series and later have a much better controlled DC supply for the exciter lamp. (A slight load on the MS/ST series on the motor decreased the AC to the exciter lamp which decreased the lamp output and lowers the sound level).

If you can, try and find the amps without the big all integrated power module. When these fail, they aren't repairable, just replace. The later amps went back to descrete components and can be repaired.

The last models, the SSN and SSL have a much improved design and are by far the best.

As for the cam tank, the oil on the felt is used to slowly wip the cam plate to provide lubrication. On the RT and later machines, the claw lever has a nylon or plastic bearing surface for both the up and down and in and out movement and last much longer than the earlier design.

The ST and earlier cam tanks are virtual copies of the RCA 400 with metal spring steel top and bottom moving the claw up and down on a mircata cam, the in and out are on a steel stamped plate with a nylon/plastic bushing.

In all these machines, as the in out bushing wears, the claw actually increases it's protrusion into the film. Wear on the RT/M and later up and down bushing will only slightly change the framing.

Eiki changed from the mircata cam to a cast steel cam when the man who made all the cams at the Eiki factory died (this happend with the introduction of the RT/M Royal Series). They took several examples of his last work and then cast them for future projectors. Up to that time, every cam had been hand cut and finished by that one expert employee.

John

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