The ELMO ST1200 HD PROJECTOR 2 BLADED SHUTTER UPGRADE .

[Martin Davey]

The service manual refers the item as a 'heat proof glass holder', holding two pieces of 'heat proof glass'. Nothing about dust covers/ diverters.

[Steve Lee]

Years ago I had to run 35mm a with a Orcon lamphouse, that had a two peice dichroic glass heat shield, that was set at a 20 degree v in the front of the lamphouse. Over the course of a week you could see the image on the screen getting dimmer and dimmer. Due to the fact that they were getting so hot, as you would do having a 2,000 watt xenon pointing at you for an entire day, you could actually see the dust sticking to them, that was being thrown up by the shutter blades infront.
It was necessary to remove them, and wash them a couple times a week. As this was quite a job in itself we ended up removing them completely. Only to find out that the lamp would now run a lot cooler, as it has a good air circulation, where it didn't have before. This made no difference to the running of the mech, and gave a brighter picture.

It's a long time since I have owned a St1200, but I remember thinking back then, why does this machine have a heat filter?. Having a more simplistic mechanism than the GS, maybe the original design for this machine may have had a variable speed control that could drop below 16fps, and this was dropped when it was put into production.

If it was mine, I would leave it out, as it has no use to man or beast.

[Steve Klare]

The ST-1200s have a single-frame function¹ and the shield is there to prevent burning the frame in the gate. Mine has this arm in there that looks like somebody lost a hand: whoever owned the thing before me removed the shield and left its stump behind.

Notes:
1) Nobody in the entirety of human history seems to have used or even asked for this!

[Brian Harrington]

Yup, I have never used the single-frame function. It was odd to have that feature and not have a slow-mo feature to go with it. Elmo did just that with some of their silent dual-8 machines.

My theory why that was a "necessity" in the 60s and 70s was that it was put there for sports analysis to be used by coaches and players, the way players immediately look at an ipad when they come into the dugout after not getting a hit!

I have another theory why those features were a necessity for some, but since this is a family-oriented form, I will keep my mouth shut!

[Steve Klare]

I just think it's not a worthwhile feature in this particular machine. A good place for it would be in a machine more oriented towards showing home movies. My first machine was a kodak Moviedeck: it was silent with a pull-out daylight screen. It had still frame too and it seemed entirely appropriate for the kinds of footage it would be showing most of the time. The ST-1200 is a sound machine capable of 24 FPS and 1200Feet and was meant mostly for showing commercial sound prints,

There's this trend this last decade in family cars like minivans and large SUVs to have integral child seats in the back rows. Still frame in an ST-1200 is a little like integral child seats in a sports car or a work truck: it's not that nobody will ever use it, it's just that it's far from a top-ten feature people would want in this machine.

(Besides, I had a sports-car when I was dating, and showing up with a child seat on the first date is just a little...creepy!)

[Brian Harrington]

I agree, which is probably why Elmo put the slo-mo feature in their silent machines rather than in their sound machines. The still-frame feature in sound Elmos, though, is still a head-scratcher for me.

The only explanation that makes any sense (although I need to dig out the user manual to be sure) is that it is not a still-frame "feature" per se. It is more a safeguard to prevent the film burning when you stop the projector before flicking off the light switch. Even if the manual does list it as a "feature", it may be more of an "accidental" feature that marketing hooked onto to somehow raise the price! The silent dual-8 Elmos also have a separate light switch, which is a feature I like moreso than projectors that always switch on the light during "full-speed ahead" mode.

The caveat with the Elmo silent machines is that the light won't go on if the machine is still in thread mode. That happens often since the take-up reel doesn't always tug enough to take it out of that mode, and there is no weird noise that signals to you that the film isn't running though properly. I have so many machines in my rotation that it is difficult to remember that little caveat any time I use that particular machine. I usually shout out to myself, "I can't believe it -- didn't I recently install a new lamp?" before I realize the issue. And these machines don't have that black lever to press down on like the ST-1200 does -- the only way to get it out of thread mode is to tug on the film or stick your finger in the film path and move the lever that the film tugs on -- located under the gate near the second sprocket.

[Brian Fretwell]

I wonder if it was there so you could stop the film and take a 35mm still camera image to make a print, as with the Instant Picture add on to the Agfa Family unit.

[Steve Klare]

Well, on my Moviedeck you can stop the film and enjoy he image like a snapshot on the pull-out screen. Of course one of the things you learn from this is the amount of blurring in a motion picture image (especially 18 FPS with a wide angle shutter) that contributes to the look of motion on-screen, but makes for an awful still!

-back in the heyday of 8mm home movies, not only could you send your films to a lab for dupes, but here and there labs actually printed stills from movies too.

[David Hardy]

Now here is a further fact to add to the mystery of the split glass heat shield on the Elmo ST 1200 series lamphouse covers .
The earlier Elmo ST 1200 machines lamphouse covers are different from the one on the Elmo ST1200 HD projector .
The ST 1200 has a smaller diameter split glass fitted and the top of the lamphouse cover is fully open and is a clip on attachment .
While the ST 1200 HD has a larger diameter split glass fitted and the top is an open mesh affair with a screw on attachment .

[Brian Harrington]

Now here is a further fact to add to the mystery of the split glass heat shield on the Elmo ST 1200 series lamphouse covers .
The earlier Elmo ST 1200 machines lamphouse covers are different from the one on the Elmo ST1200 HD projector .
The ST 1200 has a smaller diameter split glass fitted and the top of the lamphouse cover is fully open and is a clip on attachment .
While the ST 1200 HD has a larger diameter split glass fitted and the top is an open mesh affair with a screw on attachment .

My two 1200HDs are different than yours -- no mesh and it snaps in with a clip on the top. I've seen the ones you have in pics.

On a different note, I've also removed the small, square heat shield (glass) from my Sankyo 2000H dual-8 silent. Made a huge difference on that machine! It wasn't on the lamp cover but instead closer to the gate. I don't use the freeze-frame on that either.

[David Hardy]

Brian i just noticed i failed to mention that my Elmo model is in fact an ST 1200 HD M/0 machine . Do your Elmo ST1200 HD's have the optical soundtrack facility ?

[Brian Harrington]

No, just magnetic, but I've seen the magnetic-only ones with the lamp cover you have.

[Matthieu van der Sluis]

The ST-1200s have a single-frame function¹ and the shield is there to prevent burning the frame in the gate. Mine has this arm in there that looks like somebody lost a hand: whoever owned the thing before me removed the shield and left its stump behind.

Notes:
1) Nobody in the entirety of human history seems to have used or even asked for this!

I always use it for focussing.
Most of the time, I'm my own single public, watching super8 film, and travel back in time.
I'm mostly sitting in front of my cinema.
So without having to misout half of the movie, I set it on one frame, turning the front wheel to open it, than focus, than start the film and run to the front seat.

[Matthieu van der Sluis]

Now here is a further fact to add to the mystery of the split glass heat shield on the Elmo ST 1200 series lamphouse covers .
The earlier Elmo ST 1200 machines lamphouse covers are different from the one on the Elmo ST1200 HD projector .
The ST 1200 has a smaller diameter split glass fitted and the top of the lamphouse cover is fully open and is a clip on attachment .
While the ST 1200 HD has a larger diameter split glass fitted and the top is an open mesh affair with a screw on attachment .

I have exactly the same difference between my ST1200D and my ST1200HD M&O

[David Hardy]

Matthieu i wonder why they did that ?