Elmo K-100SM No Power

[Bobby Crabtree]

Hi, I am new to this forum. Hello.

I have a question. Searched the archive and could not find my answer. Hopefully I did not miss it.

I have an 8mm/ Super 8 Elmo K-100SM that has been modified by a seller on ebay to use for video transfer. Has LED "lamp" and other mods. I have had the projector for several years with no issues. I have asked this question to the seller, but has not been very helpful, and a little elusive.

I am getting no power to the projector at all. The power section of the projector appears unmodified. There is a line fuse that tests good with a meter. By the way, tried a different power cord and a different AC outlet. No change to problem. Is there possibly and interlock screw on the machine? I found a screw under the unit, but can't identify if it came from the unit, or another project of mine.

Anything else I can check? It is just dead in all positions of the front switch. The last time I used it, which was several months ago, there were no issues at all.

Any help would be appreciated.

Regards. Bobby

[Steve Klare]

Hi Bobby,

I saw this and guessed "fuse!", but you've covered that.

Since you have a meter, if you feel qualified (-bearing in mind the shock hazards here), the thing to do is put the meter on AC volts, starting at where the line cord plugs into the machine and working inwards until you find out where the volts stop.

Smart things to have: work gloves, safety glasses and electrical experience if at all possible.

If I felt I couldn't probe safely by hand, I'd try to hook on with clip leads with the power off and then plug the machine in.

There should be a power transformer in there: I'm guessing you can learn a lot taking measurement on its terminals.

[Bobby Crabtree]

Thank you Steve, good idea. I will do that. I am comfortable doing that. I am figuring there is not too much to fail in the power circuit other than that transformer. Hopefully not that. Hopefully it is me doing something stupid.

Regards. Bobby

[Bobby Crabtree]

Well, tried tracing AC voltage in every spot I could find. Don't know what the output voltage of the transformer is, so can't vouch for the correctness of that voltage. There is a small board with a decent sized cap on it. It does not appear to be "puffy" or deformed on the top. Nor do I see leakage.
The guy that sells the video transfer setup will work on the projector, but charges a flat rate of $395 to fix it. Seems a little high to me, but may have to bite the bullet. I am about at the end of my knowledge on this.

Thanks for the help and pointers.

Regards. Bobby

[Nantawat Kittiwarakul]

Is it still uses the original motor? If yes then it shouldn't be too complicated as it's merely a simple universal type motor (with variac to control the speed) and that's all!


Tried poking multimeters to various points as Steve said. You'll get some LIVE line voltage around the transformer, and some lower readings from other tabs. If all reads zero that means power didn't even reach the transformer - trace bck to the ac inlet then. If the transformer is fine then proceed to the small board at the upper right corner. Another possible culprit would be the control switch - can't remember at the moment how to access them (you may have to reach from the front). This is all I can think of at the moment. Feel free to ask!

PS: and forget that $395 repair. You probably can buy at least about half a dozen more of K-100 projectors to gamble with.