Dilemma. I Need Your Advice / Opinion, Please.

[Melvin England]

I have ONE projector that can handle 1200' reels. I have several others that can handle up to 600' and 800' at a push.

My 1200' projector is very poorly and the likelihood of it getting mended / buying another one is very slim at the moment.

My question is.....

Do I down spool the film on the 1200's back onto their original 400' reels so I can watch them again, thus going back to the stop / start / stop / start of reel changes, or do I keep them on 1200' spools keeping the luxury of fewer changes, plus is an incentive to get my finger out and get the projector mended ? It will also, of course, be a lot of extra work.

I look forward to your responses. However, one response which would be a NO, NO, straight away would be to sell them!

The floor is yours.................

[Osi Osgood]

OK, for what it's worth, you can always buy another projector, but you may not run across your prints ever again, especially with how much vintage prints are going for on eBay and elsewhere these days. I'd change them onto smaller reels, ( I personally prefer 600ft over 400ft), keep the films, sell the ailing projector and perhaps, with the money gained from the ailing projector, buy another projector as a good price, with the potential extra for upgrading your newly purchased projectors, or more films!

[Ken Finch]

If you have 2 projectors that can handle up to 800ft spools, why not run them side by side and do Change overs! You could even do this with 400ft spools. I have done this myself with 2 different makes of projector. Saves a lot of expense trying to get repairs done. Not easy these days.

[Janice Glesser]

My thoughts are in line with Ken finches suggestion. I had a 1200 ft that would run on my Elmo ST1200, but I don't use that very often so I edited it to fit on an 800 and 400 ft. reels. I could have done two 600 but I like that the 800 would go longer in the beginning.

[Ken Finch]

Oh. Janice, we do seem to have a lot in common regarding home cinema. You are even a keen 9.5 er ! 😉

[Brian Fretwell]

a long shot idea would be to look around to see if you caouls find one of the Long Play separate feed/take up reel systems. Long shot as I suspect very few were sold and even less on the market.
If you are good in engineering you could try to build your own.

[Graham Ritchie]

Melvin

What is the model of projector?

[Mike Newell]

Depends how many 1200 reels you have. If it is a few transfer to 800 or 600 reels and buy two projectors with that capacity. I tend to find 1200 capacity projectors develop problems so always ran 2 projector change over system. Another option would be to look for a Spondon long play unit. Like gold dust when you are looking for one and unsellable when you want to sell. . It depends on your projector space I had one specifically for scope but you do need lots of space to operate.

[Melvin England]

Thank you everyone for your contributions.

I still have not made a firm decision as to what to do. There are quite a few to do and it is going to take quite a lot of time once I commit to it. I think before that, I may try and attack the problem with the projector again myself after having quite a break from it.

Graham asks the make. I feel a little embarrassed to admit it is a GS1200. The problem is the rear take up spindle does not rotate. I went onto Youtube for guidance and there was a great demo film showing the problem and what to do. Basically, the carbon brushes will have had their day and need replacing. I ordered a couple of sticks, dismantled the prong, replaced with difficulty the brushes and then tried to reassemble it with the brushes needing to grab around the main prong. To say that that part of the job is proving to be an absolute pain to do is putting it mildly. That is where I am at, at the moment. A perfectly good machine, actually, which is useless because of this problem.

Does anyone know if there is anyone in the UK who could repair it ? I have also read somewhere on this forum that the circuit board for the arms could be the problem. If it is, that is game over for me and that projector. I am not electrically minded.

[Graham Ritchie]

Melvin

Don't be embarrassed its a GS1200 honestly they are one pain in the neck projector when they need fixing, fine when they are going I almost think its a minor miracle when they are running. I was hoping you would say its a ST1200 one motor does it all, with a take up clutch you could adjust yourself. I hope Melvin you find someone locally that can help you out.

[Barry Attwood]

Melvin,

You could try and see if Bill Parsons could look at your GS1200, he's an expert in them, he's now semi-retired but you could send him an email and see what he says, if you'd like to ring me on 01255 764457 I'll give you his address and email.

[Graham Sinden]

Dave Locke still does the odd projector repairs and used to do GS1200's. If Bill can't maybe Dave can.

[Graham Sinden]

I know you said you're not electrically minded but mine had the same problem and it is the Relay on the main pcb just needs replacing.

[Melvin England]

Just so that people don't think I have ignored his reply, I have also received a PM from Barry Attwood so we are communicating that way instead of on the main forum. However, I will eventually let everyone know the outcome.

Graham - Thanks for that. I shall call that Plan B !
I also suspect you are right about the relay on the pcb. Pity I had to meddle in the first place with the top of the arm. Other than this, the machine runs beautifully. I really don't want to abandon it.

[Graham Sinden]

Yes I know mine is the Relay because with the back off and machine in forward mode I used a long pencil or pen to apply pressure to the side of the Relay (carefully not touch anything with my bare hands) and with pressure on the side the rear drive spun. All I need to do is change that relay.

I your case as you have dismantled the rear motor you could connect a voltmeter to the terminals and see if there is voltage there if the correct Relay is moved.