If I found a NOB projector, will its belt still be good?

[Winbert Hutahaean]

Hello all,

Just an hypotetical question, should I find a brand new unopened box of a projector, say from Sankyo, Elmo or Fuji, will the belts still be any good?

The same question also if I found a stuck of original belts various size and brand which were made 40 years ago, are they good?

Thanks

[Joerg Polzfusz]

Rule of thumb: The rubber belts are destroyed by time not by usage.

(Yes, the heat and wear during the projection may increase the speed of their deterioration. But 50 years are 50 years.)

[Joerg Polzfusz]

BTW: Some of the electronics used in the 70s/80s are weird: When they are used several times a year, then they will last „forever“. But when they are not, the capacitors, transistors, … will fail.
So it’s not only the belt that you have to worry about.

Not to mention that oil/grease might have vaporized or turned into stone.

In other words:
Expect the worst and hope for the best.

[Steve Lee]

About six years ago I picked up a sealed new in box GS 1200. Before applying any power I had a good look in the back to see if there was anything amiss. All of the belts were intact like new, the only things that need to be replaced were the two small gears on the take up and rewind, due to the plastic shrinking, causing them to crack.
Then about two years ago I picked up a sealed new in box Sankyo 702, the same all of the belts were intact like new.
I think having the projector sealed in its original packaging and being surrounded by polystyrene has protected the projector from temperature change.

[Nantawat Kittiwarakul]

Typical rubber belt would be more than unlikely to survive for that long. So yes, expecting for melted rubber belts / scratchy switches / wonky electrical connections / etc. even for NOS projector as well.

[Steve Klare]

I bought an Elmo ST-800 that sat brand-new in a camera shop until 2017.

Elmo Archaeology: A Brand New 40 Year Old Projector

(-something I wrote during the peak of the Pandemic when I needed something to do!)

The motor belt was still intact and I ran the machine with it while I was getting it operating.

The long belt was thick tarry goo and while I was scraping it out of the machine, I ruined the dining room tablecloth! (You should read the story!)

The electrolytic capacitors were not very capacitive when I got the machine, but with gradual exposure to operating voltage they formed up again without blowing up. It's 8 years later and all is still well.

The original projection lamp fell apart while I was removing it to clean the contacts.

The lube was hardened.

The switches on this machine seem more prone than average to developing oxides and needing to be worked. This projector caused me to buy my very first can of contact cleaner.

I've developed a new theory about this machine. At first I thought the original owner never picked it up. Since the feed chute doesn't reliably latch down, I'm starting to wonder if maybe the machine was returned and exchanged but the camera shop never got around to returning it to Elmo. I could actually fix this, but I treat it like the machine has a "personality" and I just hold it down during threading. (Something about "keeping it original" too.)