GS1200 micro switch `s to buy ? where etc please.

[Mark Todd]

Hi my PC has finally about bitten the dust, so please bear with me please if I don`t get back quickly if you message me please.

But a friend, has a friend from the NW UK who needs some help. He recently bought a GS1200 but it needs a fair few micro witches etc

Been a bit of a going on with it etc.

So does anyone know where you can buy these please and if possible reasonably fairly, as the machine was around £800 + odd already and hes going to have to pay to have it done too.

Many Thanks Mark.

[Paul Adsett]

Mark, this is the subminiature SM1 Microswitch used throughout the GS1200.It measures 20mm x 6,4mm x 10,6mm. Available on Amazon and dirt cheap. Make sure you order style 4 with the flat lever arm, which may need trimming a little bit with a pair of metal cutters or sharp scissors:

https://www.amazon.com/MXRS-Hinge-Mo...xL5Q-c-3UakHdI

[Steve Klare]

Thanks, Mark for asking and thanks, Paul for telling!

I have an ST-1200HD that could use a couple of these replaced and this information is a big help!

I commonly see these in places like DigiKey offered with a choice of multiple actuation forces, but I trust Paul to get it right.

(I also trust ELMO to choose a standard switch, use it everywhere and buy it by the truckload. It's cheaper and avoids issues of having multiple parts in a factory which look alike but aren't the same. No good can come from this!)

[Paul Adsett]

I used to drive down to the local Radio Shack store to buy these subminiature microswitches, but sadly Radio Shack is gone, The ones I have linked to seem to be the same specs but I have not (yet!) had the opportunity to try them out.
These particular switches are all over the GS1200, but sadly they are also responsible for about 90% of the problems on these projectors. Testing them with an ohm meter is not good enough, as they will often indicate contact but be incapable of passing the required current to operate the system properly or consistently.. The main culprit in the GS1200 is the micro-switch which operates the release of the top green threading guide, and the corresponding one on the rear roller arm. If you have ANY problems with the auto threading guide not releasing properly just go ahead and replace both of these little switches,

[Leon Norris]

The main way to keep them going is to keep them clean. I use contact cleaner with lubricant. And they will last a long time.what happens is they get dirty with dust buildup. And they start sticking.the machine will function better.with clean micro switches.

[Steve Klare]

Leon?

How do you get the fluid inside the switch? Do you depress the switch and spray into the push button opening?

Paul,

Radio Shack was a pillar of Western Civilization, especially for a 14 year old who needed a way above average amount of wire and switches!

[Mark Todd]

Hi Thank you Paul, ( and others ) that is great.

They are ordering some to help the poor chap out, hes not so well, or mobile, but hes very kindly being supported and helped by another collector who`s much nearer too him, so thats great.

A lot better value that I would of expected.

I had no idea they even sneaked a few in to the HD`s though !!!

The cheeky Monkey`s !!!

Thank you again.

Best Mark.

[Steve Klare]

Oh I'd say they are probably anywhere and everywhere Elmo! (8mm, 16mm, sound, silent...who knows? -slide and overhead projectors too!)

-for example on the ST-1200HD the control-knob shaft drives a set of cams: two lobes of it drive switches controlling motor direction and a third activates a single switch controlling the projection lamp. There's probably another one for that slide-in guide for when an 800 foot reel is mounted to cause the threading guide to unlock.

About a decade ago, the one controlling the lamp stuck "ON" on one my ST-800s, which means the motor and cooling fan stopped but the lamp stayed on. About a half-second later I pulled the power cord out of the socket before the lamp could overheat. I replaced the switch: quite a job!

It's not the nature of Engineers to reinvent the wheel (We'd rather copy and paste, maybe modify a little, the same wheel we've been using for years and then go out for beers!), so I'm pretty sure we'd find this theme played out throughout their product lineup.

[Paul Adsett]

It's not the nature of Engineers to reinvent the wheel (We'd rather copy and paste, maybe modify a little, the same wheel we've been using for years and then go out for beers!), so I'm pretty sure we'd find this theme played out throughout their product lineup.

Sound advice that was, unfortunately, not heard by Eumig's engineers who insisted on designing their own micro-switches from scratch, as well as many other types of non-standard switches, for all their projectors. Some of these switches are a nightmare to work on and there are no ' standard' off the shelf replacement switches as in the Elmo's.