ST 1200 ebay purchase...should I keep it or send it back?

[Alan Gouger]

Martin, I recently bought one off eBay with what sounds like the same listing. It arrived in what appeared as very good physical condition until I ran the projector. It ran so rough it hopped around the table. I complained to the seller and he offered a partial refund which I accepted and figured I would keep it as a parts machine. When I opened the back cover the internals were covered in that black gunk from the shutter belt deteriorating over time. It was everywhere. The ST is a very good projector but that belt was its one bad design choice.

[Martin Davey]

So you sent it back Alan? It might well be the same listing. There was a similar one with a 1.1 lens offered that was sent back, according to the seller, as the lens had fungus, though it was difficult to see the condition of the machine. The lens was featured as still being in its Elmo packaging (a 1.3 still fitted in situ, although the seller did not realise the value of the lens. In my case I think this is a totally different sale (and price), again the seller not realising that it had a 1.1 lens. This one has 2 paper on string Elmo tags on the handle, and some extra audio cables within the microphone box. Finally it has an Elmo 800ft reel and a sales brochure talking about 'twin track'. Also the lens has a little fungus but I do not think it will affect projection after all. Does it ring any bells for you Alan? Actually now it seems to run smoothly after the work I have spent on it, but it too was rough sounding initially. I hope someone will be able to help me to correct the faults still apparent, although it is a suitable 'manual' machine now.

[Alan Gouger]

I ended up keeping the projector and took the refund. My projector arrived in a Elmo case. The back of the projector had marking from a white marker, it belonged to a school or organization. I am guessing that while the projector looked to be in good shape it probably had plenty of hours and no one bothered to maintain the projector throughout its life. It runs so bad it is impossible to run film through it.

[Martin Davey]

Today I dealt with the screw (take up belt) by a drop of some oil on to it to loosen it up. I checked on You tube videos that it should just screw out simply, which it did. I then looked at the electrical boards at fuses. I'm used to seeing the 2 prominent ones. The fuses were fine but I did notice that one of the brass contacts was loose, and on the point of breaking off at the 90 angle section where it meets the board. This meant that there was a hairs width gap between the fuse and the contact. I pushed it very carefully in contact with the fuse (power off), and then turned the power back on. This then restored the light indicators etc. In a perfect world I would have replaced the whole brass contact but don't have the skills, or a spare, to do that. Instead I added solder very carefully to that angle to strengthen it, and now that all works. There was another benefit however that was in the back of my mind while pondering the situation, and that is that the circuit may activate the switch for the green button auto thread. Happily it did also sort out this problem, so I think that I have solved all issues. Now I am just awaiting some new belts for the machine and hopefully once installed I will be able to run it properly and as fully operational during the weekend. : )

[Maurice Leakey]

Well done, Martin, you certainly are really getting there. I've got one ST-1200, and three ST-1200 HD, thankfully, they are now running perfectly, but all four did initially need professional assistance.

Maurice

[Alan Gouger]

I am surprised the ST is not mentioned more. It may not be perfect by design what projector is but it has the rollers at the film entrance lacking from the GS series. It is not known for scratching film unlike the GS. It is also brighter than the GS even with its stock 3 blade shutter while using a smaller lamp. Its more compact and light weight. Its a nice little machine.

[Martin Davey]

Thanks Maurice and Alan. I do find the Elmo 1200 series suits my requirements very well. I now have the 2 Hds and an additional ST-1200 which functions but the motor needs replacing as I can feel when turning the motor by hand there is some resistance during part of a revolution. I might use this machine to practice taking apart for maintenance rather than try things on the Hds. Anyway the new addition ran very well yesterday, although I did not use the 800' shown as it was too tight on the film but used my metal 1200s as usual.

[Maurice Leakey]

Martin
You certainly got all the "bits" with your projector, including a gate brush with a scraper on its other end.

Maurice