Eumig Mark S restoration

[Charles Titone]

So I am beginning the restore of my fathers Eumig Mark S. First stop replace the trapezoidal motor bushings. I have the new ones from Van-Eck. There are no disassembly videos of these projectors or any posts that describe the process. Rather than reinventing the wheel I am asking my fellow forum members for any resources they can share. I also noticed the lights do no come on for the two white lights on the front. Sooooo here we go..Meanwhile waiting for parts for the other project Elmo ST-800.

[Joseph Banfield]

The two white lights are the threading lamps and should both light the moment the projector is plugged in. If the main FCR projection lamp is burned out neither of the two threading lamps will light either due to the way the lighting circuit is wired in the Mark S.

Changing out the motor mounts is a bit complicated as the tube audio amplifier must be removed first. To remove the amp you turn on the amp and set the volume to about mid point and pull the plastic knob off. Then you unplug the two plugs from the sound heads. You open the back of the machine and remove the three screws holding the amp in place (two at the top and one at the bottom. Now you can pull the amplifier straight out toward you in one piece. Set the amp aside.

Now unplug both connectors from the motor. Underneath the motor you will see the gray metal fan cover and you need to remove both of those large screws (the one on the right side will have a ground wire attached). Now hold the motor in place with one hand and carefully pull the fan cover straight off toward you. Set that aside and carefully pull the motor toward you until it too comes free from the machine. Now, you will have full acess to each motor mount. Take note of the two small washers and their location.

After the mounts are in place and you're ready to put the motor back in, make sure that nylon pin locates into the speed selector or you won't be able to change the speed.

That's pretty much it in a nutshell.

[Stuart Budd]

See if you can find a cheap one on ebay to practice on. May have some bits you need too.

[Charles Titone]

So motor mounts are in! I didn't have to remove the amp all the way after I unscrewed the amp removed the knob and unplugged the sound head it still would come out but it moves enough to remove the fan housing. Then the motor. The hardest part was getting the old brass bushings off the shafts and the shim washers. I cleaned it all up reassembled with the new bushings and presto it runs. I think I got the speed pin in correctly. One issue I unscrewed one tooo many screws in the record switch and springs flew everywhere! I thought I got it back together correctly but the record only stays on if I hold the red switch in not sure if this is normal. I will get new bulbs and see if that fixes the lights.. The projector bulb looks good though. I saw the microswitch could go bad so that will be my next stop if no lights. I will also ck the pins for corrosion also.
if anyone can describe how the two smaller springs go in the red recording switch? Pic if possible.
Thanks everyone!

[Joseph Banfield]

The record switch is designed to lock into place only when the machine is in forward running. It will not lock into place when the projector is idling...if pushed during idle it will simply spring back and not lock. When the machine is running in forward the switch is designed to lock in the record mode. When the control knob is returned to its idle position the record button is supposed to release and return to its normal position again.

Did you check that long strip of metal that is on the right hand side of the motor that is just underneath the recording switch? That piece is spring loaded and what actually locks the recording switch after being pressed. That same strip of metal also has a tiny cut-out where a small arm is supposed to be placed that is linked to the nylon control cam behind the main control knob. If that has not been seated in the cut-out of that metal sliding strip the projector can not release the recording switch when placed back into idle position.

So, have a very careful look at that sliding long strip of metal at the right of the motor. And remember the control knob has to be in the forward running position before the locking system will work.

And one last thing to check since you mentioned that you partially moved the sound amplifier to remove the motor: Make sure that the small fiber arm that is on the amplifier is actually engaging with the recording switch and is pushing that fiber arm in and out when the record switch is pressed and released. It often does not engage properly and slips out of place when retightening the screws of the sound amp. If that fiber switch would be in the record position you would instantly erase any existing soundtrack on your film the first time you run a sound film with the amplifier switched on...so, double check that to be safe.

[Joseph Banfield]

Charles, also if you're having problems with the projection lamp and you're thinking that changing out the two threadin lamps will solve that...it won't.

But if the main projection lamp is blown or open circuit then neither of the the two threadings lamps will light. But if one or both of the threading lamps are blown that will not in any way affect the main lamp. In other words, it makes no real difference wether the threading lamps are burned out or not as they never affect the main lamp...only a problem with the main lamp will affect the two threading lamps.

And just a quick FYI: a projection lamp can look pristine with no breaks in the filament and still be open circuit at the spot welds between the filament and the pins. Unless you test it with an ohm meter you can never be 100% sure. Or when in doubt, change it out!

[Charles Titone]

I received the replacement 100W FCR bulbs and put them in, and Voila, everything works fine! This projector runs just like I remembered it the first time I projected from it about 40 years ago! My dad taught me how to use it and I become the film operator! I digitized my first movie using my Sony FDR AX43 setting the projector on 24fps and the 4k video cam at 24p. No bars, no flicker great capture. I Cropped the capture and encoded it to MPR H264 with Cybermedia Power Director. I increased the frame rate to 60 fps using Flowframes an AI program that synthesizes new frames with AI then upscaled to 4k with Topaz Video enhancer using the Artemis LQ to remove blur not allowing any cropping. Wow it looks great. I am sure I could tune it up more with Adobe Lightroom.. have to start saving for a subscription! I want to clean the film, I have film gaurd but a little hesitant to use it, I dont want to damage the film. I am also not sure if I should use film renew as well.

[Joseph Banfield]

Glad to hear you got your machine back to life. The Eumig Mark S is a really well built standard 8mm sound projector. I would even go so far as to say, it is probably the best standard 8 sound machine ever built and it's the only dedicated standard 8 sound machine Eumig ever produced. The Eumig Mark S is a dedicated machine meaning it is the only standard 8 sound machine that Eumig ever built that uses a two pin pulldown claw in the film gate...all other Eumig sound machines that are designated as dual format machines will only have a single pin pulldown claw!

It's also my machine of choice when running standard 8 film and always has been. All the other 700 and 800 series machines were based off this first design, although being cheapened and with features steadily removed along the way too!