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A very sad story about an Eumig R2000

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  • A very sad story about an Eumig R2000

    Hi all, i want to share a sad story about an Eumig R2000 from 1976 i have currently on the workbench.

    about a month ago i found an advert on marktplaats (Dutch ebay) for this R2000 and looking at the picture i saw one in a bit of a crusty state but normally nothing i can't fix, i wanted to get it to fix up and then sell again. I do this regularly to make a bit of money to put back in the collection.

    the guy wanted 600 euros for it because that is what they are advertised for on etsy, i told him that was very bold to ask for as a good example does about 80 euro's, cleaned and fixed up.

    so i went bold back and bid him 10 euro, we did not agree on the price ofcourse and that was that. and then three weeks later he contacted me if i was interested in buying it for 25 euro's. I stood my ground and turned it down because he told me it needed work and had not been running a long time, i sticked with 10 euro. and he agreed, so i went to him and picked it up. The man and his house were very shabby and so was the projector.

    so today i opened it up for the first time and oh my god, i have never seen one in such a bad condition. if i had known i wouldn't even have bought it anyway. he told me he always looked after it and played cartoons with it when he was a kid.

    judging what i found, the thing has been in a very wet cellar or maybe even submersed. it was just stored very badly after a rough life, because all small parts that can get lost on an R2000 are broken or lost. everything is rusted stuck together.

    so i can only do one thing and that is tear it apart, harvest as much parts as i can for the parts bin and bring the remains to the scrapyard.

    It is what it is and not everyone shares the love and care for these machines offcourse but i can still get agitated to see this kind of neglect and then still try to sell it as if it where made of gold and the only one in existence.

    and here are some pictures:

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  • #2
    My God are you sure this wasn't found on the wreck of the Titanic? all the rust is unbelievable. I'd hate to see how this guy treats his other stuff! I've superimposed the Titanic in your photo. Very similar LOL.

    Click image for larger version

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    • #3
      The thing is, they actually, sometimes, get away with it. It's a good example of the pit falls of buying "unseen" and how people put value on things. Od.

      I'd leave it to one side and when it's sunny, take it outside and get all the good bit's off. Screws, springs, circlips etc... Then scrap it.

      Oh! Try home casting with the metal
      Last edited by Stuart Budd; February 03, 2022, 08:36 AM. Reason: added bit.

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      • #4
        I saw something similar when I was at CineSea. The owner of the Sea Theater invited us to come over and see Blazing Saddles in 35mm. Being that he knew us all, he left the booth door open and we were free to come in and sit and watch the projectionist (-also one of us) at work.

        There was this Eumig 800 series there that looked like it was recovered from the floor of the Atlantic: there wasn't a lot of paint left anywhere and there was all that blistering that aluminum does when it corrodes. -basically everything except barnacles!

        Now, Wildwood, NJ is on an island on the seashore, and not a lot of it is very far above sea level. Many houses there have nothing but garage, furnace room and laundry at ground level and living spaces start one flight up. Nothing you aren't willing to sacrifice to the storms is below expected flood levels. (-hopefully your car evacuates with you.) Basement? -forget it!

        I know for a fact that the Sea Theater has been flooded a couple of times (fortunately the 35mm machine and platter are maybe 5 feet above grade.) I have a feeling this poor little machine was literally dunked in seawater for a few hours after some hurricane or other. As much as I love (successfully) rehabilitating a sad machine: I think they needed to put this one out of its misery!

        PS: Blazing Saddles that afternoon will probably remain the last show at the Sea Theater for all time: it was officially closed even then, and that was a special one just for us. From what I heard, it took a lot of lubrication to get that long idle machine back up to 24FPS.

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        • #5
          Well at least you have a super wide angle 7mm eumig lens.

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          • #6
            Very funny shane...loved the photo of the Titanic too!

            Sorry Erik, to hear about your bad experience with the Eumig R2000. I must say I've never seen a projector look nastier than that one. I hope I don't have nightmares this evening after looking at that biohazard!

            ​​Personally, I think that guy should have given you the 10 Euros just to take it away and another 600 Euros to have your house sprayed for a possible cockroach infestation!

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            • #7
              LOL, Joseph glad you got a laugh out of that photo! When I saw his photos I couldn't believe what I was looking at. I figured a little humor would be OK here. But in all seriousness, I feel bad Erik had to open the box to see such a wreck of a machine. It is a shame how things get stored, then sold for high prices like it's gold. I had one of these a few years back. Overall I thought it was a cool projector, but nothing for anything too serious really. I sold it to someone who also collects projectors. I think I sold it for about $80 dollars, and that machine was like new.
              Erik if I remember these Eumig's are white in color? Yours appears to be yellow from the photos here. Or I assume it's from the bad life it experienced?
              Last edited by Shane C. Collins; February 03, 2022, 01:44 PM.

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              • #8
                Erik, If the plastic case is still in decent condition, I've seen a process where yellowed plastic can be restored back to pristine white like new. I believe they use a tank with hydrogen peroxide and a UV lamp to restore it back to white. There are tons of Youtube videos about this process online if this is of interest to you.

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                • #9
                  well, that lens, i have not yet disassembled it and seen of it it is okay. i suspect it also has been destroyed by fungus in the coating. as for the housing yes, they should be white. I have repaired an resold about 25 R 2000's in the last couple of years and they vary in whiteness very much. I have in my personal collection two examples, one is still nice and white and the other a bit yellowed.

                  most of the time much of the yellow comes off after a good clean because it is coated with nicotine but i have never atempted the Retrobright repair on the yelowed plastic.

                  and yes its a shame about that 10 euro's but thats ok, the parts that i'll take off of it will help other R2000's get repaired.

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