Help Identify this Projector (and how do I open it?)

[Simon Silk]

The two cassettes in the picture are very early video cassettes for the philips N1500/N1700 players and date from the 1970s and pre date VHS & betamax. It would be interesting to know what recordings are on them but good luck finding a working player.

They're all hand labelled. One of them is dated 1978. One of them says "The Supremes". I'm assuming the band. Don't know much beyond that about the tapes.

[Simon Silk]

Mystery Solved!





It is a Japanese CINEMAX-8GF RS. Circa 1960s maybe.

Here is a Youtube video of one in action.

I undid the screws at the top and bottom of the fixed side of the case and it popped off. revealing the innards if anyone is interested:





But I still couldn't see how the other side was supposed to open. So I took a gamble and wrapped the black knob in a rag, then grabbed it with plyers and gave it a harder turn. It turned further than before, and the case seemed to loosen a bit, but on further turning it started to bind again. That made me think it was one of those 90 or 180 degree to open types and that maybe the receptacle it latches in had broken. Making it rotate through closed/almost-open/closed-again. But I gave it another turn anyway and it came a bit looser before binding again. So I just kept going in the same direction and eventually the cover popped off!

Once it did I could see the issue:




That's the threaded retainer bolt the black knob is attached to and it's got a couple of distinct kinks in it. I wonder if somebody dropped this cover one time and it got damaged. Anyway, that would explain the binding for part of each full rotation, as well as the fact that the case seemed to shuffle side to side as I was turning that knob.

Some more pics for those who are interested:








I have a few more questions now:

1. Referring back to the first picture set I uploaded, what's the appropriate power cord type to insert into the receptacle on this thing if I want to power it up? It's a little bit like this one I found on eBay, but that one is rounded (this one is a rectangle) and that one does not have that GND pin in the middle top. There is an archived listing of the same projector here that shows the cord, but not clearly enough to learn much more about it.
2. If I can't find the right power cable, and I want to jury rig something, does anyone know if that receptacle is polarized? As highlighted above, the brass pin I identified identified in the power receptacle before I got this opened appears to be for something like chassis grounding. Other than that, I can't tell if the wiring to the transformer etc is of the type that would care if the polarity is reversed.
3. I don't plan on doing any kind of serious restoration, but I figured I'd carefully vacuum out any obvious loose dust and debris while it's open. I also noticed that some of the gears and chains have what looks like some very old brown grease on them. Should I try to wipe that off and put some fresh grease on? If so, will any old generic grease do? The only thing I have on hand is some bicycle bearing grease. Local selection here is limited.
4. How careful do I need to be with the actual film that was in this? It was partly unspooled when opened so I spooled it back up. I assume it's not super sensitive to light etc., but just wondering if there are any special precautions. I was just planning on putting it back in the case and returning it to the owner.


Thanks again for all the advice so far.

[Simon Silk]

Close up of the bolt that keeps the user-removable cover in place:



You can see two distinct inflections in the bolt, one at the second narrow section up from the knob, and the second around where the threads start. Given the damage to the case visible in the first set of pictures I shared, I think the whole project was dropped quite hard while the case was bolted in place, and that caused the damage to the knob, making it hard to turn.

[Maurice Leakey]

Simon
Regarding the power cord connector.
As the projector is Japanese made perhaps it's a Type A Japanese Plug.
Have a look at this.
It might fit, or be made to fit.
RS PRO IEC C7 Socket to Type A Japanese Plug Power Cord, 2m | RS (rs-online.com)

[Simon Silk]

Simon
Regarding the power cord connector.
As the projector is Japanese made perhaps it's a Type A Japanese Plug.
Have a look at this.
It might fit, or be made to fit.
RS PRO IEC C7 Socket to Type A Japanese Plug Power Cord, 2m | RS (rs-online.com)

Thanks for the suggestion. It's definitely not that type of cord on the projector end. Here is another close up with approximate dimensions:



The brass peg at the top is in the middle and is about 3mm long.

[Joerg Polzfusz]

The question is: Is the brass peg the „ground“ (and hence a third connector)? Or is it just something mechanical to hold the plug in place?

Maybe you should contact https://van-eck.net/ as they have got several „exotic“ power cords? Or Tak Kohyama from Retro8 as he‘s also selling spare parts and might know these Japanese plugs?!

[Phil Moors]

Simon, it is certainly an item of interest. The biggest downside being the low specification. With only a 50w bulb and a 1.6 lens
any image would be very dull and not very bright at all. If Super 8 is something you want to get into I would invest in a higher spec machine. If you just want it as a novelty it is fine to view a couple of old films it is ok. Best of luck with it.

[Simon Silk]

The question is: Is the brass peg the „ground“ (and hence a third connector)? Or is it just something mechanical to hold the plug in place?

Maybe you should contact https://van-eck.net/ as they have got several „exotic“ power cords? Or Tak Kohyama from Retro8 as he‘s also selling spare parts and might know these Japanese plugs?!

Thanks for the suggestion. I'll see if they have something appropriate.

If you scroll back up to the close up image I showed of the socket with the rear cover removed (picture with the green arrow), you can see that brass pin connects to a triangle or brass or copper, which in turn contacts a metal strap that straps the socket to the chassis metal. So it looks like it's expected to serve a chassis grounding type role.

[Simon Silk]

Simon, it is certainly an item of interest. The biggest downside being the low specification. With only a 50w bulb and a 1.6 lens
any image would be very dull and not very bright at all. If Super 8 is something you want to get into I would invest in a higher spec machine. If you just want it as a novelty it is fine to view a couple of old films it is ok. Best of luck with it.

Understood. I'd say it's more novelty on my friend's behalf since it's an old unit belonging to his father. Not looking to get any extended use out of it. Thought it would be neat to power it up once to see if it still runs, but the cord looks tricky to figure out and I'm not sure that's worth it.

[Maurice Leakey]

Simon
I suggest you consider fitting a standard IEC chassis mounted inlet 3-pin plug. To replace your existing inlet plug.
That way you can use the standard IEC lead, commonly known as a "kettle connector" lead.
Also, if you wish you can connect the earth pin to somewhere convenient on the projector.
RS PRO C14 Panel Mount IEC Connector Male, 10A, 250 V | RS (rs-online.com)

[Simon Silk]

Simon
I suggest you consider fitting a standard IEC chassis mounted inlet 3-pin plug. To replace your existing inlet plug.
That way you can use the standard IEC lead, commonly known as a "kettle connector" lead.
Also, if you wish you can connect the earth pin to somewhere convenient on the projector.
RS PRO C14 Panel Mount IEC Connector Male, 10A, 250 V | RS (rs-online.com)

Thanks for the suggestion. This is probably easier than tracking down a period-appropriate cord.

Looking at the mains input on this unit...



... The existing socket hads three nodes. One is the brass pin I mentioned previously which connects to the metal strap over the top and from there to the chassis. So I'm assuming that's earth/ground.

The other two nodes connect to a green wire on the left of the socket and blue on the right.

The green wire then goes to a large round variable resistor that connects to the speed adjustment knob, and from there to to a linear variable resistor that appears to be permanently fixed rather than user-adjusted. Then finally it goes to the transformer's "0V" node.

The blue wire goes to the back side of the main knob that I'll call a mode knob (off, motor, lamp, etc.). That part then connects over to the mains voltage adjustment device, which then has connections to the transformer's 100V, 110V, etc nodes.

Based on all this, it seems pretty safe to assume the green is return and blue is hot. So if I replace with an IEC socket like you suggested, and wire its return node to the green and hot node to blue, that should work.

Any thoughts on the above?

Thanks again.

[Maurice Leakey]

I think we can assume that the blue wire goes to the "live" pin of the inlet plug, the green goes to the "neutral" pin, and the brass pin connection goes to "Earth".
Looking at the picture of the male connector I show above, the terminals are as follows:-
Left is Live. Right is Neutral, and Top is Earth.
UK Mains Plug to IEC C13 Socket Lead, 6A, 0.75m - Pro Elec | CPC (farnell.com)
Here is a kettle lead. I believe Zambia uses this UK type plug.