Author
|
Topic: And it wasn't even Saturday night!
|
Ian Price
Phenomenal Film Handler
![](/ubbmembers/14l.jpg)
Posts: 1714
From: Denver, CO
Registered: Jun 99
|
posted 11-02-2000 11:15 PM
So there I am enjoying a nice Chinese dinner at a local restaurant. My cell phone rings and it is my partner telling me that projector #5 is making loud noises like a tractor.I come in and feel the action of the projector and the projector jams every fourth movement of the intermittent. It turns backwards smoothly. Well, I guess there wasn't enough oil in the machine. He tells me that there wasn't any splashing on the glass in the back. (If you guessed simplex-XL, you are correct.) Well, I have downloaded the important parts of the manual from the Manuals section of Film-Tech. I have ordered a new intermittent assembly from my cinema supplier for Saturday delivery. Hopefully I can get it installed and running properly for our shows on Saturday. Wish me luck and if anybody has any tips or tricks let me know.
| IP: Logged
|
|
|
John Pytlak
Film God
![](http://www.film-tech.com/ubbmembers/331cap.gif)
Posts: 9987
From: Rochester, NY 14650-1922
Registered: Jan 2000
|
posted 11-03-2000 05:50 AM
If the intermittent has not completely "frozen", perhaps several changes of oil (to get rid of any metal debris generated while running nearly dry) would allow you to use it today (Friday), until you have the replacement in hand. If the movement is frozen, or the cam or starwheel was severely damaged, you're stuck until the replacement arrives.You've relearned an expensive lesson about the importance of checking the oil level on a regular basis, ideally, daily. ------------------ John P. Pytlak, Senior Technical Specialist Worldwide Technical Services, Entertainment Imaging Eastman Kodak Company Research Labs, Building 69, Room 7419 Rochester, New York, 14650-1922 USA Tel: 716-477-5325 Fax: 716-722-7243 E-Mail: john.pytlak@kodak.com
| IP: Logged
|
|
|
|
|
Steve Guttag
We forgot the crackers Gromit!!!
![](http://www.film-tech.com/ubbmembers/268e.gif)
Posts: 12814
From: Annapolis, MD
Registered: Dec 1999
|
posted 11-03-2000 09:53 AM
Ian,If there are any teeth missing or damaged on the intermittent drive gear (fibre), look in the sump to see if there are any pieces down there. Eventurally one will get sucked up through the strainer and get pumped around. Your intermittent can most probably be rebuilt to good or better than new condition. E-mail me if you are interested. Steve ------------------ "Old projectionists never die, they just changeover!"
| IP: Logged
|
|
Ian Price
Phenomenal Film Handler
![](/ubbmembers/14l.jpg)
Posts: 1714
From: Denver, CO
Registered: Jun 99
|
posted 11-03-2000 12:14 PM
My cinema supplier tells me that a rebuilt one is on its way for Saturday deliver. I get to send the old one back to him to be rebuilt.The intermittent is not compleatly frozen, John. But it hangs on every fourth rotation. So one star cam is messed up. We have a couple of slow films so we are doubling them up in one auditorium. Ah, the pleasures of a multiplex. We only have one film title that is raking in the dough (Best in Show) so that isn't affected. I might try your suggestion if I were deperate, but I don't want to trash the fiber gear just to rake in an extra $200.00 in Box Office. I suspect that the public will grouse about it but come to the later show. Nothing concetrates the mind like the spector of death or a busted intermittent.
| IP: Logged
|
|
Ian Price
Phenomenal Film Handler
![](/ubbmembers/14l.jpg)
Posts: 1714
From: Denver, CO
Registered: Jun 99
|
posted 11-04-2000 03:08 PM
So!I came into work this morning to wait for the UPS driver to bring me a new intermittent. My first show is at 1:00 PM. At 12:15 PM he arrives. I run upstairs with the new intermittent. I have already removed the old one. I try to put the new one in. It is a tight fit. I try tapping it with a hammer. Doesn't work. I wiggle it around and finally it seats. I tighten the screws, put oil in the beast and start up the motor. Ah! It runs like a sewing machine! I thread up the film and try to motor it along. No luck. What! The intermittent isn't driving the sprocket. I un-thread the machine. I open the back up and find two screw heads. I think where do these go? I grab the flywheel to see if it turns and it comes off in my hand. The screws that hold the flywheel on the shaft have sheared off and the shafts are in the threads. So I try to put the old intermittent back in because we are 5 minutes past show time and there is a paying audience in there. But it doesn't work. It is loud and shaky and since I didn't get a chance to adjust the shutter there is a mean travel ghost. I refund the show and there I am. I am going to try to use my drill to back out the screw shafts. Wish me luck.
| IP: Logged
|
|
|
Ian Price
Phenomenal Film Handler
![](/ubbmembers/14l.jpg)
Posts: 1714
From: Denver, CO
Registered: Jun 99
|
posted 11-04-2000 03:57 PM
So, the business partner's boyfriend shows up and says, “Hey lets just back these screws out using a Q-Tip.” So he does just that.I use the old screws from the old intermittent and put the new one back in. I timed the shutter and it looks like we are good to go. We should re-title this thread... How a Q-Tip saved the Intermittent from a Meatball with a Hammer!
| IP: Logged
|
|
|
|
|
|