I am going to do maintenance on a pizza parlor projection equipment. And Get Paid For It!

They want me to do some maintenance on their Century SA with an R4 soundhead, ORC platter (model yet unknown,) a Kneisley Xenex II lamphouse (size yet unknown,) and general cleaning of the heat sinks on their Smart sound system with JBL power amps.

Today, I watched the operator thread-up, noticing that his leader was on the floor, and he was stepping all over it while we talked... He has heard of FilmGuard and wants me to get a bottle.

My question here is: Help! I know how to clean a Holmes, but it is not a real projector like the SA/R4. I think that the theatre does not have anything to use for cleaning, and I am sure that the projector has not been oiled or maintained. I bet he has no oil for the intermittent there either.

Since I have WebTV, I cant download any of the manuals here on Film-Tech, so can you guys enlighten me on the SA? I am told that it's a good machine. I turned it over by hand, and other than a tic in the intermittent (low on oil) it is smooth. There is another SA sitting here. Dont know if it has been cannabalized or not.
They want a couple of hours of work on this. Got any suggestions what I should charge? Please be realistic. This is a small town, an old abandoned theatre, with a leaky roof-patch job under-way. I sure dont want to price myself out of a hopefully good situation here.

I have all the basic tools. I dont know if they have any sprockets or anything like that. This machine was installed around 1971. Someone has worked on it. There is a fairly new motor on it.

When this theatre was open years ago, it was the Merrimon Twin. I knew all the people that worked there. But this is the first time that I have actually touched the set-up.

The owner seemed relieved that I came in and offered to help.

I have a feeling that this theatre is the place that the 2nd run houses send all their junky prints. The owner said that he rarely gets a decent print of anything, and just has to run what he gets.

After watching the threading, I think they need help. Not a projectionist, but help.

I appreciate any information that I might get here. Thanks in Advance!!

Find out what the make and model all the booth equipment is, and I can compile all the manuals onto a CDROM. Then I'll just regular-mail it to you.

-That Kniesly lamphouse has a GLASS reflector in it. Be very carefull with this thing, it is fragile. Don't open the lamhouse for several minutes after the lamp has been on. The sudden inrush of cold air can crack the reflector. However that glass reflector puts out a very nice light.
-Double check the lamphouse working distance (I think that it is 34" for that particular setup, but I could be wrong) and alignment

Since Jon B. talked about the visual side of things, I'll mention the audio side.

I don't know your skill level, so if this is old-hat...maybe someone else will benefit.

Not knowing the exact models of the sound equipment, it seems you have at least a center-surround system. A good a-chain can made a tremendous difference in the sound you hear in the auditorium. You'll need a two channel oscilloscope (20MHz minimum if I remember correctly) and preferably a real time analyzer (RTA). You'll also need some test film loops (at a minimum): Dolby tone, Buzz track, Cross talk, and pink noise. Most good sound system installation manuals contain a step by step a-chain procedure (for the general procedure use a Dolby manual, they are great with lots of illustrations). On a new account I like to check the b-chain as well. This will require the RTA, a calibrated microphone (there are also multi-mic systems available) and a pink noise generator.

Before you present a price to your prospective client, make sure you have had a chance to read the a-chain and b-chain procedures. They are not five minute jobs if done properly. And if you are new to this, you can expect to spend a fair amount of time "playing" to get a feel for how things need to be.

Good luck!

John: If I got the CD ROM, what could I run it on?

As for the scope. I have a nice B&K Dual-trace scope here

The theatre has nothing in house in the form of oil, or spare parts, except for a junked SA, and it is missing its intermittent.

I dont have any test-loops, etc. either.

This job is going to be interesting if I end up doing it.

I have no intentions of attempting any adjustments of the sound lens, or the xenon lamp. Since I have no test films, I wouldn't do that anyway.

The projector in question is filthy. It needs a thorough cleaning and oiling. It has not been oiled in almost a year, according to the owner. They play 2 shows a day when they have 35mm--which is about one-fourth of the schedule.

I know that the intermittent sprocket is hooked. I plan to reverse the other sprockets as well.

The sound is fairly decent in the theatre. There is not much for me to do here.

As I said before, there is very little money available for this work. There is not even any Century Oil in the place! I think that the cleaning and the oiling should make things run better.

I PROMISE to never adjust anything that I do not thoroughly understand.

I found this out the hard way in 1981 when I loosened the sound lens on my old Eiki 16. Cost me $$$ to fix, and is to this day the most expensive repair I ever had to make on my 16mm anything! (Oh yeah, I tightened the lens sooo tight that I cracked it!)

I remembered all of this when I rebuilt the two Holmes 8's, and the Holmes Educator. I didn't break/crack anything. They are decent machines, but not Century's!