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Author Topic: Oil leaking from Vic 8r Glen Rich Film Handler Posts: 55 From: Nedlands, Western Australia Registered: Feb 2002 posted 10-03-2002 07:53 PM                     We run Cinemeccanica Vic 8r's in both cinema's,(four serial numbers apart).They,(if you look),have an air breather hole behind the intermittant sprocket's shaft protector. In C2 the hole regularly fills with oil,causing pressure build up in the head to the point that oil is pushed out through the seals creating an unholy mess. In C1 we never have the problem. The solution to date is to take off the intermittant sprocket,the shaft protector,and gently poke a length of wire or solder up the hole to clear the blockage,which solves the oil leak for days and somtimes weeks. Does somebody know how to fix this little problem ?  |  IP: Logged Rick Long Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 759 From: Toronto, Ontario, Canada Registered: Nov 1999 posted 10-03-2002 08:23 PM                     Prevosts used to have this problem on excessive down-ward projection angles. Is the angle of projection on both machines approximately the same?  |  IP: Logged John Walsh Film God Posts: 2490 From: Connecticut, USA, Earth, Milky Way Registered: Oct 1999 posted 10-03-2002 09:57 PM                     Could using too-thick oil (oil that get too thick because water leaks in or the projector head gets too hot) cause this?  |  IP: Logged Glen Rich Film Handler Posts: 55 From: Nedlands, Western Australia Registered: Feb 2002 posted 10-03-2002 10:31 PM                     The pitch angle on both projectors is almost flat,(horizontal). We use T60 turbine oil,which is the recommended oil by cinemeccanica. It does'nt seem to be an oil problem.  |  IP: Logged Ken McFall Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 615 From: Haringey, London. Registered: Apr 2001 posted 10-04-2002 04:48 AM                     I doubt it's air pressure building up as you suggest. All of the shafts have a return hole below them. If you use a length of wire and gently probe you will find them. The cause is generally a build up of muck around the shafts and in the well. Fluff etc on the shaft holds the oil. As it seems to clear up when you unblock the return hole it may just be a rapid build up.... how often do you have to clear it?  |  IP: Logged Glen Rich Film Handler Posts: 55 From: Nedlands, Western Australia Registered: Feb 2002 posted 10-04-2002 11:18 AM                     We clean out the one hole intermitantly,(no pun intended).That solves the problem from either hours to a week or more.  |  IP: Logged Paul Whitaker Film Handler Posts: 2 From: Dromana, Victoria, Australia Registered: May 2001 posted 06-07-2003 09:44 PM                        Hello, I own & run a triple Drive-In, south of Melbourne, Australia. Recently purchased 2 more Vic 8's (4 in all) from a closed Drive-In in Townsville. On 2 occasions now, one of them has decided to pump out ALL the oil in approx. 1 to 2 hours. The first time was about 4 months ago, then last night. Having re-filled, it seems to have stopped leaking. It comes out with the water inlet & outlet pipe openings at rear of head. (not in water). It is also pooling in bottom of shutter housing (really messy with dust etc.) Looking thru the sight glass opening, dosent seem to be dribbling down from the shutter shaft. Any ideas would be appreciated. Someone once said that too much vaccuume in lamphouse (strong) could suck the oil out (or was that another brand of projector ?) If interested, some pics of our establishment at http://drivein.net.au Thanks Paul Whitaker.  |  IP: Logged Ken McFall Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 615 From: Haringey, London. Registered: Apr 2001 posted 06-08-2003 05:37 AM                     It's unlikly that it's a vacume problem sucking the oil out.... have to one one hell of a strong ventilation system to do that. I'm sure it's still just a build up of muck around the shafts. I was given a tip by Nigel Shaw which helped me out. Remove the sprokets and the oil fill cap and fit a vacume cleaner nozzle over the shaft mounting, making as good a seal as possible..... then turn it on! This will suck out any muck from the draining holes rather than pushing it into the mech by rodding the holes. Do this to all of the shafts, including the intermittent. As for the shutter shaft... I'm not sure if it has an oil return hole or not. I doubt it as if the projector had a positive rake it would be useless. The chances are that the shutter housing and shutter itself have not been removed in many years, if ever, becuase it's not an easy job. There is a good chance that there is a lot of muck in there and this could be drawing oil out of the shaft. It's worth spending a morning cleaning the whole shutter housing. While you're in there check the damping springs on the shutter shaft for proper operation. They should allow the shutter some movement but it should always return to the middle position on it's own. There could easily be a leak on the back panel seal around where the gate cooling fan is mounted. If so oil can be blowen along the airway behind the gate which may account for oil in the shutter housing. Hope this helps. Regards Ken.  |  IP: Logged Paul Trimboli Master Film Handler Posts: 274 From: Perth Western Australia Registered: Dec 2002 posted 06-08-2003 07:35 AM                     Hello Glen. What cinema do you work for? I work for the Picadilly and we run Vic 8's and have oil leaking problems,all of our projectors had oil catch trays we have made to stop oil getting onto the slit lens,we just had the head in cinema 3 rebuilt and it run perfectly and no more leaking oil, cinema one has also stoped and now cinema 2 has to be rubuilt which leaks the most oil, well gushes is a better word, it is teriable!  |  IP: Logged Ron Lacheur Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 650 From: British Columbia, Canada Registered: Feb 2002 posted 06-08-2003 03:52 PM                     The place I used to work at the Vic 8's used to leak pretty bad. I remember walking over to #1 and there was a pool of oil on the floor. Then the tech came and changed out the cardboard from underneath the projector and that " should stop it ". hahah.  |  IP: Logged Ken McFall Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 615 From: Haringey, London. Registered: Apr 2001 posted 06-08-2003 04:23 PM                     To be fair to the Vic 8 it's a 'real' machine and all machines will leak a few drops from time to time so don't blame them all for the experiences of a few. The problems discussed all have a cause and a solution. There are no 'seals' as such to change and most of it comes down to routine maintenance and cleaning. Unfortunatly it's not the easiest of machines to get to all of the parts to keep clean. Oil levels are a culperate in many cases, so you should only fill to the red dot in the sight glass when the machine is not running. As long as the top glass is full when running there is enough oil in the sump. Filling it to the red dot when running is wrong!! Overfil and you are asking for leaks.... but only from the lower shafts which may be submerged in oil. The other shafts are never submerged so the problmes from the upper shafts are not down to over filling. The rear panel only has a thin gasket to seal it and, even when new, if the plate is not tightened in the correct order then it too will leak. I have used instant gasket in the past on Vic 4's and 8's with good results. Vic 4's always had a bad reputation for leaking yet I was able to stop it with just a little effort. The same applies to the Vic 8's. It's never easy over the net to diagnose and cure a problem without hands on information, however start with a clean machine and you have a firm basis for finding the solution. So clean the whole mech especially the shutter housing.... check that you are using the correct oil. check the correct level. check the oil return holes are not blocked. check the screw in 'cup' around the intermittent shaft. These are never normally removed so should not leak. However it is possible it's worked lose. It's not an expensive part so change it if you like. Remember it's only a cup to allow the oil to pool around the return hole and it's not an actual seal around the shaft as there is a gap between it and the shaft. The thread is the only seal around the cup so it's worth checking that it's tight. Hope this all makes some sense.  |  IP: Logged Stan Gunn Expert Film Handler Posts: 176 From: Clematis, in the hills near Melbourne Australia Registered: Aug 2000 posted 06-09-2003 01:46 AM                        It is known for vic8s to leak oil from the shutter shaft with a high air flow through the lamp. The fix is to make sure the oil return is clear and to reduce the air flow through the shutter housing. What a beutifull machine they are, second only to a KALEE.  |  IP: Logged Paul Trimboli Master Film Handler Posts: 274 From: Perth Western Australia Registered: Dec 2002 posted 06-09-2003 07:19 AM                     Hello Stan Our projector leak from the shutter shaft just as you say and in cinema 2 for the reason that their is too much air flow to the lamp. Being new at projection I could be wrong but most machines do not allow you to take the whole gate out and slide the lens foward!? Vic 8's (and other Cinemecanicas) allow you to do this and makes for very easy cleaning, I love them and they have a such a great threading pattern, and making the loop sizes just right makes them run fairly quiet I found.  |  IP: Logged Paul Whitaker Film Handler Posts: 2 From: Dromana, Victoria, Australia Registered: May 2001 posted 06-09-2003 08:57 AM                        Hi All, - Gee that livened up a leaky topic ! Thanks for all the good advice Ken, Ron, Paul & Stan who I know - lives fairly close to here. Will follow the cleaning suggestions - and I wonder if the strange weather conditions (very low barometric pressure, very high winds, closed windows), and a strong exhaust system, coupled with oil level too high, dirty vents etc. and a 'snoot'that WAS making a good seal. Time will tell. Yes, wholehartedly agree about the Rolls Royce of Projectors (till you slip in the flood of oil!) Paul.  |  IP: Logged

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