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Author Topic: Loud Century Intermittent Manny Knowles "What are these things and WHY are they BLUE???" Posts: 4247 From: Bloomington, IN, USA Registered: Feb 2002 posted 07-15-2003 04:11 PM                     One of my projectors has a noisy intermittent movement. It is louder compared with the others when they are all empty and this one gets even louder with film loaded and running. I know that this unit was allowed to run dry so I'm thinking that's got to be a factor but the image on-screen is very steady so I don't think it's been totally trashed. Is there any way to quiet this little fella down and nurse him back to health?  |  IP: Logged Sam Hunter Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 779 From: West Monroe, LA, USA Registered: Jan 2002 posted 07-15-2003 06:06 PM                     Never touched one of those models but like all things mechanical if you run it dry you messed up. It will not get any better but I guess you can hope it doesn't get worse. Maybe remove it and give it a good washing to maybe flush any fragments or gunk out will help. Lots o Luck.  |  IP: Logged Manny Knowles "What are these things and WHY are they BLUE???" Posts: 4247 From: Bloomington, IN, USA Registered: Feb 2002 posted 07-15-2003 06:10 PM                     I flushed it out with fresh oil until fragments stopped coming out and then filled it as normal. Fragments. Oy! Totally forgot about that. I guess this poor thing has been through the wringer. Still...I'm interested in hearing ideas if anybody thinks there is something I should try.  |  IP: Logged John Westlund Expert Film Handler Posts: 204 From: Burney, CA, USA Registered: Jun 2001 posted 07-15-2003 06:18 PM                     Im no expert here but I would have to say that once the damage is done there is not much that can be done about it. Can you describe the noise at all? I assume that this is an SA. If you look in the SA manual under intermittent movement it has the procedure to adjust the end play of the cam shaft and to adjust the spacing between the cam and star. The adjustment of the spacing between the cam and star should only need to be done when the movement is rebuilt. I would NOT suggest that you do this if you are at all unclear of what to do because you could really destroy the movement if the adjustments are wrong. I have also been wondering about those procedures and exactly how the pros here on film-tech do them. Sorry I wasnt much help. I know that Mark rebuilds these things so im sure he will have much more information then I do. P.S. One other thing that you could check is that the flywheel is secured in place. That can make the machine make a horrible noise as well.  |  IP: Logged Ken Layton Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1452 From: Olympia, Wash. USA Registered: Sep 1999 posted 07-15-2003 06:40 PM                     Try filing the intermittent with LaVezzi (synthetic) Intermittent Oil instead. Be sure to drain all the old oil out first.  |  IP: Logged Paul G. Thompson The Weenie Man Posts: 4718 From: Mount Vernon WA USA Registered: Nov 2000 posted 07-15-2003 06:46 PM                     Also check to see if the flywheel is securely attached.  |  IP: Logged Gordon McLeod Film God Posts: 9532 From: Toronto Ontario Canada Registered: Jun 99 posted 07-15-2003 06:52 PM                     Skip the synthetic shit I have had so many diffent oils from Lavezzi I have lost count What did the fragments look like? If it was jsut a thin trail of black powder I wouldn't sweat it. There are 2 adjustment screws on the face of the movement If you are daring and sure youare up to it rack the framer to the bottom thread up a loop of film loosen the screws that hold the cover on the movement there are 2 recessed screws at about the 2 oclock position tighten one in ans you are lossening the other the same amount it will either get louder and quieter. If you are going the wrong way reverse the direction then gently tighten down the case  |  IP: Logged John Westlund Expert Film Handler Posts: 204 From: Burney, CA, USA Registered: Jun 2001 posted 07-15-2003 06:52 PM                     I was just adding that to my post while you were posting I guess Paul .  |  IP: Logged Randy Stankey Film God Posts: 6539 From: Erie, Pennsylvania Registered: Jun 99 posted 07-15-2003 10:26 PM                     With the Century intermittents that I worked on, oil changing was KEY to keeping them happy. I did it at LEAST twice per year. More if I could get away with it. (Managers don't like to buy projector oil for some weird reason.) Unlike Simplex, et. al., they only have a few tablespoons full of oil in them. There is little room for error when monitoring the oil levels. With the others, as long as there's enough oil to squirt out the pipe at the top you're generally OK. Another thing is that the design of a Simplex allows any metal shavings and gunk to collect at the bottom of the sump where it will do relatively little harm. (I often wonder about the efficacy of placing a "cow magnet" down in the sump.) In a Century, a little bit of gunk has potential to do a lot more damage. When I change the oil in a Century I always drain the old oil, fill it up again, run the mechanism for a minute or two then drain and refill it again. It literally takes 5 squirts of a pump type oil can to fill one of those puppies. You won't waste that much oil. Besides, the amount of money spent on oil to flush out the gunk FAR outweighs the potential money spent if you have damage due to metal shavings inside the movement. (That's the argument I gave managers when they questioned me about my pracice of "wasting oil".) Regarding noisy intermittents: Notwithstanding the adjustment procedure that Gordon describes, some Centuries are noisier than others. I have seen some of them run so loudly you can hear the "clattering" noise down in the theater. The never missed a beat and they ran like that for weeks until the tech could get to the theater to fix them. (I wasn't a tech, myself, at that time.) Some of them have run for years, making a slight "clatter-clatter" sound as they go happily about their business. Other times, I have seen an appearently good intermittent which had never given a single sign of trouble melt down and die within a day. IMHO, if the thing isn't so noisy that it bothers customers and it otherwise behaves normally I would keep an eye on it and let it run. (DO flush it out, though!) If you are the cautious type, you could order another intermittent so you have one on hand in the event the thing takes a shit on you. Replace it ad libitum. (Since it was run dry, it is more likely to fail.) If you are the adventurous type, you could study up and take a crack at realigning it. That would be up to you, though.  |  IP: Logged Paul G. Thompson The Weenie Man Posts: 4718 From: Mount Vernon WA USA Registered: Nov 2000 posted 07-15-2003 11:52 PM                     Manny, the contamination you found in the oil might have been cigar ashes if you got the oil from a now-defunct theatre supply dealer in Minnesota.  |  IP: Logged Jack Ondracek Film God Posts: 2348 From: Port Orchard, WA, USA Registered: Oct 2002 posted 07-16-2003 01:05 AM                        Bad boy, Paul!  |  IP: Logged Paul G. Thompson The Weenie Man Posts: 4718 From: Mount Vernon WA USA Registered: Nov 2000 posted 07-16-2003 01:57 AM                     Jack, I got some that way....  |  IP: Logged Dick Prather Master Film Handler Posts: 259 From: Portland, OR, USA Registered: Feb 2002 posted 07-16-2003 03:53 AM                     Manny, If the movement was run dry for any length of time chances are the cam pin has a couple of flat spots on it. It may not be able to be quiet. Gordon has the instructions to adjust it. I would add to check the end play on both star and cam first. There should be none or just perceptible. Do not loosen the 5 cover screws very much to allow any case movement. Make your adjustment then stop the machine and check for sprocket movement at the 4 rest points. Tighten the 5 screws and check for movement again. Century intermittents can be a pain in the a-s. I do get better results adjusting them on the intermittent run-in stand while they are running.  |  IP: Logged System Notices Forum Watchdog / Soup Nazi Posts: 215 Registered: Apr 2004 posted 06-11-2005 02:27 PM                 It has been 696 days since the last post.  |  IP: Logged Dominic Espinosa Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1172 From: California, U.S.A. Registered: Jan 2004 posted 06-11-2005 02:27 PM                     Something I've been wondering about... Is there anything recommended for flushing these besides oil? Anything that one should run through them to completely remove all the gunk and junk, say in the event of changing the case seals? As for sound, it always amazes me how much they quiet down at the 500 hour oil change I try to give them.  |  IP: Logged

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