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This topic comprises 2 pages: 1 2
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Author
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Topic: Equipment Modifications!
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Christopher Meredith
Expert Film Handler
Posts: 126
From: Jackson, MS, USA
Registered: Apr 2006
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posted 02-20-2007 10:10 PM
I bet with all the handy guys (and girls!) around here, there must be a lot of us who have performed modifications on certain equipment, whether they be minor adjustments or major overhauls. I also thought it would be good to have a thread to demonstrate the little helpful things we've done so that other might be able to benefit from them.
So here goes:
First up, I was having a problem with the auto-stop arm on our Kelmar rewind benches. Seems we have a couple of house reels that were beg enough to drag against the auto-stop roller when it was in the down position. I fixed the problem by moving the bumper up about an inch and a half. The new mount location can be seen above the old one:
Next is the 3-drive DTS upgrade. This pretty much comes straight from the howto but rather than do the DVD drive upgrade, I just added a third TEAC drive like the ones that were already installed. Simply setting the jumpers and using one of the 3-drive cables provided by DTS in the drive upgrade kit worked like a charm. Rather than cut the blank mounting plate to length, I cut it in one place then bent it to fit. That way, no jagged edges and then the short piece that bends back actually mounts to the third drive. The flash makes it look more angled than it actually is.
The next exhibit is more of a curiosity. Our tech rescued a pair of Christie FC-1 film cleaners from a theater in Dallas he was helping close. We already had 3 Kelmars and with these addition, that gives us 5 film cleaners for 10 screens. Yay! The only downsides were that the Christies move much slower (a pain, but they still work fine), and they had the old, annoying screw-on caps and no easy way to attach and detach from the mounting brackets. So we retrofitted them with the latest and greatest Kelmar parts. Notice the cool, easy-off caps and mounting bolt.
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Scott Norwood
Film God
Posts: 8146
From: Boston, MA. USA (1774.21 miles northeast of Dallas)
Registered: Jun 99
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posted 02-21-2007 07:52 AM
This isn't a modification as such, but I just switched from standard 90-degree shutters to 100-degree shutters (part BD-1466 from Wolk) on my Centurys. In return for a slight loss of light, I've completely eliminated all possibility of shutter ghosting. Now, I can turn the adjustment knob nearly a full revolution before seeing any ghosting at the top or bottom of the screen, even on a small screen with a high light level.
I definitely recommend this to anyone who can afford a bit of light loss, especially if the equipment is being operated by people who can't tell the difference between the "focus" knob and the "shutter" knob.
As for modifications, one that I've seen (but cannot take credit for) involved replacing the roller shafts on the payout side of an AW3 with 70mm shafts and mounting two 35mm rollers on each. This allows simultaneous payout from two decks and, along with a few extra interlock rollers, allows one to easily move prints from one cinema to another in a multiplex, without risk of scratching the platter decks with clamps or cookie sheets.
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Christopher Meredith
Expert Film Handler
Posts: 126
From: Jackson, MS, USA
Registered: Apr 2006
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posted 02-21-2007 08:43 AM
The next one is an idea I got from Brad, who apparently did this a while back. This is the Strong/Christie hybrid brain. My theater has two houses which were designed in such a way that the platters are over 15 feet away from the projectors and since we use all-Strong equipment, that meant that the film would drag on the floor if we didn't use intermediary rollers. I preferred the simpler (relatively) route. This also makes the film cleaner much more effective and prevents DTS dropouts! (BTW, I need to make another one of these if someone wants to send me some old, battle-worn Christie parts brains!)
I had to reposition this roller to prevent the film from slipping off the big Christie roller when the film was paying directly into the control arm with no tension on it.
The next two are pretty simple. First, we decided to drain out all the projector oil and replace it with automatic transmission fluid. In addition to the convenience of never needing to be changed, it has the extra added benefit of actually cleaning out the gears and mechanisms. The mystical cleansing power was noticed on one of my projectors which had a leaky intermittent. Where it had been leaking dirty oil into the operator side and leaving a black grimy mess, when it was cranked up with ATF inside it, after the first few runs, the ATF leak had actually cleaned off the built-up residue from the oil leak. (BTW, the leak is fixed now ![[Wink]](wink.gif) )
Lastly, I posted this a few months ago, but I decided to replace those PITA oil drain valves with these new ones which have a simple ball valve and a quick-connect for a tube to make draining oil quick and painless. This is kind of ironic considering the fact that, with ATF in there, these should never need to be used until the day the projectors are decomissioned in favor a their digital replacements. ![[Frown]](frown.gif)
So, how about it? What other little things are out there? I for one am interested to see what everyone else has done.
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