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Author Topic: Vic-8 Intermittent Rebuild Mark Gulbrandsen Resident Trollmaster Posts: 16657 From: Music City Registered: Jun 99 posted 11-10-2010 09:59 AM                     Perhaps Demetris can answer this since I hear through the grapevine that he is now field service manager for Cinemecanica... or anyone else out there that has ever rebuilt a VIC-8 intermittent? I have a customer with one that is really getting to sound like a hammer on an anvil when it is running as well as a pronounced picture bounce when running a good piece of RP-40... Not sure if it is worth the cost of the parts which are approaching the 2K USD realm for a new star and cam. How difficult is it do rebuild these puppies? Thanks! Mark  |  IP: Logged Randy Bowden Expert Film Handler Posts: 146 From: Portland, OR, USA Registered: Aug 2000 posted 11-11-2010 12:59 AM                     Like all Cinemeccanica's it's pretty much a time consuming PITA!!! I would expect both the star and cam to be in need of replacement. The gear that drives the cam is taper pinned in place. Once you get past the challenge of driving that pin out, you have an even bigger challenge of removing the old grear from the cam without damage. So that's why I almost always replace the cam when I do one of these, it's just easier to. The starwheel replacement requires fitting the star to the sprocket shaft and then drilling a hole and driving a metric roll pin in. I don't have a vic-8 tester head so I use my v-4 and it works ok, but requires me to keep a close eye on the darn thing due to the manual oil pump. Anyone have a V-8 they wanna give away? It seem like just about everything on the Cinemeccanica intermittents requires a custom fit on your part. Any modern made American intermittent is a piece of cake compared to these things.  |  IP: Logged Louis Bornwasser Film God Posts: 4441 From: prospect ky usa Registered: Mar 2005 posted 11-11-2010 05:09 AM                        As usual, the answer is not repair. Buy another head for parts. Better still. . . .replace with any number of decent used heads (Century or Simplex) something that might have avilability into the future. Louis  |  IP: Logged Gordon McLeod Film God Posts: 9532 From: Toronto Ontario Canada Registered: Jun 99 posted 11-11-2010 06:21 AM                     I would keep a cinemecanica running ahead of simplex or century  |  IP: Logged Sam D. Chavez Film God Posts: 2153 From: Martinez, CA USA Registered: Aug 2003 posted 11-11-2010 09:44 AM                       Us Yanks never took to the Italian projectors as much as our neighbors to the North. Harkins was the last major customer to buy them. We had plenty of problems getting a still picture and it was the hardest soundhead to get good analog sound due to sloppy sound drums and those awful adjustable beam width sound lens. Apart from that, they were great. A swap to American projector and sound head is anything but routine though.  |  IP: Logged Louis Bornwasser Film God Posts: 4441 From: prospect ky usa Registered: Mar 2005 posted 11-12-2010 05:39 AM                        The future will mean that "unusual" projectors will just be harder and harder to deal with. Does this cinema require 70mm? Is it better off to have something that can be repaired easily? Perhaps a simple Century SA is the answer. "Unusual" projectors will perish along with their spares. It is not like this is expensive. You could probably get a good used SA for about what that intermittent would cost. I have been "normalizing" equipment for decades. Louis  |  IP: Logged Steve Guttag We forgot the crackers Gromit!!! Posts: 12814 From: Annapolis, MD Registered: Dec 1999 posted 11-12-2010 06:34 AM                     I wouldn't call Cinemecannica or the V8 unusual. They are less prevalent (as compared to a Century JJ) in the USA but not as a world-wide statement. Cinemeccanica has been around quite a while and their projectors have had a reasonable amount of production. The V8 has been in production a long time and there are many "similar" machines to it too (Prevost and the like). One thing the Century JJ has going for it is that it shares a great many parts with its 35mm cousins and that Century hasn't changed a great many parts over the years. Steve  |  IP: Logged Randy Bowden Expert Film Handler Posts: 146 From: Portland, OR, USA Registered: Aug 2000 posted 11-12-2010 09:26 AM                     And then there's Lavezzi's recent announcement that, with the exception of special orders, they will cease manufacturing of all film related components by the end of this month.  |  IP: Logged Mark Gulbrandsen Resident Trollmaster Posts: 16657 From: Music City Registered: Jun 99 posted 11-14-2010 06:48 PM                     Thanks for all the replies... been outta town for a while. I will probably just look for a parts machine to salvage a movement from, only has to run a few more years at best. I agree with Steve that these are not that odd a machine... General Enema also installed lots of them back in the 80's. They are built like a tank and at the end of filum projector manufacturing they may well be the last filum projector manufacturer STILL standing! This one has been in service since 1963! I think the movement deserves to be a bit noisy... Mark  |  IP: Logged Steve Guttag We forgot the crackers Gromit!!! Posts: 12814 From: Annapolis, MD Registered: Dec 1999 posted 11-14-2010 07:47 PM                     Mark...all kidding aside...it will be Kinoton as the last film projector standing making new machines...particularly 35/70s  |  IP: Logged Mark Gulbrandsen Resident Trollmaster Posts: 16657 From: Music City Registered: Jun 99 posted 11-15-2010 02:43 AM                     I seriously doubt it Steve... they are somewhat dependent on the studios and special venue for buisness and the studios will have discarded those Kintons in favor of digital projection in not too long a time. Cinemecanica sells three times more digital projectors in Europe than does Kinoton. The Viccy 5 is still the most popular projector over there as well as in South America. 70mm... ha? There won't be a single place to process and print 70mm release prints once Imax ceases to use it... in the very near future. So I will still maintain that COinemecanica will be the last film projector manufacturer standing to offer new film projectors. Mark  |  IP: Logged Steve Guttag We forgot the crackers Gromit!!! Posts: 12814 From: Annapolis, MD Registered: Dec 1999 posted 11-15-2010 05:33 AM                     Actually, Kinoton's film projector production is still going strong...more so than Cinemeccanica...even to mainstream cinemas. I don't know where you get your information on Cinemeccancia's digital or film equipment numbers.  |  IP: Logged Marin Zorica Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 671 From: Biograd na Moru, Croatia Registered: May 2003 posted 11-15-2010 09:24 AM                     It's sure V8 is not odd or bad, I did service number of them and newer had any bad issues, to be honest I newer open head case for any of problems. As for soundhead....don't know why is so hard to align? I can align analog + digital if reverse scan in a time, same with normal soundhead with slit optics. If HF rasponse is bad, you can use newer type of slit lens, they just fit in case. So Mark I would definitly go to repair, or if you could get some secound hand unit to replace. As for this Cinemeccanica/Kinoton revial, I was wonder also how much 35mm machines they make. Also, it is worth to buy Cinemecc or Kinoton DLP, when you have very compact DLP solution from Sony, Nec, Barco or Christie let's say, at end, Barco is in both Kinoton or Cinemeccanica.  |  IP: Logged Sam D. Chavez Film God Posts: 2153 From: Martinez, CA USA Registered: Aug 2003 posted 11-15-2010 02:46 PM                       I believe Cinemeccanica sells more 35mm projectors world-wide than Kinoton. Prevost sold quite a few last year as well and I know this as I supply them a key component.  |  IP: Logged Mark Gulbrandsen Resident Trollmaster Posts: 16657 From: Music City Registered: Jun 99 posted 11-15-2010 03:10 PM                     Got my info from Demetris who now works for Cinemeccanica as a field tech.  |  IP: Logged

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