Replace Eiki belts

[Zsolt Boros]

Hello dear Members, do you know the original size (diameter, diameter outer, inner diameter) of the Eiki belts ST-12181 (motor & reverse belts) and ST-13151 (supply & take up arm belts) in measurement Inch or Metric ? I would like to replace o-rings belts on Eiki NT. Which material is the best to chose for resistance and flexibility? Thank you

[Juergen Kellermann]

You don't need to make the belts yourself. There are quite a lot of original EIKI parts still for sale.

For example, on eBay...
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fro...+belt&_sacat=0

Or from Larry Urbanski or Richard Burgess. Especially Richard stocks many original EIKI parts and also services projectors. Send them an email what exactly you need and I am sure they will reply...
https://www.urbanskifilm.com/projectors.html
http://www.rcsclassic16mm.com

[Zsolt Boros]

I would like to buy existing o-ring in specialized shops in France. Belt size and material could be very useful to find easily the right model.

[Juergen Kellermann]

But remember that O-rings are originally designed to be seals for tubes and pipes - they are not belts. O-rings are not designed to move at high speed or be stretched between pulleys, i.e. they might deteriorate or break more quickly than proper projector belts, such as the ones that I suggested.

[Emiel de Jong]

In my experience o-rings work fine as (temporary) replacement for the motor belt and the other short one inside the machine, but not for the long belts in the reel arms: when rewinding full reels they stretch so much they get themselves between pulley and housing. I guess when you don't rewind on the projector (using rewinds is better anyway) you get away with them. But using proper belts is always better of course.

[Zsolt Boros]

Thank you for your advices. My question if you know the dimensions precisely and the best material to use for belts?

[Juergen Kellermann]

I think the material of the round belts might be polyurethane? Other people might know more.
Not sure about the toothed belt and where you can get that material.

For my 35mm projectors, I got belts made in a factory that repairs escalators. They could make the belts to the dimensions I gave them.

You can find service manuals for EIKI projectors in the WAREHOUSE section on this website. But none of them probably gives you the exact dimensions of the belts, as dealers would just keep EIKI-produced spares available and did not need to make them themselves.

There is also some other general servicing information available here...
http://www.reeldeals.com.au/eiki/eiki.htm
https://www.acofs.org.au/part_4_files/Eiki/Eiki.htm

Van Eck in the Netherlands also sells spares, manuals and replacement parts (some of them newly manufactures or 3D printed)...
https://van-eck.net/en/spare-part-fi...k=49&type=NT-1
(Maybe this is closer to France than the US.)

[Mark Gulbrandsen]

If you want to know the exact specs of the original belt, then you would have to buy an original Eiki belt to measure. Aside from size, don't forget to measure the elastometric character, or how stretchy the rubber is.

[Zsolt Boros]

Thanks for the informations about servicing and the adresse of van eck. I know them well, they have a good reputation.
The best way to know the exact specs is to measuring myself. I should to work on it. Keep in touch