Manual and Controls for Westrex 5035 Tower

[Steve Pike]

Hi all

I have lost my PDF of the manual for the Westrex tower. It was on my old laptop but I lost it when the laptop died!

Does anyone have a PDF of this that they could send me on private message or link on here?

Also, does anyone know the make/model of the module used to control the take up reel when in run mode? I had a little issue today where the take up tension wouldn’t power on but turning the dial to the max it suddenly engaged. It did this a few years ago and then worked fine. It’s done the same today, working fine now, but something is telling me that this may need to be replaced soon (over 40 years old!)

cheers
steve

[Pete Naples]

Steve,

Somewhere, I will have that PDF, is it not in the warehouse here though?

The control device is a variac, the carbon brush on the end of the arm did wear in time. It might benefit from a clean on the track. If you're really unlikely the track is broken and it only makes the circuit at one end.

They're readily available new even now, there also are loads of scrap towers around.

[Steve Pike]

Hi Pete
Thanks for your reply ... I couldn't see it in the warehouse page. Someone sent me a PDF copy many years ago on the old Film-Tech forum, but I've logged into that and the message is no longer there.

THanks for the tip on the variac... I'll give that a go. To gain access into the control box, I presume it's the case of removing the dials from the front and unscrewing the screws on the front? Chances are it has never been cleaned!!

Out of interest ... I understand you work for Omnex (?).. - if it is broken.. is these something that Omnex can provide? Either the replacement part or a "new" tower.

Cheers
Steve

[Pete Naples]

I think all the old tower parts got scrapped

However there are loads lurking in projection boxes out of use now.

[Steve Pike]

That’s a shame, if you do find some please let me know

I’ve just purchased some contact cleaner after watching a YouTube video on cleaning the tracks on a variac.

The take up control does seem to be working again now (showed a film and a couple of shorter reels on it). I went from nil to usual take up tension levels and higher with no problems so maybe something just cleared. But hopefully some contact cleaner will just remove any other oxidation built up over the years which may explain why it was having a bit of a issue earlier this week.

In years gone by, I know that there was a bit of bad practice going on with the tower where the pay off and the take up dials were set to the running levels and projectionists just switched RUN on rather than setting the dials at nil then gradually building up the tension.

Do you know the make/model of the ones in the Westrex tower and any UK suppliers if I need to get a like for like replacement?

I also have an issue with the built in tower that the Kinoton FP25D has, hence why using the Westrex still. Basically the tower part doesn’t seem to be operating. I think it has been disconnected somewhere. This is a project for another time but out of interest do Omnex still do repairs on Kinotons? And would you ever assist with having a look at a home cinema setup like this rather than at a cinema?

[Pete Naples]

Standard practice on a 5035 was to leave the dials set to wherever they needed to be, take the tension up by hand/knee then bang the RUN on. Once the projector is running tweak the tensions to suit. It shouldn't be ncessary to adjust during the playback of a program.

I know we used to source Variac parts from RS, beyond that I can't remember.

Yes we still fix Kinotons

[Steve Pike]

Thanks Pete, good to know that you still look after Kinotons. I may drop you guys an email soon!

just opened the control box.

the towers take up variac looks like this - the far end has a bit of a marking (possibly broken) but this is at the very high value which I would never use for tension. In your view is this dangerous and should be replaced or, as it’s still working as I’m using a much lower value (100 for take up) then just leave it? The other variacs all looked ok. The rewind one looked newer.
FE27AE72-066A-4418-AED7-9ADB78F4A36E.jpeg

[Tony Bandiera Jr]

That is a spot on the winding that has arced and blown out, which would explain why you are having intermittent trouble with it. Best to replace it soon before it blows fully open and stops working.

[Dave Macaulay]

There is a burnt spot on the coil, around 7:00 in your pic. And a lot of carbon from the brush on the whole contact ring. Plus possibly the carbon brush is worn out: the spring looks close to touching the support and when that happens the brush is done and you'll get arcing and bad contact to the copper.
If the burnt spot has broken a coil the thing won't work. It turns into a pretty poor rheostat, 100% power is fine but lower voltage is really weak. You can test the coil with an Ohmmeter - it should have some resistance between the power in terminals, open circuit means it is screwed. If it's OK, clean the copper with scotchbrite and some contact cleaner, confirm the brush isn't worn out, and it should be good to go.
New brushes should be available but that is not a type I've seen, the brush support is not like the Staco or Superior units I'm familiar with. Hopefully there's some info on the label you can track down the maker from.