Dismantling/moving a Steenbeck

[Nigel Bryant]

Hello,

I have two Steenbecks that I need to move out of a room with a fairly narrow doorway. They are models St 1901 and St 14010.
Does anybody have any instructions on how to partially dismantle these machines so I will be able to manoeuver them through the doorway?

Many thanks,
Nigel

IMG_3910[1].JPG IMG_3911[1].JPG

[Leo Enticknap]

I had to do this once (to a 1901), but this was probably around 2003-04, so my memory of the details is not great. It was donated to the archive I worked for at the time, by a regional TV station that was moving to a smaller studio and decided that it no longer had any need for anything film-related.

If I remember correctly, getting the screen/speaker assembly off is pretty easy, but if you can't get what remains through the door on its side, separating the two pedestals from the table piece is an absolute goatf****r of a job. One contains the audio stuff (optical and magnetic preamps, exciter power supply, processor and power amp), and the other the power supply stuff. There are wire jungles going up from both pedestals into the table section. I would suggest arming yourself with a crimping set and a crap ton of insulated disconnect pairs, in case you have to cut wires, and taking copious photos and notes of every step of the process. I can assure you that if, with the screen box off, you can get it through the door on its side, you will have dodged a 500lb artillery shell!

And on the subject of 500lb, that's about what the thing weighs. Ideally, you'll want two small dollies, which will enable you to roll it on its side. If there is any straight up lifting needed, you'll need at least 4-5 people (of a similar physique to Arnold Schwarzenegger). If there are any stairs involved, you'll want a set of lifting straps and/or a stair roller capable of taking the weight; otherwise, you're into Laurel and Hardy territory.

Sorry if this sounds a tad discouraging! Good luck.

[Phillip Grace]

Hello Nigel.

I have moved several of these machines, and lived to tell the tale.
Steenbecks were designed to be wheeled through a standard doorway, albeit partially dismantled, and with this in mind the major units are fairly easily disassembled, and the wiring between all of the major components has plug-and-socket connections.
First, remove the laminated extensions at the back of the work surface. There are bolts through the edge of each extension into the edge of the main surface at the back - not glued, but biscuit joins in flaky chipboard and a bit fragile. On 35mm machines the front section of the work surface must also be removed to reduce the overall width.
Unplug and lift off the speaker from the screen housing.
The screen housing can be removed in one piece. You can pop the screen assembly off the front to see inside. The ribbon cables for the counter displays have plug/socket connectors. There are a couple of studs with knurled nuts behind the screen which hold the front of the housing in place, and a single bolt holding the back of the housing to the main case. Lift it up carefully as there are a lot of mirrors inside. With the screen housing removed you will see a plate carrying the projection optics overhanging the back of the main case. This is attached to the frame with two hex-bolts. It is indexed, so will go back into place when reassembled. At this point the machine ought to be narrow enough to push through a doorway on its own wheels.
If you need to go further and remove the legs, this next method will work. Raise the legs of the machine by placing suitable blocks fore and aft on both sides under the legs between the skirt and the floor so the machine is supported off its wheels, and both legs will remain standing on their own after the main case is removed. The top of each leg is attached to the main case with four hex bolts which bolt down through the frame, and can be undone with a socket spanner. All of the wiring between the legs and the main case has plug and socket connectors. The links at the top of the right leg are actually a connector, and the two halves can be separated. If the machine has not been modified there should be no need to cut any wiring.
Now you will need a couple of Leo's strong boys to lift the main case off the legs and put it on a dolly. The main case will stand on its back edge until the legs arrive for it to be reassembled. I cant recall having any issues with oil leaking from the gearbox in transit.
As Leo said, the machines are very heavy. The are also awkwardly shaped and easy to damage, so if there are any stairs, uneven surfaces, or tight corners between locations the time taken to dismantle the machine into more manageable parts will be well worth it.

Have fun!
Phillip.

[Nigel Bryant]

Thank you very much Leo and Philip for this really useful information, sounds like I have a bit of an adventure ahead but hopefully the legs will be staying on.

All the best,
Nigel

[Leo Enticknap]

All of the wiring between the legs and the main case has plug and socket connectors.

Interesting. My memory of the one I had to shift was that it didn't for all of them. I know we eventually decided that taking a door off its hinges to get the monster through in one piece (minus the screen box) was the lesser of two evils compared to separating the pedestals from the main case and then reassembling. But this was almost two decades ago and I've forgotten a lot of the details; so maybe there were quick release connectors, but just not in obvious places. The people we'd wrangled to help us move it had a limited amount of time, and weren't keen to wait while I faffed around doing major surgery on the thing.

[Allan Barnes]

DON'T LIFT THE TOP. ITS NOT SOLID WOOD, ITS A CHEAP LIGHTWEIGHT "PARTICLE BOARD." REMOVE THE TOP AND EXPOSE METAL LIFT POINTS. And god help you if you got stairs.

[Jim Cassedy]

Back in the mid-70's, I worked with a lot of flatbed Movieola's at an editing facility. I rarely had to actually move any of them, but if my fading memory is correct, on the 4-plate 16mm &35mm models that we had, you could pull a couple of pins and/or release a couple of catches, and then the top part could be swung up almost 90°, so that you could roll it through a doorway. I think you could also do it with the 4-plate 35's too, but as I said, it was a long time ago and I may be somewhat mis-remembering.

I do definitely recall that replacing the transistors on the motor drive boards was a pretty regular procedure for me. I don't know if they were under-designed, or if was because we had a lot of voltage-drop & noise on the old wiring in the ancient building we were in, but they would often blow (instead of the fuse!) if you quickly went from full speed forward shuttle to reverse, or vice-versa too many times consecutively. We used to order those driver transistors, and tubes of thermal heat-sink compound by the bag-full from Digi-Key or someplace.

[Phillip Grace]

I recall that in some of the 16mm machines the connector at the top of the leg was custom made, and difficult to recognize for what it was. It looked more like a piece of circuit board from memory. I think the two halves were locked together with small screws. Certainly the 35mm one behind me uses multi-pin connectors - all numbered and with different pin patterns.
A few years ago I bought a second-hand 16mm machine. Four huge guys arrived with the truck and just picked the thing up in one piece, and carried it across the lawn to the van. I think they would have been just as happy to carry the truck to the Steenbeck. It worked afterwards, anyway.

[Nigel Bryant]

Happy to say that it was very straight forward in the end. I unplugged the speaker cable and lifted the speaker off the bracket, removed the flat cable connecting the screen to the machine, unscrewed the screw at the bottom of the rear of the screen casing and lifted the screen off vertically, removed the two rear plates (and black plastic inserts for the 16mm) and finally unscrewed the rear extension panels (pieces of light chipboard) and removed. Both machines were then narrow enough to wheel through the various doorways. Reassembling was slightly tricky for the 35mm as the screen casing sits on a couple of pins on the machine, it took two people and a lot of tilting, re-manoeuvering to finally sit this back on.

[Phillip Grace]

Cool! Glad it went well.