Well, I recently aquire a GS1200. Got it home, gave it a good cleaning, and ran it for about an hour. Two weeks later, I went to run it and noticed a load noise from the motor when in the foward position. Motor sounds fine in reverse.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated! I've taken the cover off, but just can't seem to pinpoint exactly where the noise is coming from...

Thanks!

This sounds just like mine was. Bill Parsons changed a couple of plastic gears with metal ones. I feel it might be a cracked plastic gear. Give Mr. Parsons a call

When not used these can be noisy when first started up, re grease the plastic gear trains before you start to look further as to a broken gear. These have 3 motors in them and plenty
of moving parts, if the rear gear is broken they don't always run, they start and stop as mine did.

I'll look into greasing them first, and check for any cracked gears. Thanks so much guys! I'll check the service manual for the suggested type of grease.

I love those GS1200s but have to say i always avoided them due to being way over technical. Too many motors and too many problems.
But great looking machines.

Some of grease spec Michael will leave you confused to be honest. I use some plastic gears grease from RS, seems fine to me, just try to remove some of the old stuff if you can, this solidifies over time. The straight cut gears tend to make the most noise, these generally in the gear trains connecting in a chain, the helical style gears generally are quieter, used in most engine gearbox's, the straight cut gears are the one's you hear whining in your worn gear box.

Can't entirely agree Tom I'm afraid. The GS 1200 is an extremely modular design and as such, in many respects, is easier to work on than say an ST 1200.

Yes they have many more components to them than an ST 1200, but if used regularly, tend to perform to very high standard for a very lengthy periods of time in between services.
I'd have had probably at least three of these by now if it wasn't for the issues surrounding the path and the guides.

As things have turned out, I've avoided any temptation over the years and have been happy with my "alternative" choices in each and every case, but the GS 1200 is without doubt, a superb technically advanced stereo super eight projector and if used regularly, no more unreliable than any other similar spec machine from what I have learned over the years.

have to say i always fancied one. Even all these years on they look modern

Im on the look out for a GS1200 now but the problem is they arnt getting any younger andyou have to be very lucky to get hold f a machine in a good condition due to the work they have done, im also looking out for a sync pulse unit to go with it.

Personally, i think if you have the ability to fix them yourself, particularly on the electrical side, then your fine but if you have to have them repaired by specialists then it will cost fortunes.

Tom, we have Bill on here who is good with his help I have found, and like you say the GS is a sophisticated beast but not beyond reasonable repair, even with the electronics inside, its about knowing your limitations as to what you can start and finish without making the repair worse and not better even with the service manual to hand. Some parts are getting hard to come by, the front and rear motors spring to mind, but its scratching film mods can now be done with a little help I feel. The soundheads are pretty solid on them and you can still find them from fellow members I have found for reasonable money too. If there is a beef I have with it, it would have a larger reel capacity, the Beaulieu size would be great, but if you have a long play unit you can get around this. I suppose if you intend to do some recording for syncing from another source the GS is hard to beat, but you still
have to get some extra gizmo's to achieve this.

Paul, which Bill?

That would be Mr Bill Parsons over here Michael. I believe you have one or two Elmo experts also there Michael, on your side of the pond.

I threw my back out the other day, so have been a bit incapacitated. I did take a look at it today, and noticed that no belts or gears seem to change pulleys or anything from forward to reverse, they just seem to change direction. Which makes me wonder why it would run so quietly in reverse, yet so loudly in forward?

Andrew, who are the US experts?

Thanks!

Try Leon Norris in Philadelphia.

ll623norris(at)Verizon(dot)net

http://danajerrye.com/uploads/3/3/3/3/33...037742_orig.jpg

By all accounts Michael, Leon is indeed one of your main players Stateside for servicing Elmo machines.

Thank You Mats for highlighting this here. 😊

How much noise are you getting Michael ?, it sounds like it was well above your expectations. I wonder if the front gear is split but still able to turn, or a dry bearing on something.

It's pretty loud! What is very strange is why it is so quiet in reverse, yet so loud in forward. Haven't seen any cracks or anything...

Michael, are you talking with or without film or both, when it comes to the excessive noise from the machine in forward projection mode?

Both, although to be honest I have not run any film through it since I first heard the noise (don't want to damage it more than it may already be!)

That's good then in a way Michael, as it narrows things down somewhat without bringing into the equation such things as claw noise etc.

What I've always done if I have previously suspected some aspect of machines mechanism to be operating at far higher noise levels than those you would expect by design, is to break down the drive chain bit by bit to pinpoint exactly an area within the machine where the offending noise is coming from.
This is of course, assuming that identifying the exact place where the noise is emerging from isn't fairly obvious. (Often it isn't when everything within the entire drive chain is running simultaneously)

Things like drive belts, lamps, fans, worm gear and the odd spur gear etc, may have to be first partially or totally removed to facilitate this, but it isn't usually too difficult to do this and a common sense approach pays dividends very often.

If rewind mode is far quieter without film even inserted into the projector, than forwards projection mode, could the fault not exist somewhere between drive motor and take up spindle, given that this part of the machines assembly will not be being utilized during rewind mode?

Just an example etc etc....of the thought process required to solve the issue.

Failing that, you can always take on board David's recent advice here and tip a ton of hand tools into the back of the projector with the rear cover first removed.
Fit the rear cover, give it a good shake, then hey Presto!! 😂😂😂😂

I like that tool idea, I might give it a try!

I've been reviewing the service manual, and feel your idea might be the best - start tearing (carefully) the damn thing apart!

small steps first Michael, removing the "main player" (typically only one component) in each case, to isolate one part of the mechanism in turn in order to eliminate suspicion of that region within the machines mechanism.

Failing that Michael, why not post a short video of the projector in various running modes with the rear cover removed on Vimeo or the likes.

A Pound to a bag of sh#t, someone like Bill or Paul here with realms of mechanical and electrical experience with these, will be able to see instantly, or certainly go a long way to identifying exactly where your problems lie.

Might save you a great deal of time or heartache in the long run.😊

You need to be sure Michael the noise is definitely worse in what mode, in reverse the main motor must be engaged with it worm gear spinning because the film is being driven
through the gate ?, in rewind the maim motor I don't think is used but may still be spinning, have you tried renewing the grease on the gears first ?. I would look at the worm gear on the end of the main motor as this spins quite fast, but is engaged in driving a plastic gear in the train, and this would wear more on that gear when driven in the forward motion, which is most of the time with these machines, after all you're not running many if any films in reverse very often ??. This may sound completely nuts but try it any way, with the back cover removed and running in the mode you think its noisiest, get yourself a wooden spoon, put the spoon end to your ear and the handle end on or near the main motor while running, any noise now will be transmitted through this to your ear. Obviously be careful but it help me many times when trying to locate duff bearing on alternators, and I used a broom stale to do the same. Meanwhile I will get my GS out tonight and see if I can give some more pointers as to where it could be coming from .