I will soon be attempting to strip down, as far as i dare, my spare Elf NT1 projector with hope i may get it up and running. I will tell you now i am NOT pretending to be a clever enginner so no smart ass comments about doing something wrong etc.
IF anyone thinks it worthy of me popping on and sharing images and brief descriptions of what i am doing please let me know.
I am going ahead with it anyway but dont wish to spend time putting up images etc if there is very little interest.
What i am hoping for is perhaps some very knowlegable chaps on here helping me with any useful tips along the way.

Please do, Tom, could learn something from this

Go for it Tom. This can be interesting. I have 50+ projectors waiting for a service/repair. Just don´t have the time right now. Hopefully I will have when I retire. Taking a lot of pictures is a good idea, to make it possible putting everything in place again.

That sounds like an awesome idea!

Blimy Mats, 50 plus projectors???
Do you buy one for each film
Thanks for the quick responses, lets see how many more reply. Lets wake up this forum.

Blimy Mats, 50 plus projectors???
Do you buy one for each film
Thanks for the quick responses, lets see how many more reply. Lets wake up this forum.

Just for your own benefit of learning how these things get put together,...then I think it is a very useful exercise Tom for a machine which otherwise would be going straight in the bin.

Besides all of the obvious mechanical learning you will gain hopefully it will encourage you also to learn to obtain electrical test values and generate known good test points and values from transformer primary windings straight through to lamp terminals or motor / amp outputs etc etc

As I have said previously, just as an exercise for a working machine requiring a good service or a solitary repair to one component or section etc, then I personally wouldn't be prepared to strip the entire machine down to component level just to see how all the sub assemblies fit around one another and in what order.
It could at times on certain machines I can instantly think of, be similar to solving a Rubik cube having seen one for the very first time.

Thats true Andrew. I wont of course strip the thing down to leave nothing more than a frame.that would be suicide for me
I will be looking at all the majour comlonents and items which i know will need either need replacing, fixing or simply cleaned and lubed. But i will be experementing for my own learning. Please dont be afraid to give any constructive critism or shout if im messing up. Will start tommorow evening i shall of course be following the service book as best as i can. The machine at present is only suitable as a spares machine but it did run until parcel force got hold of it.

That's a tricky thing to suggest I think Tom in this current climate here.
This also highlights the reason why the real experts in this field hardly ever commented on such topics.
Seldom did you see Bill here for example publicly post any comments on anyone else's work. He would always go private with such remarks.
Wise man I guess!
Damned if you do, damned if you don't kinda situation.

Maybe Bill's approach was always the best one and leaves you coming out smelling of roses on each and every occasion. Problem is, it is the least communicative approach also and few others, if any at at all, learn anything by this approach and little gets shared

Thats true but all i am doing here is simply playing and experimenting.
As it happens i got my original nt1 up and running which i have to say i didnt expect. We have now shown over 10 films some if these consisting of 3 2000ft reels. Not bad for an ameture
This was i hasten to add thanks to a few phone calls at the time to Bill. I would not be calling bill on this one as i will be respecting his wishes to be retired. Aside this what he taught me just with a few phone calls was phenominal and is the reason why i continued to persevere and now enjoying this great extension to my hobby. All good fun

Sounds like a plan Tom,i once stripped down a TQ3 B&H to replace the worm gear,at the time i could have used a bit more technology like this idea to do the job, I have an NT1 also so If I can learn more then great, oh as for the TQ3 it never worked again ha ha,Mark

I do like those bell and howells, when i had one i took a look inside and thought err nope. The nt1 is great as all you need is a screwdriver. The whole thing is so easy to take apart. The clever bit is getting it back together, the skills that qualified engineers are for is getting everything adjusted properly, mine will be purely an attempt and experiment. So get ready tomorrow.

Sounds like a good idea Tom; will you be taking photos along the way, so you can see the order that you removed parts?

Hi Robert, have launched the first part and with images which are large size so clicking on them will give a good detailed view.

Well done Tom. I once bought a watch repair kit, and had all the workings on the table; when I came to put it back I had a few pieces left over.

i bet the watch worked though.

It was broken, but I wanted to see if I could take it all apart and put it back; spent quite a bit on a book, plus tools and assorted parts, like hairsprings. I gave up the idea after that. I still have the jewelers eyeglass, that I use to inspect my films when they arrive.

I´m sure that a jeweler´s eyeglass is perfect for that job. I don´t have one, so I use an old spare B&H 2 inch lens.