PROJECTOR BACKGROUND HISTORY:
My "world" is 'the arts' and more specifically, music, artwork and hand crafted/decorated chinaware's.
I am not a film enthusiast but an associate has asked me to find new owners for THEIR large collection of photographic and film items ... this is one of those items.
I have endeavoured to provide as complete a description that I can, within my limited knowledge of these projectors.
SPECIAL NOTE: No matter what the condition of a projection system, I will ALWAYS state "Service Required" - because this is 'dated' electro mechanical equipment and should at the very least have a good clean around the film path and a complete lubrication at the rear.
Here are the full details of this ROLLEI 8mm projector, the information comes from my ACTUAL use of the projector over a few months.
ROLLEI 8mm Film Projector
Designed and manufactured in Germany
Model: P840T
Looks as though it was in production around the mid 1970's
Supplied with (and inside) a light Grey vinyl based fitted 'dust cover' with two side pockets, nothing fancy but it does the job of dust protection.
NO User Manual is supplied - I see some of these offered online but at first glance, none are free!
Multi-voltage input: 240-220-120/130-110 (currently set for 240V of course)
Standard IEC male socket AC input - the required IEC female power lead with an Australian wall plug is supplied.
Dual standard i.e switch selectable by the user for Standard 8 or Super 8 film
Sound capable with separate Volume & Tone controls
Built in loudspeaker
DIN socket at the rear for an external loudspeaker
5 pin DIN socket at the front, I never used this but am guessing that it MAY be possible to record or overdub onto the film magnetic stripe.
24 - 18fps speed selector
Lens fitted is marked as a WILL-WETZLAR VARIO-TRAVENON 1:1.3/16.5-30
The remaining controls are apparently pretty standard, such as OFF - FORWARD - LAMP ON (Two lamp intensity settings) REVERSE etc
One thing that I cannot see anywhere is a manual film cutter.
When I first received all these film items some time ago now, this was the first projector that I put to work running the films through it, checking the film quality and audio (if not a silent film of course) After a while I discovered a short coming and an "issue" with the projector - one is fixable, the other not.
NON FIXABLE ISSUE: This projector can only accept (fit) the smaller reels, this was fine for me to begin with but then I came across some very large reels which I needed to show and then I realised that this projector was not designed for the "biggies" - I moved over to the ELMO 1200D which I am currently using.
FIXABLE ISSUE: More a nuisance than anything ... the drive belt at the rear can sit in two positions but it had a tendency to 'slip' over to the wrong pulley wheel so I couldn't watch the films properly. Taking off the back cover is easy (3 bolts) and just pushing the belt back into place and away we went again, until the next 'slip'
I believe this issue indicates a new replacement belt is required ... I have not tried to source one of these but just had a quick look around online and it seems these can be had for around EUR35~38 plus shipping. I didn't look for very long so perhaps there is a local supplier, which would save on the shipping costs at least.
NO other 'transport related' issues were noticed, although it must be kept in mind that I never ran any Standard 8 film through the projector - all the film I was looking at was Super 8
In hindsight, I really liked the film feeding mechanism - it just seemed to grab whatever you put in its mouth and fed it through the path up to the takeup reel. Not like the ELMO 1200D which (in my honest newbee opinion) is a bit touchy when it comes to feeding film initially.
Another comment on the downside that I will make is that I did not like the reel clamping system very much, just push on the reel hub and that's it - no locking lever at all, just a friction hold.
The audio side of things works well, I had no problems with both the volume or tone controls and the resulting sound off the film was good - for monaural sound that is! I cannot remember if the sound controls were "noisy" in operation, probably a good idea to give both of the 'pots' a squirt with switch cleaner in any case.
The lamp (12V 100W halogen type) is currently working ... I am not sure if I ever changed this lamp during my initial testing so the "hours left" for this lamp are unknown but at least for the moment, she is a good one.
COSMETIC CONDITION:
Prior to receiving this projector and since that time it has been housed within the light Grey 'dust cover' which is nothing fancy but at least it keeps it relatively dust free when not being used.
USED (and 'old', this must be borne in mind for the new owner)
I say this because some folk expect 40+ year old equipment to work "like new" upon receipt and while this projector will work as received, I have described an issue above (the belt) which indicates the projector needs a bit of loving maintenance to ensure future reliability.
The case is all plastic but I cannot see any cracks or damage EXCEPT I noticed that around the main front control (large knob) of the tape direction/lamp ON-OFF, a small piece of the plastic casing seems to have broken off or perhaps it has been intentionally removed. This does not affect the operation in any way, just a visual flaw!
The two feet at one end and the screw type foot at the other (for height adjustment) are all undamaged.
