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DEBRIE PROJECTORS

Here is a link to Debrie Instructions.

Please remember to take great care with Debrie motors. They have a separate start winding, with a

centrifugal device that disconnects this winding as soon as the motor is up and running. This centrifugal device can jam and, if it does,

the start winding stays connected and burns out in about 15 seconds flat, leaving you with a motor that will run if you give it a good

twist, but won't start on its own and is not repairable short of an expensive rewind. It's easy enough to get at the centrifugal mech,

which is at the rubber drive wheel end of the motor. You still have to remove the main fan, however, which is at the other end. I

just did one - there was a roll pin thru the fan centre and the motor shaft, tho I am not sure whether this is original. It can be difficult

to remove the fan because, it being very old Bakelite or similar, it is very easy to break if you apply much force. What I did was to

get little bits - 0.25" upwards - of metal rod, of a diameter just a bit less than the motor shaft. Carefully place these under the big

plastic screw cap on the end of the fan, while holding the motor vertical, then tighten the cap, and with luck the metal rod should

push on the end of the motor shaft and, as you gradually increase the length of the metal rods, pull the fan off. Ideally, one would

find something else with the same screw thread as the cap to avoid the risk of breaking it. There is only a very short thread on the

cap, so you can only move a little at a time.

 

To get at the innards, remove the two screws at the drive end and the motor rotor should pull out from the other end (this is why

you have to remove the fan) enough for you to get at the centrifugal mech and ensure it all moves freely. It's pretty obvious once you

actually see it. Here is a pic. See the brass weights and the pivots the spring etc - just oil lightly and ensure all that can move does so freely.

 

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This is quite a late Debrie catalogue, I think - I acquired it with a machine. You could add mag sound.

                               

A variant.

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The leaflet shows a type of Debrie amp I'd not seen before; the pic is a similar but probably valve-based one from Argenteuil 2009.

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This is a genuine Debrie double band machine, but it looks like it's been used in a lab or some such, as there seem to have been many changes to input/output plugs and wiring. It even has an additional, half normal size sprocket on the projector side. There are micro-switch controlled rollers at the front. It has substantial, proper sprocket retaining rollers, and a chimney on top. Also an unusual gate. Obviously a chequered career.

                       

 

I have completely dismantled a Debrie D16 picture head, down to the last nut, bolt, roll-pin etc. Why, you ask yourself, does a nerd who so loves projectors do such a thing? Well,  a) because I want to; b) because I need the space; c) because I have a surplus of Debrie picture heads for which I cannot honestly ever see a use; d) it is a great source of bolts and nuts and occasionally other bits - I am forever rummaging thru my collection of random screws to find just the one I need; and e) how else does one learn how a projector ticks and generally learn and practice stuff that helps to preserve other projectors?

Care is needed with old, disused Debrie motors. They are condenser start, and can get fried when the centrifugal mech jams and fails to cut the condenser out of circuit as soon as the motor has started. Open the end up and make sure it’s working before running.

For those interested in this sort of thing, these pictures show the main ticking bit of the Debrie, viz the claw mechanism, from the back. There are two cams, the in/out cam being exactly like that on a Pathé Baby. Unusually, the upper and lower arms that ride on the main cam are not in a single piece - there is a gap at the back (left in the pic). This presumably helps to ensure a completely square up and down movement. The in/out cam follower has a slot that rides on the in/out cam, and this follower moves up and down on the thing I have labelled slider in response to the movement of the main cam. The triple claw is fixed to the carrier by something that looks very like an elongated cycle chain clip.

I have tried labelling these pix, but it don't seem to come thru on the web version.

I have a stack of Debrie picture heads, with the curved base, but not the amplifiers they sit on. If anyone needs one of these, or some spares, I'm your nerd. Two are in the throes of conversion to 9.5mm (not started by me); I must see one day if they can be made to work.

 

 

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Debrie Spool Arms

I have long been baffled by Debrie spool arms, in particular how they come apart to remove the arm and, more particularly,

to get at and replace those easily-broken bakelite bits. So I took a damaged machine and dismantled it, with a series of pix

to help those who have been baffled like me.

 

                                                  

 

                                       

 

                                              

 

We start with the top spool arm, untouched. Three screws to remove the sprocket; note that altho this one

seems to be in one piece, it is really a fairly thin sprocket wheel with a spacer (see pic 12). This exposes a

taper pin securing the next bit; find which is the thinner end/side and knock it out. This needs care because

a0 it is easy to break the bakelite and b) over-heavy force may bend the shaft. Find a way to support the

immediate area of the pin. Pic 3 is the back, 4 showing the cover removed. In 5, we move on to the pin

having been knocked out and the underlying ring removed to expose a very specialised nut. To remove it,

you need a tool something like the one shown in 7. I got it in Maplin, labelled as a thing for undoing watches.

The bakelite bit and the greasy felt washer under it can then be removed. Three more screws finally get you

 to the bottom of it. The gear must relate to the oil circulation mechanism as there is no drive to the upper

arm.

10 - 14 give you an abbreviated canter thru the lower arm. Note particularly (pic 13) that here the bakelite

part is located by two steel pins visible either side of the specialised nut. They don't seem quite

symmetrically placed; also they are not fixed, so take care they don't just fall out.

 

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Here is a pic of a serious Debrie I don't think I've shown before.

 

 

 

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