Self-servicing the Arriflex 16S

[Neal Levendel]

Hello,

I'm genuinely really curious about what servicing an Arri myself would take. Anyone here willing to share their experience?

Thanks!

Neal

[Jon O'Brien]

Hi Neal, I'd check out Dom Jaeger's cinetinker blog, he has a step by step service guide to the Arri 16St

https://cinetinker.blogspot.com/2019/02/arri-16st-service.html

Also, see: 

 

[Dom Jaeger]

This describes the basic process:

http://cinetinker.blogspot.com/2019/02/arri-16st-service.html
 

It’s very easy to do more harm than good unless you have access to the proper tools, including at the very least a 52.00mm depth gauge and blank plus a 16mm backing plate for the gate in order to check flange depth, and a micrometer to measure shims. A trained Arri tech would also have a collimator to check and set the ground glass depth, a tension gauge for the take-up clutch,  a steel 16mm gauge to check claw and registration pin alignment, the factory greases and oil, and a variety of other tools depending on what might need alignment. It also helps to have some experience in fine mechanics and knowledge of how a motion picture film camera works. 

The oil holes in the film chamber are easy enough to add oil to, but they only lubricate the sprocket drive and footage counter gear bearings. To access the movement gears, cams and bearings or mirror/shutter bearings etc for cleaning and lubrication requires full camera disassembly. 
 

[Neal Levendel]

1 hour ago, Dom Jaeger said:

This describes the basic process:

http://cinetinker.blogspot.com/2019/02/arri-16st-service.html
 

It’s very easy to do more harm than good unless you have access to the proper tools, including at the very least a 52.00mm depth gauge and blank plus a 16mm backing plate for the gate in order to check flange depth, and a micrometer to measure shims. A trained Arri tech would also have a collimator to check and set the ground glass depth, a tension gauge for the take-up clutch,  a steel 16mm gauge to check claw and registration pin alignment, the factory greases and oil, and a variety of other tools depending on what might need alignment. It also helps to have some experience in fine mechanics and knowledge of how a motion picture film camera works. 

The oil holes in the film chamber are easy enough to add oil to, but they only lubricate the sprocket drive and footage counter gear bearings. To access the movement gears, cams and bearings or mirror/shutter bearings etc for cleaning and lubrication requires full camera disassembly. 
 

Cool thanks for the information. I’m not sure I understand the terminology though. I’ll admit I don’t have any experience in this area. Do you have any advice on how I could get to the point where I would be able to do this procedure?

[Aapo Lettinen]

34 minutes ago, Neal Levendel said:

Cool thanks for the information. I’m not sure I understand the terminology though. I’ll admit I don’t have any experience in this area. Do you have any advice on how I could get to the point where I would be able to do this procedure?

usually one would need a spare camera body which can be sacrificed for completely disassebly and possible damage. so a "learning piece" which one can experiment with and only after being confident enough one can try to service the better camera which is meant to be used for actual filming.

I would not recommend tinkering with a camera if it is the only one you have. if you have multiples of the same model it is not that devastating if one of them cannot be shot with anymore... the pressure of working with the only available camera would easily make the end result worse which is why it might be a bad idea by my opinion.

proper tools and procedures needed of course. a qualified technician would get it better working than what a normal person can do at home even if doing exactly the right things to it with proper tools etc.

To me it comes down to the question what the camera is used for and how much it matters to you... I personally like to have multiples of the same model, all in varying working condition and thus I kind of treat the camera bodies as "expendables" which can be experimented with as long as I have a spare one I could use for filming if needed. If I only have one piece of something then I don't want to take as high risks with it

[Dom Jaeger]

On 10/5/2023 at 1:56 AM, Neal Levendel said:

Cool thanks for the information. I’m not sure I understand the terminology though. I’ll admit I don’t have any experience in this area. Do you have any advice on how I could get to the point where I would be able to do this procedure?

Unfortunately the old pathways to learning the trade of motion picture camera technician are no longer available. I learned by working in the service departments of several rental houses, under the guidance of experienced older master technicians, with occasional visits to manufacturers for factory training. I spent over fifteen years learning how to work on these machines before considering myself competent. I have no idea how a young person could get that experience nowadays, it’s such a niche skillset and basically deals with obsolete machines that nobody can afford to properly maintain, so there isn’t really a career to be had anymore. 
 

There are people who pull them apart and attempt to learn that way, or seek guidance from the few techs still around, but I think essentially it’s not something the average person can just learn, especially with the need for certain specialised tools. The best route would be to try and get a job in one of the few remaining rental houses that still rent out film cameras and spend as much time in the service department as possible. 
 

Of course it depends on the camera, some are easier to work on than others, with less adjustments that can be misaligned, but Arriflexes tend to be among the most complex to work on. At least the 16St doesn’t require considerations of noise levels.

[Simon Wyss]

We are experiencing the change-over from one era to the next. New generations grow up that don’t have an idea of the 20th century and times before, can’t have. An Arriflex 16 is a relatively simple camera compared to a Zeiss-Ikon Movikon 16, a Facine or a Paillard-Bolex H. But, here comes the big but, its mechanical main group, the claw and register pin control assembly, is demanding. Just like with a discussion momentarily going on at the filmvorführer forum about this very subject I must declare some opinions based on pure illusions.

Even as a trained mechanician I did learn a few things when I worked on an Arriflex 16 for the first time. As a sidenote, I write Arriflex 16 without any adjunct because that is its name like ARRIFLEX is the Arnold & Richter designation of the 35-mm. camera they presented in 1937. As I have shown in an article four years ago the control cams stem from a particular sewing machine concept from 1877! Only short-lived success can be had by pouring in oil or smearing grease into places somehow. Where the sewing machine mechanism is capsuled allowing continuous oiling, this mechanism, which is run more slowly, can function greased. But the grease has to be where it’s needed and that only the technician familiar with everything knows.

I must keep up a separation between laypersons and initiated. The profession of the mechanic cannot be compromised. Everybody can do to a film motion-picture camera what she/he likes, yet not everyone can bring a jammed or stuttering mechanical camera back to a useful state.

Have the darned camera serviced by a goddamned insider.