Squeaky Arricam Mags?

[grant mcphee]

Hello,

 

Has anyone had any problems with squeaky 1000' arricam mags?

 

I'm using fuji stock. One of the stocks is the usual, smooth as glass when you feel it with your fingers but the other is ever so slightly ridged throughout - not major but still slightly ridged.

 

I'm not sure if this is causing the squeaking. There is definitely one mag which we have identified as problematic. I've tried putting a tiny bit of lubrication in the rubber o rings as they looked like they may have been rubbing against the film core. Mainly seems to be a problem on the feed side. I'm not sure if this is the problem or the ridged film. When I say ridged it is barely noticeable but ridged none-the-less. The problem seems to stop after a couple of hundred feet so I'm not sure if it has to do with tension adjustments. It sounds more like chirping birds than film rubbing.

 

Any ideas or anyone had similar problems. I've tried attaching the film to the take up core in different ways which dosn't seem to make any difference - as the manual recommends, the opposite way, folded over etc.

 

we are shooting 3-perf

 

 

thanks

Edited September 13, 2008 by grant mcphee

[Annie Wengenroth]

Wow, that sounds like the job I was just on. We had an Arricam LT, ended up swapping it for an ST because the LT was having problems, and in the meantime, many of our mags did the exact same thing. It was incredibly frustrating. Fuji stock, same noises. I did the same thing as you, fussing with the slot, cleaning the rollers, anything I could think of. I wonder what the deal is? I'll ask one of the techs next time I'm at CSC. I know that Fuji stock is thinner but I wonder if it has some other properties to it which cause it to create more friction or something. Anyway, I wish I had more advice but I can't think of anything- good luck!

[Scott Dolan]

Can you put your ear to the mag and pin-point where the noise is coming from? (throat or core)

Doesn't sound like a stock issue. Try running some test Kodak stock through and I reckon you'll have the same problem.

Could be coming from the bearings or whatever that are spinning the core/plate, but only under a very specific tension point.

Try spinning these by hand at different speeds and with different amounts of pressure and see if you get a squeak.

 

Hope this helps :)

[Annie Wengenroth]

I am such a geek, that after working a 14-hour day for which I had to wake up at 3:30 am, I am sitting here at 12:30 at night looking at the Arri parts catalog thinking about why the mags are squeaking. Instead of 1) drinking at some trendy bar in Williamsburg with my friends from school, 2) sleeping, or 3) skateboarding. I followed this link:

 

http://www.arri-shop.de:1080/catalog/jsp/m...mp;nodeId=child

 

I don't know if it'll work because it's Java, but basically there are a series of brake pads and friction discs behind the magazine assembly but before you get to the electronics...from my own squeaky mag experiences, it seems like it could just be an issue of too much friction/tension or not enough lubrication on one of the brake drums. Is it a constant, cyclical squeak, like a worn point, or does it vary?

 

(AKA "Put red tape on it, throw it in a case, and send it back" :P )

[Rolfe Klement]

I just had the same problem but with 5218 in a 400ft mag on Saturday. It might have been my bad loading skills - which were sorely tested after 9 months in hibernation :ph34r:

 

But the roll of Kodak was just weird - it kept jamming in the changing bag during threading - I had to cut about 3 ft off - in 3 cm strips to get it to load- then I got paranoid I had left a strip of cut film in the mag...

 

Anyway - I will test the mag and see - maybe it needs TLC - I also learnt a great trick at ON a while back - give the mag a hard slap and sometimes that just fixes the issue!

 

thanks

 

Rolfe

[Annie Wengenroth]

Jamming? Like you couldn't feed it into the throat at all or it was just sticky as you ran it through to the take-up side?

[Rolfe Klement]

Jamming- couldn't get it into throat.

 

But one side of Kodak neg was kind of "bumpy" for tech term

 

thanks

 

Rolfe

[Robert Sawin]

Hello,

 

Has anyone had any problems with squeaky 1000' arricam mags?

 

I'm using fuji stock. One of the stocks is the usual, smooth as glass when you feel it with your fingers but the other is ever so slightly ridged throughout - not major but still slightly ridged.

 

I'm not sure if this is causing the squeaking. There is definitely one mag which we have identified as problematic. I've tried putting a tiny bit of lubrication in the rubber o rings as they looked like they may have been rubbing against the film core. Mainly seems to be a problem on the feed side. I'm not sure if this is the problem or the ridged film. When I say ridged it is barely noticeable but ridged none-the-less. The problem seems to stop after a couple of hundred feet so I'm not sure if it has to do with tension adjustments. It sounds more like chirping birds than film rubbing.

 

Any ideas or anyone had similar problems. I've tried attaching the film to the take up core in different ways which dosn't seem to make any difference - as the manual recommends, the opposite way, folded over etc.

 

we are shooting 3-perf

 

 

thanks

 

I would take apart the mag look at the gears or what ever. check to see if there is any signs of rubbing or wear. use a spool of exposed film to run a test and slowly crank it while it is open. listen for moments of noise then pinpoint that. sounds like oil ain't going to work for this job. if all else fails bring it in to a shop to see what they can dish up.

 

Trip...

[Rory Hanrahan]

I would NOT take apart the mag, but send it back and swap it with a replacement. There's not a rental house on the planet that wants you pulling apart their mags. Even if it is a relatively simple service -- well, that's why you're paying them! You don't own the gear, you're just using it, and if you're not intimately familiar with servicing Arri mags... Well, don't. Production should have your back in swapping this out or sending the runner to the rental house to do it right. At the very least, talk to a house tech before going all gung ho on this.

[Annie Wengenroth]

When I read "take apart the mag", a perilously large quantity of coffee nearly exited my left nostril and wound up on the screen of my 12" Powerbook. And in slow-motion, I was like, "NRRRROOOOOO! DON'T DOOOO IT!"

 

...What Rory said! THE MOST I would consider doing in the field is taking apart the throat to clear a jam, but anything else is left to a clean workbench, halfway decent lighting, and someone who gets paid to do this stuff.

 

Good luck!

[Jared T Smith]

It sounds like I have had that problem. Sometimes, when you flip the mag over and hold it with the door facing down, the film shifts out-word and will rub on the door. Usually it will work it self out but if your really worried about sound picking it up, you just quickly smack the front side and the back side at the same time in opposite directions while running the camera. It doesn't work all the time but in our case it proved useful.

Edited November 4, 2008 by Jared T Smith

[Simon Wyss]

It sounds more like chirping birds than film rubbing.

I know that. The magazine has to be taken apart, by a specialist of course, not any person in the field, and the hollow spindle assembly part be lubricated.

 

What concerns ridged rolls: reason why Bell & Howell and Mitchell have corduroy magazine lining which regularly are vacuum cleaned.

[grant mcphee]

Thanks for your help and suggestions. Sent mag back and had no problems since.