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It has been so long since anything of ours broke down that I can only say it's because the projectionists have been so good about cleaning every inch of the booth. The three projectionists have divided up the two booths and clean from floor to ceiling all the time. It's amazing how well maintained equip just keeps ticking. We do a white glove inspection regularly and can rarely find dirt anywhere. What do others do?

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Mike Hurley
www.bigscreenbiz.com

I had a rigourours once a week full cleaning process that included cleaning out of the lamp houses and full check of the gears etc. The guys on the morning shift cleaned in the morning and the guys in the evening cleaned in the evening. I still had some breakdowns but with 24 screens you sort of expect that.I had real sucess in keeping the booth clean with women projectionists as they are neater than us guys. They could be some what intimidated by the machines but I always let anyone know that there was nothing that they could tear up that I could not fix. My second theatre when I became a GM was a nightmare in the booth. The building should be condemned. I ended up having to wear jeans and a t shirt rather than a suit because something always threw a gear or a drive shaft and with no repair people in town I was it.

Every spotless booth that I have seen was a Union booth.

Every Plitt Theaters and Luxury Theaters booth I saw was a pig sty! They liked to store all the candy and janitorial supplies in the booth.

Mike:

Congratulations on "Film Done Right". A little care and common sense goes a long way in keeping equipment running smoothly, and clean, steady, sharp, and bright images on the screen.

Do you do all your own maintenance and alignment, or do you have a service engineer?

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John P. Pytlak
Senior Technical Specialist
EI Worldwide Technical Services
Research Labs, Building 69
Eastman Kodak Company
Rochester, NY 14650-1922
Telephone: 716-477-5325
Fax: 716-722-7243
E-Mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

At The Colonial we're lucky enough to have a very technically mined fellow, another who's helpful and willing and so we do a lot of our own repairs and maint. work without tech support other than phone calls, etc. But further fine tuning sound and light brings us our good friend (even he costs $$$$) out of Boston Light and Sound. Even so squeaky clean booths have reduced his visits.

Good for you. BL&S is top-notch (I've known Chapin and Larry for over 15 years). Some adjustments need a skilled engineer and the proper test equipment. But most just need a skilled projectionist to maintain properly.

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John P. Pytlak
Senior Technical Specialist
EI Worldwide Technical Services
Research Labs, Building 69
Eastman Kodak Company
Rochester, NY 14650-1922
Telephone: 716-477-5325
Fax: 716-722-7243
E-Mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

[This message has been edited by John Pytlak (edited November 20, 2000).]