Rollei P11 Rubber Gear

So.....I have my Rollei P11 slide projector sort of up and running. But I have the same issue that many others have had, which is that the rubber in the gear that "connects" to the motor spindle has dried out.

I tried some rubber rejuvenator that I purchased on amazon. It worked once but has since stopped working, even after repeated applications.

I found a thread where someone was able to cut some latex gloves and slip them on the gear (attaching with rubber cement). But I've reluctant to do this, since I would have to strip the old gear first.

I'm looking for suggestions...has anyone else successfully tackled this problem? Should I try something other than the rubber rejuvenator?

Thanks!

Mine was just slicked up from use and age. A good cleaning made it "sticky" again.

outwest said:

Mine was just slicked up from use and age. A good cleaning made it "sticky" again.

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What did you do to clean it? (Thanks!)

A quick update. Following outwest's recommendations, I cleaned the rubber with some rubbing alcohol and couple of q tips. Outwest recommended that I use a rough cloth to then scuff the gear just a bit (being careful not to remove material). My rough cloth wasn't very rough, it turns out, and I didn't see any noticeable scuffing on the gear. So, against his advice, I used some very course sandpaper to very lightly create some scuff marks on the rubber.

And now, at least for the moment, it works.

I have no idea if this fix will last or not.

How tacky is the rubber? I used to have a P11, but it worked fine, so I never had a look at that part.

If it *is* in danger of deteriorating to the point the projector becomes unusable, is it the sort of thing you could take to a 3D printer and have them fabricate for you?

I did that once with my Hasselbad 150 CF lens. Right behind the rubber focusing ring, there's a plastic retainer ring that keeps the focusing ring from sliding backwards. Apparently it's very common for those to crack, and I was able to buy my lens cheap because it had that problem, and someone had epoxied the ring back together (a totally unsatisfactory long-term solution). It didn't cost a heck of a lot to get a local 3D printer to make a replacement for me. (An authentic replacement part, of which there is a very limited supply, would have cosst nearly $100 I was quoted by a prominent Hasselblad repairman.) It doesn't look *exactly* like the original part--the printed version isn't as shiny--but ti works perfectly.

And because they will produce is a digital file simulating your part, they can always tweak it a bit so that it might function even a bit better. (The initial version of the ring they made for me was a bit too loose, so they just changed a few numbers and the second version fit perfectly.)

That's a heck of a projector; keeping it running is a worthwhile goal. And if that *is* a common problem with it because of its age, and you can provide a new source of parts for it through digital printing, you could potentially help lots of other owners with the same problem.

It's not tacky. What seems to happen with this particular gear is that it hardens up over time. I suspect that a long term fix is to chip the rubber off of the gear and find a replacement for the rubber (bicycle inner tube or latex glove, or something). But I won't do that unless absolutely necessary. I'd love to get my hands on a donor gear to try this out and document it. But right now, the only parts available on ebay are for the whole motor assembly and from Germany, which is just too much money.