Kalee NP3 16mm

                                                                                                      (and some Victor)

Just by way of introduction and before we get into detail, here are a couple of general shots of the Kalee NP3. Please note all the pix show the machine without its wooden base, necessitated by the heat from the resistance in the metal base, of which more anon. You will note that I am experimenting with grouping and numbering the pictures.

Group A

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Kalee are of course best known for their 35mm machines and their only venture into narrow gauge as far as I know was the 16mm Kalee NP3. It seems to have come in around 1934, which is hardly an auspicious time for introducing a new machine with 400’capacity in a limited market. Not only was 16mm sound just coming in (and let’s face it, what can a silent machine do that a sound one can’t, except show silent films at a speed that is not 16/18 or 24fps), but the American market was not available. This was not just because of Bell & Howell being a major competitor, but because the NP3 was a badged Victor, and one cannot imagine Kalee being allowed to sell their (presumably licensed!) version in the States. Below are some adverts and write-ups from the time. Interesting pricing info is also in the back of the Kalee advertising booklet (see PDF below). Even in the relatively short time the Kalee was around, significant changes were made – eg mine has a simple two-pin mains input and none of the external resistance and connections referred to in the only instruction book I have (see other PDF), nor does it have an ammeter - I am thinking it might be the Utility model.

Group B

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 Ad leaflet   inkalee02a2.jpg     

Instructions   Kalee_Instructions.pdf(I did make a determined start on cleaning up the Instructions but there is something about both of these documents that makes cleaning up problematic; you will be able to see the point where I gave up; the left page is only part-done and all the pages were originally like the last couple or worse.)

Kalee NP3 Features

Some of the main features of the NP3 are described below; more photos and detail follow.

1.   A variable lamp resistance in this base to supply 110v from 240v mains, The lamp switch is incorporated as the first “step” in one of those semi-circular arrangements with a series of separate contacts connected one after another as the lamp power is increased. This is a bit odd, as there is an actual switch operated by a cam-like mechanism, much like the arrangement found in those Spectos using a 110v lamp. Even more odd, there is no meter to tell you when to stop increasing the power (which is presumably only relevant if using a 400w lamp instead of a 500) (see pix Group C).

2.   The motor speed control is a clever unit that just fits into the back of the machine and makes contact with two metal strips. This means it can be simply replaced as a unit – which is just as well as the circular resistance mat is pretty flimsy and had failed on my machine. The motor itself has only two wires but incorporates a forward/reverse switch (Pix Group D).

3.   The arms are an otherwise unique-to-Victor system with arms that fit into a slot in the mech, each arm having two prongs. The arms can slide into the projector to minimise size for transportation etc. Only the top one arm actually does this on my NP3; I think there is a Mazac problem here. Like the Pathé Vox, the spindles are two-sided so re-winding can occur at the same time as projection – a slightly risky procedure I would have thought. The rewind is motorised via a large pulley on the back of the machine carrying the take-up belt; this pulley also has a handle for manual rewinding or inching. The NP3 has in addition a feature not present on either of the two Victor machines I have, a small inching wheel peeking thru the side of the mech, not dissimilar to that on the Pax.

4.   The hallmark Victor threading path with automatic trip-out if a loop is lost.

5.   An unusual upwards opening lens housing/gate (seen open only in pix below of the Victor).

Group C

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           5                      6                       7                                8

C1 is  a side view of the base resistances - I assume the circular one on the left serves the motor. The stepped nature of the lamp resistance control is clear, with the left hand contact being Off. The external control knob is secured by a screw, accessible via the hole in the asbestos base (seen more clearly in C7). C5 (which is upside down) shows the opposite side and how the end of the lamp resistance control carries a cam to operate the on/off switch.

C2 is a shot of the main switch on the rear of the projector base. C3 is another view of the base resistances, showing a support I added to compensate for the thick reistance wire having cut through the edge of the asbestos base. C4 shows the base of the main switch, with the mains feed on the left. On the right are 2 double ceramic connector blocks are just visible; three wires feed into here, with one linked across to the fourth connector as a common. C6 and C9 show the four wires now emerging from the base, two feeding into the lamp holder (bottom centre), and one of the motor leads taking a detour via the single ceramic block on the base of the lamphouse to the speed control. This ceramic block has a small detachable flat cover held on by the finger-tightened chrome screws seen in C9.

I have to say the whole business seems more complicated than can be justified by what benefit might accrue from the extra light supposed to be available from a 110v lamp - I was tempted to scrap the lot and just go for 240v. You wouldn't then need a thick asbestos base, or an extra wooden baseplate to cover it. And it would make for a cheaper utility model. Come to think of it, nowadays you could probably fit an HID lamp ballast in that base instead! I have held off for now as originality seems more important for a projector that is unlikely to get a lot of use.

 Group D

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 D1  shows the flimsy construction of the resistance mat. However, it does just plug into the hole seen in D2, quite advanced modular construction, and connect via the two contacts; the wires for these are inside the lamphouse to the right. (D5 shows the lamphouse open; there is a second "skin" round much of the inside and the wires come up behind this). When I got the machine, and the motor didn't work, the resistance was the first thing I checked. I found 3 or four places where the winding had broken and there were a number of patches of corrosion which I suspect held more.

The arms are an otherwise unique-to-Victor system with arms that fit into a slot in the mech, each arm having two prongs (see D3). The arms can slide into the projector to minimise size for transportation etc. Only the top one arm actually does this on my NP3 (D4); I think there is a Mazac problem here. In D4 you can see a scratch down the lower arm, caused by not loosening the thumbwheel enough before pushing the arm in. I'm not sure about this Kalee, but the little Victor shown further on seems to have an arrangement whereby the sliding in and out of the arm is controlled by the thumbwheel but there is a screw on the opposite side which seems designed to prevent the arms coming out completely unless deliberately undone.

Like the Pathé Vox, the spindles are two-sided so re-winding can occur at the same time as projection – a slightly risky procedure I would have thought. The rewind is motorised via a large pulley on the back of the machine carrying the take-up belt; this pulley also has a handle for manual rewinding or inching. The NP3 has in addition a feature not present on either of the two Victor machines I have, a small inching wheel peeking thru each side of the mech, not dissimilar to that on the Pax (see D6, D8.)

Victor

As I have some examples to prove my point that the Kalee is a badged Victor, I thought I might as well show them here. First is a very compact little machine, which can use the base of its box as a stand.

Group E

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I don't know if this one was born naked or had nakedness thrust upon it at some point; the black sides to the mech housing and the speed control could go either way. I rather like the unpainted look. Note the retracted arms and the gate opening. The back of the motor has that odd spring thing (E4) which will move a bit but won't stayed moned and I have no idea what it is for. Any thoughts?

The other machine is a story of shame, dereliction of duty and general badness. It is the projector part of a Sound-On-Disc (SOD) that has long been in my possession but which I have abjectly failed to do anything to; I have not even cleaned it up.

Group F

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This is basically just an ordinary Victor silent machine with a number of adaptations for SOD. There is a geared connection th the main base of the SOD machine, via the pedestal best seen in F3. The speed control has gone, of course, but I am less clear about that pulley in front (F1) ar the enlarged lamphouse and added cooling which I am guessing is what the thing sticking out the back is for (F3 again).