Here's a fun item for everyone to join in. We all talk about what is the best 8mm projector out there and it's usually Elmo/Beaulieu/Fumeo, however this thread is;

What is the worst 8mm projector out there? and there are plenty

My selection has to be a Cinerex SU200, I remember it well and so does the poor films that went through it

A defunct Cinerex provided a replacement motor for my Pathescope Son rebuild.
Why?
Because it had to be small to fit in the available space.

If i remember rightly, the Royal is one of the worst and almost guaranteed to scratch your movies.
I remeber a mate of mine having one, there was no way he was ever getting me to bring any of my movies around to his for a viewing on that. It looked and sounded like a meccano toy.

I remember when I was first looking to buy my first projector, I went to one of my local photo dealers, where they had all the usual names on show. The assistant saw I was interested in buying a projector, so he said would I like a demo, we came over to a good looking machine, he took a brand new copy of a Mighty Mouse cartoon off the shelve, I watched it, and was quite impressed, then he made the fatal mistake of asking if I'd like to see it again, as soon as it came on screen again, there was a lovely green scratch down the middle of the picture, I know I didn't know much about projectors then, but I knew enough to say I'd think about it, just one pass and a green line, oh the projector was a CINEREX sound. I once talked to my repair agent about them, and the only part he liked about the Cinerex was the motor, other than that!

There you go, the only good part of a Cinerex is the motor, thank you Maurice and Barry for that info, still hate the bloody things and will always remember what it did to my beloved films back in the day.

Never heard of a Royal Tom, you could say your films had been given a good Royal seeing to

Del.
Although it functioned, the flimsiest projector I have had was a Kodak Brownie (?) in Standard 8. This was my Mom's for use with the home movies she shot over the years. I think a cracker tin is made of heavier gauge metal than this one was, and it was limited to 100 ft. reels.....

I have only had two Super 8 projectors. The first was a Gaf Dual 8 which I threw out a few years back because...I don't think that was a proper belt, lol. The one I have now is an Elmo ST-1200D. It plays silent films well at 18fps. However, it is either sluggish or super fast at the 24fps setting and makes sound films unplayable. What would be a fantastic projector is now on the auction block as-is. If I had the mindset to examine it for repair, I would, but 16mm is my focus point and I just parted with my super 8 collection.

Dell, i think its the Gioca royal, awful thing,

Barry said " just one pass and a green line". This happened to us.
When our first Eumig 810 was on its way back for the umpteenth time from Johnson's of Hendon, who, in our opinion were S*** (i'll say why in a bit), we were given a B & H filmosound or film o sonic by the shop so we could watch our movies. It looked OK, it was new and it ran OK, My mistake was to put my unopened Derann 400ft version of The Texas chainsaw massacre through it. Back then all the cine thing was very new to me, i was 18 and didn't have much idea about which machines were good bad or indifferent. First showing was great, good sound, good image. The next day i put it through for a second viewing and there was a big thick green line all way down the centre of the picture and all the way through. . We looked through the path of the crappy B & H but couldn't see anything wrong. We didn't put another film through. The shop did not want to know when my Brother took it back. I've never touched a super 8 B & H since.
As for Johnson's of Hendon, My Brother bought our first sound projector from Frampton cameras here in Plymouth. from day one the dam thing slowed up, almost stopping half way through reels. Obviously today we all know why this happens. However, this was a brand new one under the manufacturers warranty. We were told it had to go to Johnson's to be fixed under the warranty. A poxy 6 week turn around. It came back, exactly the same, no less than 5 times each with a six week wait. In the end they gave us another new one. So our experience with "the wonderful Johnson's of Hendon" was one of utter contempt. They didn't seem to have a clue or they took it out the box, switched it on from cold and said it works and couldn't be bothered to test it properly. While Eumigs are very nice quite machines and very kind to film, that drive system with the rubber discs is terrible. I thought they might have improved on it over the years but clearly they were happy with it. All that said, i'm not a huge Eumig fan due to our experiences with this fault and also the 940 multiprocessor we had. Riddle with faults, crackling sound and the same crappy drive, but the 822 sonomatic we have along side the two 810D's and 802 is a fine machine. So far, Until it slows down.

I'm not adding Eumig to the list of worst machines, just stating the problems we had. I know other people have had them and have been trouble free. I dont mind them , my Brother swears by them despite there restrictions to 800ft max, (mostly 600ft) and the problem with the drives.

Take a look at this wonderful Gioca royal, this really is one to be avoided at all cost, guaranteed to ruin every film you put through it.
This is obviously the silent version, but the sound version is just as trashy with its claw being used to pull the film through instead of a front sprocket.

https://www.van-eck.net/itable.php?lang=...yal%20Super%208

Heres a sound version, my mate had one donkeys years ago, so i'm speaking from experience here, anyone on here got one and can defend them?

I've never used any of the machines mentioned but the worst machine I've owned has to be the Eumig 926 stereo machine, the way it pulls the film through didn't impress me nor did the reel set up,I used it for a 400 footer then got rid of it,Mark

Almost forgot one we were given.The eumig 905!!!
Where did they get that twin reel design. Positivly horendous machine. Not wishing to be ungrateful it was promptly passed on.

Passed on to the tip Tom!!! Mark

it should have but i gave it to another collector but i think he used it for spares

Oh Tom! My first sound projector was a Bell and Howell Filmosound from the mid 1970's. What a scary time that was! I never knew when it would malfunction and it almost caused me to give up this hobby! As a matter of fact, I had a silent one (B&H) from the same era that gave me grief! The auto-thread mechanism on both of those would make film resemble an accordion without warning. Or the machines would lose the loop during projection and I never could restore it for over a second or two! They also used a now rare and costly 15 or 25-hour lamp (DJL). I HATED those machines when I got rid of them! Oh, and the Filmosound put lines in my films. And the belt was deep in the machine and a beast to change. Need I say more?

Reading your reply Tim makes me realise that the lian to us of the b and h was in fact a lucky lesson to keep away from B and H Super 8s. The cost was my 400ft film. To defend Band H, there 16mm machines are excellent.A bit more complicated than my Eikis but they are a proven machine.

In my opinion, GAF projectors are the worst here in the states. Their gates wear out quickly and scratch the heck out of films. I've tried to work on them but they are just junk. Also and I hate to say it but late model Kodak dual 8 machines weren't the best either. I stick to my Elmo's and Eumig projectors for super 8 since they don't tear up films like the mentioned.