How do you wind up a retractable projection screen?

Answer 1

First of all, make sure that it is not some other issue, because this whole process is not only time consuming, but frustrating at times.

The issue I had with my Bretwood screen, was that somehow the bar had worn down, broken, and then allowed the tensioner to unravel. As a result, the screen would not retract. In my case, I had to use a hack saw to make the end flush again (if this is your issue, remove as little of the bar as possible to make it rectangular). The bar is spring loaded so you do have a little bit of room to work with, but if you cut it too short, the mechanism will be ruined. So be careful.

Once you have exhausted all other issues, you then will have to remove the end cap on the side that the rectangular bar is on (the other end is circular and merely a pivot, it is important that this end is seated properly, but as long as it stays in place, you won't have to open that end up). Once you remove the outer end cap, there will be an inner bracket that holds the bar in place (by way of a rectangular hole), which needs to be respected, because if there is still a fair amount of tension in the spring, it could unravel very quickly, essentially turning it into an unguarded metal fan (!!! So be careful!!!) This bracket without the screws is lightly held in place by three metal pieces in three small holes on the bracket. Before removing, make sure you have a good grip of the bracket. (Also, make sure that you lift this end up, so that the circular end on the other side is seated properly and will not want to pop out.) If it was like my case, there was no tension, so no real risk until I started winding it. If there is tension, then the only reason you would be inquiring about this is if it just was not retracting all the way, in which case, it is essentially the same problem as mine, with a little less winding. In order to wind the mechanism, you should leave the bar in the bracket but just slide the bracket out a little so that you can use the bracket to rotate the bar, without hitting the outer metal casing (winding by holding the bar will be harder and it would then require you to thread it back into the rectangular hole in the bracket). So, start rotating the bracket (bar in the rectangular hole) and, thereby the bar, clockwise, so that you are turning the way you want the screen to roll up (my bar was on the left side of the apparatus if you were looking at the screen's white side, face-on). As you wind the screen will roll up. Once you've wound it up so that the screen is fully retracted, I would rotate the bracket an additional 15 times (so that it can contend with gravity, in its current orientation it is not fighting gravity) or maybe more, but this is approximately what worked for me (trial and error is always an option, but requires you to secure the bracket with at least one screw, to ensure you haven't just wasted your time winding and so you don't create a health hazard). So once you have wound up the bracket, seat it back in place with the three little metal pieces. Replace the screws before you add the end cap, then test the functionality of retraction mechanism by hanging your screen back up and seeing if it is working properly. If so, remove the screws, be careful that the bracket does not become dislodged, then replace the end cap, line up the holes and place and tighten the screws. You should now have a fully functioning retractable projection screen. I hope you found this helpful. -KR