8mm Forum: New to Projectors need guidance

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Posted by Henry Ynostroza (Member # 6871) on February 20, 2019, 01:26 PM:

Hello everyone. My dad gave me his old projector and all of his Super 8 reels from when we were very young, up until now I really kept them as memorabilia, but following my dad giving me this stuff my mother passed away and now I feel it is time to try to recover and possibly convert this stuff into better quality but before that I need to know the basics of projectors. I have a bell howell 471-a and it seems to be very sluggish when getting feed into the feed reel i guess you call it? Anyways I need to know how to open the projector and see if it is the belt. Anyone can point me into the right direction I would appreciate it, and I hope to be coming back to this forum asking more questions [Smile]

Thank you

Henry

Posted by Mark Mander (Member # 340) on February 20, 2019, 02:03 PM:

Hi Henry
I'm not familiar with this machine but the back of the machine will have to be removed,just look for the screws on the back cover,I'm guessing two or possibly one on each corner,it's never too hard removing a cover as a rule,once this is off you'll see the belt that will need replacing, Mark

Posted by Maurice Leakey (Member # 916) on February 20, 2019, 02:51 PM:

Henry
Having looked at a pic on an eBay offering, it seems that you need to remove/loosen the four screws in each comer of the operating side.
Slow running could also be caused by coagulated old oil which is slowing down the mechanism.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Bell-Howell-Autoload-471A-8mm-Moti on-Picture-Projector-PARTS-/183676663865

Posted by Henry Ynostroza (Member # 6871) on February 20, 2019, 03:15 PM:

Thank you so much! I got it open and tried to be as careful as possible and I saw that the belt was still good BUT i noticed that the feed reel arm? Sorry still new to this stuff was going very slowly but with the cover off I tilted the front portion of the projector and it seems to go faster as if there isn't enough tension from the pulley I can show you a photo. Do these pulleys or gears have a way to tighten or loosen the tension or is it something I might have to rig up to make it more tighter on my own?

Thank you so much for your help [Smile]

Photo 1

Posted by Janice Glesser (Member # 2758) on February 20, 2019, 04:45 PM:

Hi Henry and welcome!

What you are calling the "feed arm" I'm assuming is the "supply reel arm." When the projector is put in forward the film is pulled through the gate by the claw and collected by the rear motor driven take-up reel. The supply reel is not motor driven in forward mode but there are pulleys inside the arm that might need lubrication. The supply reel is motor driven when the projector is set to reverse/rewind.

Your photo shows a lot of old dried grease on the gears.I would remove some of the old grease with cotton swabs and 91% Alcohol and re-grease with some SuperLube. Be careful to not get any lube on friction driven parts and belt pulleys. Also a few drops of light machine oil might help in the motor.

Even though the belt might look good it may have stretched over the years. Getting a new belt wouldn't hurt.

[ February 20, 2019, 05:54 PM: Message edited by: Janice Glesser ]

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