8mm Forum: Beaulieu 708EL-Stereo

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Posted by Antonio Costa Mota (Member # 221) on June 28, 2005, 06:42 PM:

My Beaulieu 708EL-STEREO has a sound problem. My local engineer
tells me that the fault is located somewhere in the stereo
amplifier. In order to find the exact spot he would need the
amplifier electronic circuit diagram. Can anyone supply me a
photocopy of such diagram or suggest where I can get one ?
Many thanks and regards
Antonio

Posted by Kevin Clark (Member # 211) on June 29, 2005, 05:23 PM:

Hello Antonio
Sadly although I use Beaulieu 708 projectors I do not have a service manual or circuit diagram, only the original user's instruction manuals. Just hoping other Beaulieu owners may see this thread and respond if they know where to get one from, as I too would be interested in owning a full service manual for the mono and stereo models for future reference.
Kevin.

Posted by Jean-Marc Toussaint (Member # 270) on June 29, 2005, 05:40 PM:

Same here, I can't find the maintenance manual for the 708. Sorry.
What kind of problem are your having?

Posted by John Clancy (Member # 49) on June 30, 2005, 01:53 AM:

The Widescreen Centre may be able to point you in the right direction as they were selling them new up until the end. You'll find contact details on the super 8 links page of www.bfcc.biz if you need them.

Posted by Rob Young. (Member # 131) on June 30, 2005, 03:57 AM:

Antonio, if possible try OLD TIMER CAMERAS on (+44) 0208 953 5479. Or at www.oldtimercameras.co.uk

They are based in the UK and sell copies of all kinds of manuals. I bought one for my Beaulieu 708EL and Elmo ST-1200HD from them.

Unfortunately, my 708 is the mono version, so the circuit is probably different or you could have had a copy.

You have to pay for the manuals but they are complete photocopies (over 100 pages in the Beaulieu one!) and are nicely bound.

They can be also be very useful for minor do-it-yourself work and for future problems. One slight word of caution; when an engineer ordered some parts for my Beaulieu recently from the Widesrcreen Centre, the part numbers had changed. But they could still identify them and find the new part numbers using the manual as a guide. Also, we were able to get brand new parts from Beaulieu although it took quite a while!

Best of luck fixing your Beaulieu.

Posted by Antonio Costa Mota (Member # 221) on July 04, 2005, 05:39 PM:

Kevin Clark-Jean-Marc Toussaint-John Cancy-Rob Young

Many thanks to all above, for your inputs. I followed Rob´s
advice and contacted by phone OLD TIMER CAMERAS. They can supply
copies for the complete Repair Manual for both the Double Track
or the Stereo versions of the BEAULIEU 708EL. In my case they
are sending me a copy of just the amplifier circuit diagram for the Stereo version, which is what I need. Do contact them, they
are most helpfull. Thanks again and all the best.

Antonio
Stereo version

Posted by Kevin Clark (Member # 211) on July 05, 2005, 05:01 PM:

Hello Antonio
That's great news, I hope your engineer sorts the problem out for you quickly - I will buy the manuals from Oldtimer Cameras soon for future reference & self servicing. It's good to hear that spares are still available too. Rob, do you know if your parts came from Beaulieu or from Witners via The Widescreen Centre?
Kevin

Posted by Antonio Costa Mota (Member # 221) on July 05, 2005, 06:55 PM:

Hello Kevin
I bought several spareparts for my Beaulieu 708EL-Stereo,
directly from Witners in Germany. They acquired all the stock
from Beaulieu Industries when they went bankrupt. Check their
site where they list most of the parts available.
Regards
Antonio

Posted by Rob Young. (Member # 131) on July 06, 2005, 05:37 AM:

Kevin, I'm not sure as the widescreen centre ordered the parts for me.

Antonio, do you have the web address for Witners as a list of available spares would be really useful.

Posted by Dimitrios Kremalis (Member # 272) on July 06, 2005, 06:39 AM:

http://www.beaulieu.de/pages/s8_wzub1.php?rubr=s8_wzub1

Posted by Rob Young. (Member # 131) on July 06, 2005, 08:50 AM:

Thanks.

What a great site. The list of spares is amazing! I wish I could buy a spare of everything there; that would keep my projector going forever!

If only there was company with a list of Elmo spares like this!

EDIT: Just had a better look around the site; my German is not too good unfortunately but they seem to be advertising re-conditioned 708EL stereo machines for about 3000 euros? With the spares available, these machines could be like new!

Posted by Alan Rik (Member # 73) on July 06, 2005, 11:57 AM:

Sadly, the reconditioned units are no longer available. At least thats what I was told about a year ago. The Beaulieu site is currently dead. [Frown]

Posted by Kevin Faulkner (Member # 6) on July 06, 2005, 05:03 PM:

I think thats right Alan. The machines were all going back to the Beaulieu factory for refurb but as you say I think the factory is now closed. [Frown]

Kev.

Posted by Jean-Marc Toussaint (Member # 270) on July 06, 2005, 05:25 PM:

I concur...
Unless you know the Buisse-Botazzi family, who created the 708 prototype for Beaulieu. Last time I heard, they were still running a shop near Lyon, manufacturing customer 16 and 35 mmm projectors. But they were no longer dealing with 8mm...

JM

Posted by Flavio Stabile (Member # 357) on September 29, 2005, 03:46 AM:

Hello everyone!

I'm writing because I'm experiencing an Audio problem on my recently bought Beaulieu 708EL STEREO, which seems not able to produce any sound at all! I can hear a noise signal coming out from the internal speaker, especially whan I move the volume slider control, but no sound during the normal movie projection.

I was wondering, and so asking Antonio, if he had been able to solve his problem and in what exactly it consisted!

Unfortunately I have no Engineer to ask for help, so I would try to solve the problem by my self (if possible). [Frown]

If anyone can help, I'd really apreciate it! [Smile]

Thanks
Flavio

Posted by Jean-Marc Toussaint (Member # 270) on September 29, 2005, 04:31 AM:

Flavio, (Ugo gave me this tip a while ago):
Try to touch - very gently - the sound heads with a small metallic object (in play+sound mode, with volume halfway up). Do you hear something?

If not, you might want to change the heads, fortunately, they are still available from Wittner at the URL mentionned further up in this thread.

Posted by Flavio Stabile (Member # 357) on September 29, 2005, 05:29 AM:

Hello Jean-Marc!

Many thanks for your answer! I kwow Ugo very well and I asked yesterday night directly to him for any possible reason of this failure... He probably forgot about this suggestion (at least I hope so!) because he replied with no suggestion to my email!
My suspect is that due to his ELMO GS's mania (that partially is also mine - I own three GS-1200), he is disappointed with me because I bought this Beaulieu against his suggestion!

Ugo? Are you there?

However, as soon as I will be back at home this evening I will try your suggestion.

What is strange to me is the I just talked with the person who sold me it, and he guarantees the sound was working before shipping to me from Cannes to Rome... so I was wondering now if any damage could have been caused by the transportation.

Thanks,
Flavio

Posted by Jean-Marc Toussaint (Member # 270) on September 29, 2005, 05:59 AM:

Flavio,
Indeed, anything could have happened during shipping. One bad hit to the box and a simple wire could have been disconnected.
In my opinion, both the sound and the unstable focus (due to excessive heat to the micrometric knob) have always been the weakest aspects of the 708. I still think that this machine features the best threading system ever. Despite what I said many months ago, removing the film from its path, if you need to interrupt the projection, is child's play once you understand how to handle it. I therefore stand corrected. [Wink]

Posted by Ugo Grassi (Member # 139) on September 29, 2005, 02:07 PM:

quote:
He probably forgot about this suggestion (at least I hope so!) because he replied with no suggestion to my email!
My suspect is that due to his ELMO GS's mania (that partially is also mine - I own three GS-1200), he is disappointed with me because I bought this Beaulieu against his suggestion!

Very funny, very very funny... [Razz]

(of course I know Flavio personally, so I'll can hit him next time we meet... [Wink]

)

Posted by Flavio Stabile (Member # 357) on September 29, 2005, 03:43 PM:

Hi there!

unfortunately, after Ugo/Jean-Marc's suggestion I need to confirm that I cannot hear anything when I touch the heads with a small screwdriver (in play + sound position) ... I continue to hear the noise signal coming out from internal speaker: I even notice the tonality change of noise when I move the Tone slider, but nothing else...

May I exclude at least major damages to the main amplifier if I can hear these noise signals?
May I do any other test to conclude I need to replace the sound heads? But anyway, if this is the case, it means that who sold me the projector is saying not the truth! Is it possible the heads have been damaged during shipping and before they were perfectly working?

Thanks
Flavio

Posted by Kevin Faulkner (Member # 6) on September 29, 2005, 04:01 PM:

Very unlikely to be the heads. It could be something to do with switches or their positions. I dont know these machines too well but if you can hear hiss from the speaker which you can vary the tone of it would suggest that the preamp and amp are working and that there is no input going into the amps.
Are you sure you have all the switches in the correct positions?

Kev.

Posted by Flavio Stabile (Member # 357) on September 29, 2005, 04:19 PM:

Hi Kevin,

Well, really I followed exactly the procedure in the user manual for the 'dummy user' at his first projection with sound! Infact there is the 'secure way' to follow, when you make your first sound projection, that suggests that every switch should be in the position of the small "orange square". I don't know if you can follow me, but this means that the manual indicates, switch by switch, which is the exact position for each of them for the 'safe' play mode (against the 'rec' one for the newbie user that could accidentally have chosen the wrong position for one or more switches).

Another thing is that when I touch the plan slab where all the switches and sliders are located I can hear a small buzz coming from the speakers (something related to grounding?)

Is it normal?

Flavio

Posted by Jan Bister (Member # 332) on September 29, 2005, 08:07 PM:

Why don't we take this from the beginning... are the wire connections from the soundheads to the amplifier stage OK? Some wire may have popped off, especially with how thin and fragile the soundhead wires usually are...

Posted by Flavio Stabile (Member # 357) on September 30, 2005, 02:15 AM:

Already checked, but I will do it again better!

Thanks
Flavio

Posted by Flavio Stabile (Member # 357) on September 30, 2005, 03:04 PM:

I checked again and all wires from the sound head to the little circuit under located are connected... [Frown]

Any other suggestion?
Now I say probably a stupid thing: it can't be a problem of some hidden fuse I cannot find, can it?

Flavio

Posted by Antonio Costa Mota (Member # 221) on October 01, 2005, 07:33 PM:

Hello Flavio
I´m afraid I cannot be of much help in your case. The problem I
faced with my Beaulieu was that I lost sound on channel 2 but I
had good sound on channel 1. Not being a knowledgeable person in
electronics I had to hand it over to my local engineer. He is a
qualified ex-Bell & Howell certified engineer and a friend too.
The problem with my Beaulieu was located somewhere in the amplifier and he had to replace a couple of resistors to get it
right. This is all I know, I´m sorry.
Buona fortuna!
Antonio

Posted by Bo Svalin (Member # 362) on October 02, 2005, 08:48 AM:

Contact Björn Andersson Sweden, he's good on english. I think Björn is the only in Europe who have repairs Beaulieu both in Sweden and in France. He bigin 1974 on Beaulieu. He's very good on Beaulieu both on camera and on projectors.
bjorn.andersson@brevet.nu

Posted by Flavio Stabile (Member # 357) on October 02, 2005, 01:11 PM:

Hi Antonio, thanks for you answer.

Hi Bo, I will send an email to Björn, with the hope he can help me...

Flavio

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