Not getting sound Bell & Howell (1592)

[Mathieu Perras]

Not getting any sound on this Bell & Howell 16mm projector (1592) model yet the red light on the exciter bulb is brightly red so it should be fine as I was told… I’ve tried cleaning with alcohol in and around the exciter bulb but obviously not directly touching the bulb itself. Any ideas ??

[Ed Gordon]

Have you tried the above?

[Mathieu Perras]

Yes been trying everything for hours.. I’m not actually getting the thumping/humming sound when moving the card back and forth between the sound drum and the lens back of the exciter lamp.. not sure what this means.
Strange since the exciter lamp clearly lights up bright, could it be lighting up but in the process of dying ? I’ve cleaned just about everything and the film clearly has an optical sound strip on it..
One interesting thing I noticed is plugging old headphones into the 1/4 jack in the back, I could hear the audio from the film!!! but you can barely barely hear it and it’s mostly just a lot of humming and noise…

[Jim Schrader]

is it possible the focus on the sound head is out of whack?

[Joerg Polzfusz]

Hi!

Is it a film with optical sound that you have threaded? Is there sound when the film is played in other projectors?

Is the film threaded correctly so that the film passes the exciter lamp between H and I? (When the projector is damaged, it might be possible to thread the film in a way that it directly goes from G to J = not around the wheel with the exciter lamp.)



Have you tried different external speakers/headphones?

Other than that I would assume that the amplifier is damaged or not connected to the exciter lamp or the plug for speaker/headphones anymore (corroded or damaged cables).

Have you checked all fuses?

Is it a projector that was meant for worldwide distribution? If yes, check whether it is set to the correct voltage/ac-frequency.

Good luck!

Instruction manual:
https://archive.org/details/bh-origi...scape/mode/2up

Service and parts manuals:
https://www.film-tech.com/warehouse/...996&category=2
https://www.film-tech.com/warehouse/...459&category=2

[Ed Gordon]

Yes been trying everything for hours.. I’m not actually getting the thumping/humming sound when moving the card back and forth between the sound drum and the lens back of the exciter lamp.. not sure what this means.

That thumping sound indicates that the optical sound pickup is working. The problem is elsewhere

One interesting thing I noticed is plugging old headphones into the 1/4 jack in the back, I could hear the audio from the film!!! but you can barely barely hear it and it’s mostly just a lot of humming and noise…

The headphone jack includes a switch to disable routing sound to the internal speaker. That may be defective or dirty.

[Mathieu Perras]

Right so since I’m not getting the thumping sound then the optical sound isn’t working (even though the exciter lamp lights up). Moving the volume knob from 1-10, testing the drum with card ETC there’s not a single sign of sound or anything. Could the bulb be failing ? I’ve seen videos where it seems to shine brighter…

[Ed Gordon]

Right so since I’m not getting the thumping sound then the optical sound isn’t working (even though the exciter lamp lights up). Moving the volume knob from 1-10, testing the drum with card ETC there’s not a single sign of sound or anything. Could the bulb be failing ? I’ve seen videos where it seems to shine brighter…

It could be the photocell that is faulty.

[Ken Finch]

Is the exciter lamp slit focused on the sound track of the film as a very fine horizontal slit of white light? If so it would appear that there is a problem with the amplifier or photocell.

[Alan Paterson]

I think it's your amplifier board that has died. I had to replace one on a TQ3 several years ago. Like yours, the exciter lamp lit up like it should but no sound. I got a replacement amplifier board, fitted it and all was well thereafter. It only cost about £25 at the time. I got the board from Norman Ogbourne in the UK, who had bought a load of Bell & Howell spares.

[Mathieu Perras]

Had a look at the amplifier today and all the wires appear to be properly connected/soldered in place… I’m like 99% sure the board is the issue..

[Nantawat Kittiwarakul]

OK, what we've got so far at the moment...

- Exciter works fine.
- Nothing from its internal speaker. Not even a scratching sound with the volume all the way up.
- However THIS is the key.

One interesting thing I noticed is plugging old headphones into the 1/4 jack in the back, I could hear the audio from the film!!! but you can barely barely hear it and it’s mostly just a lot of humming and noise…

So the amplifier isn't completely "dead". But something in the pipeline prevents the audio from reaching the speaker. If you get that faint audio from the HEADPHONE socket then I second that the "switch" that sends the output to this socket / disabling the SPEAKER socket might just get stuck.

Try inserting/removing the headphone to the socket again and again (and again...) might eventually re-activate that switch action - simple as that.

[Dominique De Bast]

Did you use successfully this projector before, or is it "new" to you?

[Alan Paterson]

I can't remember if there's a line-out socket on the back of a 1592, like a 5 pin DIN socket. If there is you could connect a lead from it to an amplifier. You might get sound this way. You'd be bypassing the projector's amp and taking the unamplified signal to an external amplifier. What has made me think of this is that you say you can hear the sound at a low level through headphones. Headphones don't need much of an amplified signal. To me, this would prove that everything on the projector is working correctly except the on board amplifier. Bon chance.