Projector

[Martin Davey]

I'm sorry Nick and I do not intend to upset you, but you do not offer machines with new worm gear from what I can gather? I would have purchased from you if you did. You are surrounded by sellers who use the term "the lamp comes on and it makes a noise" which does not only apply to TQ3s, but every projector type that is listed on Ebay, as we all know, because most people have no idea about projectors. In the end I took the route of purchasing a cheap machine from the latter end of production, and then factored in the job of overhaul, servicing and replacement of parts/ wormdrive. Even then, that late version had a tiny crack forming that could not be difficult to see without disassembly and would appear to be in good condition from a visual inspection in situ. The machine cost £50, plus the service (£325) by the wizard up in Nottingham, thus bringing the cost of the item to £375. As a punter I look to who offers what I want, and spend accordingly.
I wish you luck, and have used your service in the past for past purchased items, and still will in the future.

[Nick Regan]

Martin,

I take no offence at all.

Perhaps I am doing something wrong here, If a piece of equipment is found to have a crack or another fault during its service it obviously needs to to be replaced or fixed before it can be sold as fully serviced and tested. I would not expect to sell for instance, a car and list it as serviced stating "the spark plug has been changed and the air filter etc etc". just listed as serviced. I would not normally list a projector as gear changed. What do you think? Should I?

A friendly suggestion for anybody buying, or looking to buy a type of machine that has noted fails is to ask the the seller if the worm gear has been checked and replaced, If they have no idea of what you are asking then be wary but you may find it has been changed and the history of the machine.

The original worm gears on these machines were of a build that was not designed to last as long as the projectors have tended too. The replacements available now are of are built of a different material and tend to last a lot longer.

A new worm gear for one of these machines costs around £40 so if the machine is stripped down for a clean and service it makes sense if its an old one to change it then as the main cost everyone is quoting here is labour charges so perhaps it might be that perhaps fewer of these machines actually need new gears?

I agree totally about idiots selling things they dont understand on eBay but this does work both ways, This week I purcased a Specto 8 mm projector for £20 when it arrived turned out to be a Cased Dual 9.5 / 16 mm machine in near mint condition with 2 Spare lamps which I will now service and resell as the item it actually is.

Nick

[Maurice Leakey]

The original Bell & Howell worms were two-piece. White plastic over an aluminium former. Over time the plastic started to crack. This caused uneven running and poor sound. Quite often the whole amount of plastic fell off entirely.

The replacement was a one piece worm made of black Nylatron. It is hoped that these will have a good life span.

Bell & Howell Filmsound 16mm projector replacing main drive worm gear - YouTube

[Benjamin Barr]

So if u were in me no idea about film or 2 x projector or films what would use do ?

[Maurice Leakey]

I would sell them as a "Buy It Now" on eBay with a description clearly stating that you don't know if they will work correctly so you are selling for repair or for parts. Include some photos if possible, and give the model number as shown on the handle.

Perhaps £35 each, plus carriage.

[Steven J. Kirk]

I had a TQ3 for many years and loved it but around 2010 the dreaded worm drive failed and after much thought I went over to Eiki NTs and then the 3 sprocket Elmo machines. These have their own gear issues but have an easier solution. I threw out all my B&H stuff and gave away the good lenses and I wouldn't go back now. I recommend the Eiki machines and the Elmo 3 sprocket hand lacers are great and now Van Eck does 3D printed gears for those and they are relatively easy to change.

[Martin Davey]

Nick,
Glad to hear about the Spectro bargain!
The sum I paid to KB cine was inclusive of everything, so that is labour, wormdrive and other new parts as required to bring it back to original spec. As I said though there is a shortage of B&Hs with new (formulation) worm gears installed for sale, and I'm sure if more of those renovated ones were on the market they would be in demand. It is a good 'hook' I would have thought, to sell TQ projectors. Some people, inc members on here do the repair themselves, but many are like me find this one too difficult, even though I'm able to take apart an Elf for example with it being a lot simpler with only 1/4 of the amount of parts used. Often they dump the B&H and just use Elfs once the worm goes, which is a waste of a good projector.

[Nick Regan]

Benjamin,

To get back to your original question,

I agree with Maurice in selling at a buy it now price with an untested so spares or repairs label but if you were selling at £35 each I would personally bite both hands off at that price.

I would myself sell untested at a buy it now price of £100 each or best offer. I would then not accept any offer less than £50 for each one and somebody would probably pay the £100 depending how long you wait

Whatever you decide please let us all know the reults.

Nick

[Benjamin Barr]

Thank u all for your advice it much appreciated.There is a bloke Leicester that my grandads bought his films from spoke to him he is interested in buying all from me as a job lot as he know bloke that services the machine an he supplied the film to him so 🤞 thank u all again
Ben

[Maurice Leakey]

Benjamin
I do hope the deal goes through. The proposed buyer is well known, and will eventually be able to sell on your items.
And, of course, Leicester is not far from Nottingham.

[Jason Moffatt]

I found a B&H 1695 (green one) around ten years ago with a cracked worm but it still worked ok, ten years later it still works ok and has been used often.Maybe some get to a point where the outer plastic gear will not shrink anymore ?.

[Maurice Leakey]

Jason
As you are still using it (on a regular basis?) no doubt this has prevented the worm from drying out any further. Drying out can accelerate the worm disintegrating.

[Jason Moffatt]

Yes, once every few weeks i’ll play a couple of films on it.The gear does have a few fine cracks but it hasn't got any worse in around 10 years.