B&H 253 8mm: Loosing lower loop

[Barry Masterson]

Greetings, I picked up a Bell & Howell 253-A. The projector appears to have few running hours, is fairly clean inside. However when running it I loose the lower loop fairly quickly. Some observations:
1. When I opened the back a small "pin" came out, not sure where it goes.
2. The main drive belt appears a little loose, sometimes the belt will slip on the main drive pulley.

It seems that the claw is not always fully retracting on its return up, thus possibly pulling the film in the gate back up. I suspect the pin does something important. Since the internal workings are riveted, I'd have to drill them out to get inside, then replace with machine screws.

The date stamped on the motor is "June 1957". All gears are metal. Nice machine. Any ideas on where the pin goes?

Thanks,
Barry

[Barry Masterson]

I managed to fix the problem, I removed the gate and with needle nose plyers, I bent the claw arm back a bit. Film still occasionally catches on splices. Seeing that these units are all riveted together, this seemed like the easiest fix. Still don't know what that pin does.