8mm Revere Model 85 Projector Issue

[Christopher Eger]

Blew the dust off my grandfather's Revere Eight Projector Model 85 today for the first time.

- Ran right away.
- Watched 10min of old film. Thrilling!
- Turned off the clutch to attempt Rewind.
- Foolishly attempted to Rewind (before reading the instructions...) without unspooling the film from the feed/takeup sprockets.
- The film noticeably jerked (very slightly)
- Nothing else noticeable happened (it didn't rewind, of course - but no "problem" was apparent)
- Flipped it from Rewind back to Takeup
- Turned the clutch back on
- No motion at all from sprockets or film (it was no longer turning/working).
- I did notice it seemed fairly hot, but I'm not familiar enough to know how hot is normal.
- Also noticed it was running loud, but that seems somewhat normal from what I can find online.

Help! Anyone available for some help? Point me to some resources? Not much turns up in forums or on YouTube for this projector (however, this video makes me think there are people out there who know a great deal about this!).

Thanks in advance!

[Paul Adsett]

Possibly the motor is simply stalling out. The motors on these projectors have low starting torque and need to be up to speed before engaging the mechanism. Try this: unplug the projector and remove the film from the projector by hand from the gate and both sprockets. Now plug the projector back in, DISENGAGE THE CLUTCH, SET THE MOTOR AT ABOUT HALF SPEED and see if the motor will run. Then engage the clutch while the motor is running. If the sprocket wheels are turning all is well. You probably also need to lubricate the machine with a tiny drop of oil at the bearings.