Bolex 18-5 Projector Repair

Remove the spring and bolt. There are two ball bearings under the washer.

After removing these springs and the bolt seen in the previous post, the pulldown claw should be free.

There was some wear on these pads, but they were still OK.

The jerky image was caused by these grooves which were worn into the pulldown claw.

I repaired this by filing the affected areas smooth again.

I removed the old grease here and re-greased with teflon grease that is safe for plastic.

I removed the old molybdenum grease from the cam and the pulldown claw. I re-assembled with fresh molybdenum grease.

The claw rotates around the circular opening, so it needs lube there. That is also where the ball bearings are located.

The cam moves the claw in two axes. The cam presses on the rectangular pad to move the arm up and down and presses on the circular dimple to move the claw in and out of the sprocket holes (green arrows).

When re-attaching the shutter, either put it back where you marked it. In my case, since I filed the claw thinner, I wanted to re-adjust the timing. The shutter can be moved forward or backward slightly so the aperture is completely covered by the time the claw starts to move the film.

Re-assembled after bending back to shape and re-greasing and re-lubricating the moving and spinning surfaces.

Very nice work, thanks for presenting!

Hi, I'm new here. This model was the first projector I bought, I got a power cord on eBay, need to figure out what type bulb to buy. It currently has Sylvania 50 watt 8 volt. Is that what I should be looking for?

There were two different style of bulb, depending on what type of socket the projector has.

The projector described here uses the "Diver Dan" bulb: Osram 58.8008 or PHILIPS 13113C/04 50W 8V.

There were a number of different "18-5" style Bolex projectors that took different bulbs. They even had an adapter to convert from "Diver Dan" lamp to a MR16 lamp.

The AC cable for these projectors has a unique connector for the back of the projector. I was able to find a cable. Though, all I saved was just the connector. I replaced the cord with a fresh cord.

BTW, after doing all the repairs outlined here, I found a like-new projector still in its box. I'll keep the others as spares and use this one.

A passion that requires a lot of storage space

Is there a repair community for these devices or are you a pioneer here?

Andreas Thaler said:

A passion that requires a lot of storage space

Is there a repair community for these devices or are you a pioneer here?

Click to expand...

Yes, actually. There is a forum for 8mm film collectors. That is where most information on these projectors is found. In contrast, I think most of the 8mm cinematography and movie-making forums are populated by people that are going to scan the film to digital for editing and they don't discuss the projectors much.

Personally, I'm not 'digital' so I edit by splicing the tape and then view my movies on these projectors.

Dear ic-racer,
thank you very much for such a detailed, informative repair log! I have started to look over an early version of this projector (Sn1325197) and hope you can help with some of my questions.
It is the projector my Dad bought in 1961 and we enjoyed while we grew up. Then there were several decades of hibernation until last summer, when I brought it back with me. It is the 50Hz version and looks almost like new.



It has a single belt, which I could not find any information about. I am wondering if the green plastic sleeve on the pulley is stock or was added later to reduce slippage (something my Dad would have done: so what if speed increases, as long as we can watch the family movies), or is it the conversion between 50 and 60 Hz as it is surprisingly close in diameter ratio: 11.8mm/9.8mm=1.20 as is 60Hz/50Hz!!! It somehow does not look like it would be Bolex design, typically the different frequency version would have a different pulley. Did I see correctly, the belt tension is defined by the weight of the motor, as it pivots into the image plane of the picture below. I will be able to tell, once I start it and measure fps. Belt was removed in order to show the pulley with 'sleeve':



Film transport moves against the spring and looks to be in good shape, grabbers as well.


Most gear grease looks quite dark, - have not yet tried to power it up.

I do not have the time to do a full tear-down now, and wonder what you recommend to do as a minimum in order to give it a brief functional test without destroying projector parts or film.
Replace start-up caps? (do you have a wiring diagram? I am not sure how all the caps are used)
Clean and re-lube some fast moving parts?

Thanks again - Wolf

Hi ic-racer, thank you so much for posting your work in such detail! Very well done.

Like you, I went down the rabbit hole of Bolex 18-5. They are such magnificent devices from a time where things were built to last.

I'm currently restoring an 18-5 Double Eight and an 18-5L Super for telecine work. It is fascinating to witness the course of design evolution this pair represents. The Bolex team had to march with time and introduced automatic loading plus halogen lighting. But they never cheapened what made this design so beautiful.

Thanks again! 'Really enjoyed your story and your excellent photos.

Cheers,
Michael