Bolex 18-5 Projector Repair

[ic-racer]

I found a nice Bolex 18-5, Dual-8 projector on ebay. From the pictures it looked in mint condition, but the label had fallen off the front cover.

 

[ic-racer]

Not much of a thread, as the only repair needed is to find a new nameplate and attach it to the cover.

Before the projector arrived, I searched for a replacement nameplate.

I found one for $25 which I thought was too much. I did find a "parts" projector for $13 with the nameplate intact and bought that, with the intention of taking it's nameplate for the other projector.

 

[ic-racer]

Turns out the good projector is lost in the mail! See recent thread on USPS.

I did get all my money back, including shipping charges.

But, I don't have a projector...or do I. Maybe the "parts" projector can be serviced.

 

[ic-racer]

Here is the "Parts" projector with annotations as to most of the issues I could detect so far. In addition to the usual things that were corroded or stiff, it appeared somehow it got smashed in the front, bending the film stage components.

This was not a 'shipping' issue, as the paint in the film stage is worn off from the film touching the painted frame (which it is not supposed to do.)

One thing I want to point out. This "parts" projector is the later model with the easily-serviced three-belt system. One can tell because of the white (glow-in-the-dark, actually) lever.

The older 18-5 models with the red lever have a single, flat belt that is very hard to come by if it ever needs to be replaced.

So, this projector is worth fixing.

 

[ic-racer]

 

[ic-racer]

The film gate was removed from the back to see what is wrong.

 

[ic-racer]

This tab had been bent (black line). This image taken after the repair shows the correct position, parallel to the film path.

 

[ic-racer]

The front of the film stage was bent and twisted.

The metal is pretty soft, so I was able to bend and twist it back in shape.

 

[Europan]

well done so far

 

[ic-racer]

This projector came with the Hi-Fi Zoom lens 12.5-25mm f1.3.

I did not disassemble the moving block in the middle of the lens. There were one or two elements in that. Overall it is a 5 or 6 element lens. Pretty high quality.
The inner lens surfaces are NOT coated, but the front is coated.

 

[ic-racer]

There was a lot of dust and shavings in the area of the upper sprocket.
Turns out one of the keepers was bent.

 

[ic-racer]

Takeup clutch too stiff. Pulls on film too hard.

 

[ic-racer]

The plastic gears look ok. The clutch was stiff with thick old grease.

 

[ic-racer]

I made a mistake with the picture. The gear actually does ride up against the cork without tearing it up. The flat washer goes between the two wavy washers and the gear (blue arrow).

These items were all cleaned in alcohol and re-greased.

 

[ic-racer]

The rear feet were removed and bent back into shape.

 

[ic-racer]

Fuse and socket were cleaned.

 

[ic-racer]

Testing in progress. I think I found all the issues. I'll run some more film through it to see. So far it is working great.

 

[ic-racer]

The was still some jitter to the projected image. I needed to evaluate the pulldown claw.

To get to that, I needed to remove the shutter.

All these items need to be reomoved:

 

[ic-racer]

Carefully remove this gear:

 

[ic-racer]

All the other gears will come out (green arrow) attached to the shutter assembly if the pin on this spacer is aligned with the little opening (red arrow).

 

[ic-racer]

Shutter assembly. These gears will be cleaned later.

 

[ic-racer]

With the shutter assembly removed, I could see the housing was dented. I used a wood dowel and hammer to straighten the metal.

 

[ic-racer]

One nice thing about the 18-5 vs the M8 projector, is the 18-5 uses oilite bearings. I removed them an cleaned them.

 

[ic-racer]

The pulldown claw mechanism is behind the shutter. The 3-groove pully is reomved with 3 screws. You might want to mark the position of the shutter as it is adjustable so a small extent on the shaft.

 

[ic-racer]

With the shutter removed, the pulldown claw mechanism is visible.
The floating film gate (green oval) was previously disassembled and un-bent, so I left all that in place.