How can I fix movie projector Bell & Howell model #456A ?

My 456A does not show the film on the screen. I just get light. I ran without film and there appears to be some type of design on the projected light. I took out the lens and turned on light and it does not give me the pinhole square. It shows pin holes but not in the square shape, more rounded and a bar horizontal in the center. The projector appears in mint shape and worked the last time I used it in the 70's

Carol
March 2016

I had the same problem, and indeed the lens was fogged from the grease used to lubricate the zoom barrel. I will tell you how I removed it, but damaging or dinging the assembly is a high risk. This was a seat of the pants dissassembly. If you are willing to end up with some minor dings or damage to the black coating or barrel, you willl end up with a workingzoom lens again. Once you pull the entire lens out of the projector, remove the two tiny screws on either side of the barrel. You will now be able to separate the two barrel parts by pulling them apart. At that point, I thought I needed to remove the rear lens, and used a jewelers screwdriver instead of a spanner to remove the lens ring. Of course that scratched the barrel a bit. Do not do that first, even though it is the obvious place to start; only do it if all the rest here does not result in fixing the problem entirely. It is the inner lens which is fogged and to get at it you have to remove the front chrome hood. The hood is screwed on, but I suspect it was locktite coated during assembly. You will find that the inner lens is a sliding assembly that can slide in the lens barrel. By working from both slits in the outer barrel, gently move the inner barrel to the rear. Place a thin rod or thin scredriver through both slits to give yourself a decent grip on the assembly. If you are really lucky you may be able to unscrew the flare hood. I was not so lucky. I first heated the hood with a heat gun, and tried to unscrew it or pull it off, but that did not work. Thinking that the hood was a force fit, I tried to rap it with a hammer and a piece of wood around the back end to break it free. Somewhere in that process the hold broke and I realized I could then easily unscrew the hood from the barrel. There is a loose fit inner flange to hold the front lens element which just slides out. Remove the lens and you will have access to the fogged lens. I used Q-tips, rubbing alcohol, a lint free cloth and canned air to clean the lens. When putting everything back to gether make sure you line up the inner barrel screwholes through the slits with the out screw holes to remount the small screws.

GaryD
January 2011

Hello, It appears from your description to have a fogged lens. You more than likely have a zoom lens on it and they are known for "Fogging". Honestly it is a royal pain to disassemble this lens. They are readily available NON Zoon on Ebay for about $10.00

Mark

My8mm
August 2008