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Basic Eyemo Maintenance


Aaron Martin @ OH

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I have just come into possession of an Eyemo. It's #2963, one of the earlier types that has a latch on the front that sets the speed. This camera winds and runs - at 12, 16 and 24 fps - but I'd like to know what basic maintenance I should be doing to keep the camera in operating condition. I do see the two wells for oil on the sprockets inside the camera - are there any other places that I should oil? I don't have the tools to safely disassemble the camera and service the spring (which seems to run smoothly and at a constant speed) but is there anything I can do lubricate it from the outside? Is there anything else I should check to make sure the camera is operating correctly before I shoot a test?

Thanks,

Aaron

 

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There should be a little cap in the shutter plate that covers a hole. This should get some oil. Use a decent synthetic sewing machine or watch oil, not WD40 or 3 in 1, both of those will eventually turn thick. Use a needle dripper or a fine watercolor brush to apply oil in small amounts. You don't want it splashing all around in the shutter and governor.

It's not hard to take the shutter out of the camera and give it a really good cleaning. That doesn't involve anything to do with the main spring. It can possibly quiet it down and you can ensure all the cam surfaces are perfectly smooth. If your camera is very early and has the felt governor in the shutter plate, you may need to replace the felt and do a real timing test with a measured length of leader to get an accurate frame speed. 

Dom has a great Eyemo (and Filmo) writeup at his cinetinker.blogspot.com blog.

Phil Forrest

Edited by Philip Forrest
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Sewing machine oil, acid free and resin free, one drop into each of mentioned openings. The best thing you can do to keep your Eyemo in a good state is to use it. Wind the mainspring fully and let it unwind uninterruptedly with film loaded. Without film only at lower speeds

These are the oil ports:

  1. Front, center, main excentric
  2. Front, off center, governor
  3. Wind key/crank port, gear train (there should be a felt pad down in there, six to eight drops)
  4. Little bore close to the rewind crank bush, if rewind attachment present

You can apply a little grease on every shaft end you see turning in the film chamber. Put finger on while shaft is turning to rub it in.

A complete service will bring the camera back to full potential.

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  • 3 months later...
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It's fairly straightforward to remove the front to access the shutter.

I wrote this guide some years ago when I had access to the service manual, and used to work on Eyemos a little:

http://cinetinker.blogspot.com/2013/06/inside-bell-howell-eyemo.html

If you don't want to work on it yourself, perhaps contact Visual Products in Ohio or Du-all in New Jersey. Or send it to Simon in Switzerland! 

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