robert louis

I see Dom. Thanks. I think I'll leave it to a repair guy down the road.

Dom, you mean the silver pin that goes against the door lid, cause if that's what you mean there's not much of a crack around the pin. I don't want to let oil run on top floor.

Hello again everyone. Was wondering how my drive & idler gears should look all the time for proper running of my 70H. Take a look at the shots I took. My concerns are should they be bone dry, a little greasy/oily, a lot greasy/oily, etc. How do mine look? I did a full oil job in all recommended ports. I ran it with exposed film for 500 feet or so. The shots I attached are after the running.

Since it's hard to find movie camera oil these days, what's the best alternative? I'm not having that good of success with sewing machine oil. Is clipper oil, you know for electric hair clippers, better? I want to use whatever especially for the shutter rod, the oil port between lens turret. It's screeching especially at the higher fps settings and when it dies down to a halt. Thanks.

Yeah Bob, that's the only quick and safe fix. It works but it takes a long time from 100' to go back to "A". Since I'm not really a repair guy for kind of complex fixes that's what I'll do. It was made in 1944 and works pretty good for a Bolex which sometimes gets a bad rap for quality, but I think they are excellent camera's. This one sounds way better than my B&H Filmo 70. Thanks. RL

Thanks Phil, I know how to remove the shutter plate. Which model do you have? RL

I have no idea Philip. The manual in the first picture above states there's 2 oil cups located over each of the 2 main motor bearings. I wish they put a picture and showed where they are. In the second picture I believe that's where they would be. You have the silver metal shaft that goes into the wind crank hole in the camera to drive the camera. That shaft has to go down to the bearings so I oiled the shaft in the joint area. The last picture showing that round disc with screws I would think has the grease packed around the reduction bearing they mention in the last paragraph. I was going to open that up and see what's there but I don't want to disturb anything without an expert telling me what to do exactly. I know the bearings have to be in there. It runs fine so I'll wait until I hear abnormal noises. B&H is very vague with certain things and I found that they don't always are exact in their manuals. You never know, this motor might not have to be oiled. They made a lot of different models and then write a section in the manual that might pertain to a couple of them but not all of them. Anyway, thanks for the reply. Let me know what you think on my observations. RL

Hello. The footage counter on my H16 Bolex advances fine but doesn't reset to zero when cover is taken off and on. Any quick fix? Thanks. RL

Don't want to keep bugging you Simon, last question. Does it matter how you store the camera in regards to the oiling settling wrong, you know with gravity and all? This is for long term storage I'm concerned with. I always stored the camera on the flat wind key side, horizontally. Should it be vertical or horizontal, or either way is fine? Thanks again in advance. RL

Don't know if you got this, Simon. I'm new at these forums and don't know if I'm replying right. Let me know you got this. Thanks so much Simon. Works like a charm now. 100% better. As good as it will get. Now how often do I oil in the wind key hole? Always 5 drops of oil when I do it? Let me know. Thanks. RL

Thanks so much Simon. Works like a charm now. 100% better. As good as it will get. Now how often do I oil in the wind key hole? Always 5 drops of oil when I do it? Let me know. Thanks. RL

I oiled in the middle of the turret, Dom. When I use the hand crank it's fine. Nice movement through all speeds, no interruptions of any kind. I'm going to try what Simon Wyss said to do. I'll let you know what happens. Thanks. RL

Dom, I read your Eyemo writing. Excellent. Now I know what you are talking about. I don't think I'm going to attempt it though, I don't want parts going all over the place and then I'm stuck. The camera is running fine when I use crank and motor, so it must be down deep that needs oiling and grease. I think the shutter's fine, I'll look at it through the lens mount opening tomorrow. Like I said it just runs erratic and noisy only with the wind up. If I'm gonna sell it down the road I'll have a pro overhaul it, but for now I can use the crank like the old silents or attach the motor. It use to run excellent when I used the wind key, quick stop and goes, the end of the wind stopping on a dime. What do you think, part-wise would make it drag at the end of the wind and finally dying off? Let me know your thoughts. Thanks. RL

Thanks Dom for all the info. They are indeed workhorses so that's the confusing part although it did sit for many years unused. I should of ran it at least every 6 months. Anyway, when you say the shutter bearing do you mean that pin between the lenses on the turret or deeper to the shutter itself? What do you mean does it manually turn over? How do I take off the front, and front meaning what? I know of a place in Pittsburgh, PA (USA) that would overhaul it but it would cost too much and I'm keeping it for sentimental reasons. Let me know. Thanks. RL

No I would never do that.

It was stored in a hard case in a bedroom closet with plenty of silica gel packs. I want to also say it does make abnormal noises. I just ran it again. I have the hand crank and I used that and it sounds fine at all speeds and also the electric motor does the same so I'm thinking it's in the wind key guts (spring, etc.). What do you think? I put some more oil in but to no avail. I think it has plenty. RL

Was wondering if anyone is familiar with this camera or better still owns one. A little background on mine, I acquired it new back in 1975 and used it now and then making films. Then it was stored and used again in 1999 to do a film. It was fine. Then I stored it again and took it out this year to run it a little. It was stored for 23 years if you do the math. I wound it up and ran it. It ran erratically (no strange noise) and towards the end of the wind slowed on and off, dying out. It was oiled as suggested so that's not the problem I think unless it needs a lot of it ( 2-3 drops were put in the proper holes). Any thoughts on what's happening or happened? Thanks. RL

Yeah Simon. After reading the last section, I think I oiled the commutator because they state to oil this in one of the 4 holes (which from my pics there's 2 on each side and you can see the commutator from any one of these. As you turn the knob on top of the motor you see it spin. I'm gonna clean that today. I don't think any damage was done. I really didn't put much. Anyway I think it should be oiled somewhere cause that's the manual for the 70-H camera but beats the hell out of me so I'll forget about it. It's not going to be used at all. It's just a keepsake. Thanks for the replies.

Simon, I oiled where red arrow is pointing. R

Simon, thanks for the reply. I attached some shots of the motor and the section talking about it in the manual. It has to be done somewhere as far as their concerned as you read it. The bearing of the motor is encase in grease but that has nothing to do with lubing them, maintenance-wise. In the attached pics I show you where I oiled them hoping it was right. I see a shaft with a type of fly wheel where I dropped the oil. This area seemed to be the only one under those holes that looked like it would take oil, all the other holes had wires and wire wrappings,etc. I inspected the brushes and they are fine, about 10/16" long. This motor was not really used a lot. I got it in 1976, used it a little, then again in 1999, a little bit more, and that's it. Was in storage for way more time than used so it needs nursing, that's why I want to know the right oil holes. Take a look at the pics and tell me what you think. Thanks. Rob

Does anyone know exactly where you are suppose to oil the motor? The manual is not direct and it's not easy to know which oil cup holes to go into since there's no pictures or diagram to see where . It says to place two drops in the two oil cups located over each of the two main motor bearings ( like a novice is even going to know what they look like). Well there's a lot of holes on the housing of this motor. Anyone? Also, does anyone know where to get new brushes for this motor. Thanks.