Stevens Camera Drive Model 16 made by Stevens Engineering Co.

[Ruben Arce]

Can you guys provide some information about this motor? I got it with a camera and I couldn't find any information online. It's a Stevens Camera Drive Model 16 made by Stevens Engineering Co. The Bollex Collector website has a pic that I copied and it says the motor can run at 16,24 and 32fps forward and reverse, it's on the metal plaque as well, but there are no swtiches at all. I couldn't find any information on the power requirements. Looks like it could take up to 4 batteries and maybe that's how speed goes up. The cable has 4 connectors in series meaning it adds power as you add batteries, looks like someone scratched the part that says how many volts it need to work at each speed.

Thanks

[Ruben Arce]

I'm going to reply to my own post just to leave this information here for people trying to find info about this motor in the future. A gentleman gave me a clue on a facebook group, he told me the Pailard motor for the Bolex speeds up as you apply more power to the motor. I noticed the cable that came with the Steven Camera Drive motor that I have has 4 connectors, which suggested you can add more batteries or power, the connectors are connected in series which means it's adding power, so I tried applying power to the motor and I noticed that it was running slow when I applied 12v and tried  to run the camera at 24fps, so I added another 12v battery and I was able to tell just by listening that the camera was running faster than at 24fps. I read on the Bolex Collector website that this motor was capable of delivering 8fps, 16fps, 24fps and 32fps. My conclusion is you need:

- 6 v for 8fps

- 12v for 16fps

- 18v for 24fps

- 24v for 32 fps.

The motor speeds up and the governor that the Bolex has takes it to a speed closer than the one you chose. This is not a crystal sync motor as you can imagine, but it's a good addition to a Bolex package.

The thicker connector on the batteries side is the positive. I tried using modern knowledge to try to deduct which wire was the positive one, but it was actually the other way around. I'm glad I didn't burn the motor and now someone else looking in the future can use this info to make the motor work.