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Author Topic: Hearing loss Richard Hamilton Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1341 From: Evansville, Indiana Registered: Jan 2000 posted 11-03-2011 01:00 PM                     Has anyone experienced hearing loss from working in the booth? I have recently lost most of my hearing in my left ear. I have a doctors appt next week. I figured 27 years working in the booth and large format installs may have contributed to it. Standing on the operators side with my left ear towards the machine Can anyone take a spl reading next to a projector? Both 35,70MM and ambient noise would be appreciated. Thanks in advance. Rick  |  IP: Logged Brad Miller Administrator Posts: 17775 From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall) Registered: May 99 posted 11-03-2011 11:44 PM                     That is mostly dependent upon the acoustics of the booth. I always design my booth with mandatory acoustic drop ceiling and carpet and they run VERY quiet. Other booths with bare cement or tile floor and often no ceiling except the roof deck are often quite hard on the ears. Working long shifts in them can very well cause hearing loss. Next time I am in some film booths I'll try and remember to take an SPL meter with me.  |  IP: Logged Jim Henk Master Film Handler Posts: 364 From: San Diego, CA Registered: Feb 2006 posted 11-03-2011 11:55 PM                     Um, before you give up on your hearing, consider that it might also be wax buildup. And before you laugh, it happens. And it sounds and feels a lot like hearing loss. Your ENT will find out for sure. Be well.  |  IP: Logged Mike Blakesley Film God Posts: 12767 From: Forsyth, Montana Registered: Jun 99 posted 11-04-2011 12:20 AM                        I can attest to the above. When I was about 25, I noticed that my one ear started to sound very "muffled" and I attributed it at first to too much rock'n'roll at top volume. I went to the dr. and he pulled out a hunk of wax about the size of a marble from EACH of my ears. I was flabbergasted at how much better I could hear after that. So yeah, I would get that checked for sure.  |  IP: Logged Randy Stankey Film God Posts: 6539 From: Erie, Pennsylvania Registered: Jun 99 posted 11-04-2011 07:54 AM                     quote: Richard Hamilton Can anyone take a spl reading next to a projector? Both 35,70MM and ambient noise would be appreciated. Thanks in advance. Years ago, when I worked at Tinseltown 17, I took some SPL readings in the booth. In the middle of the booth the SPL was about 70 dB-A when all 17 projectors were running. If you stood right near the projector while it was running, the SPL was about 85 dB-A. It is my understanding that 85 dB is the limit set by OSHA. Workers may be exposed to SPLs up to 85 dB for eight hours per day. If the sound levels average any more than that, or if the worker is exposed for longer than that, the employer is required to provide hearing protection and/or take noise abatement measures, either sound proofing the walls or cordoning off areas with high sound levels. So, the way I see it, the noise levels in a projection booth are right at the OSHA limit. Brad's procedure of using acoustic tiles and carpet on the floor is a good idea to make extra sure your booth doesn't get pinched by the feds.  |  IP: Logged Robert D Hall Film Handler Posts: 65 From: Abingdon V.A USA Registered: Mar 2010 posted 11-04-2011 08:20 AM                        I just got a reading of 81.5db at 3 feet from a 35mm simplex  |  IP: Logged Monte L Fullmer Film God Posts: 8367 From: Nampa, Idaho, USA Registered: Nov 2004 posted 11-04-2011 02:20 PM                     I used to tend a booth that had no ceiling tiles, ceiling was a good 12 ft high, all hard wall painted surfaces, vinyl floor tile with 8 Simplex Milleniums going crazy. In the middle of the booth, my SPL readings were close to 90dB - I absolutely hated that booth due to the racket where I would only go up there to lace up then leave. Wonder what the SPL readings are now since they went full digital and I'm no longer with that company - prob sounds like a wind factory with the 8 NEC units with all the fans needed to cool the things...  |  IP: Logged Robert E. Allen Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1078 From: Checotah, Oklahoma Registered: Jul 2002 posted 11-04-2011 02:27 PM                     I have lost some hearing in both ears mostly in the higher ranges. The VA issued me hearing aids for both ears. The audiologist attributed the loss to two things: many years in the booth and many years as a radio announcer wearing headsets. If anyone works a booth today and actually stays in the booth it might not be a bad idea to use ear plugs after you get things going. Hey Monte! Am I missing something? I thought "lace up" was a British term. In all my years in the booth it was called "thread".  |  IP: Logged Monte L Fullmer Film God Posts: 8367 From: Nampa, Idaho, USA Registered: Nov 2004 posted 11-04-2011 02:38 PM                     Lol ... picked that term up from a fellow operator in our local union, many moons ago who indeed did come from England, and it kinda stuck with me since.  |  IP: Logged Scott Norwood Film God Posts: 8146 From: Boston, MA. USA (1774.21 miles northeast of Dallas) Registered: Jun 99 posted 11-05-2011 10:56 AM                        If you want a quiet booth, get Norelco AA-IIs. These are the quietest film projectors that I have worked with. The ones without doors (Kinoton, Cinemeccanica, and turret-model Simplexes/Centurys) seem to be the loudest. Given the choice, I would always prefer a projector with an enclosed mechanism for this reason. Lamp exhaust volume seems to vary from booth to booth. Having the rectifiers in a separate room adjacent to the booth can also help reduce noise level. Carpet in the booth can also help, although there is some debate as to whether it is a good idea for other reasons (can collect dust/harder to clean than tile).  |  IP: Logged Mike Heenan Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1896 From: Scottsdale, AZ, USA Registered: Mar 2000 posted 11-05-2011 03:18 PM                     I have hearing loss. It's been there my whole life and has gradually gone down over the years. I wear a hearing aid in my left ear and I'm deaf in my right. It's tough to tell whether working in the booth the last 10 years affected me or not. I'm sure it did to some degree, but I usually shut my aid off when the shows were running (we only had two screens so it wasn't super busy like a multiplex).  |  IP: Logged Jim Bedford Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 597 From: Telluride, CO, USA (733 mi. WNW of Rockwall, TX but it seems much, much longer) Registered: Jun 99 posted 11-07-2011 09:28 AM                        Yep, mine's going too. But I blame 25 years of the likes of Jethro Tull, Steve Miller Band, The Who, Led Zeppelin, Stones, etc. concerts and especially the Sony Walkman more than booth noise. But it's likely cumulative and both booth noise and movie volume are contributing factors. I think that the Walkman for 20 years while skiing and normal aging are the primary culprits.  |  IP: Logged Doug Thompson Film Handler Posts: 27 From: Jacksonville, Fl, USA Registered: Sep 2011 posted 11-08-2011 07:32 PM                     I can attest to what Scott Norwood says about AA-IIs. But the ones I used to run chattered horribly on green prints. (We didn't have FilmGuard then.) In fact, we would move such a print to the DP-75s lest they be ruined in several days running otherwise. The Cinemeccanica V-4s at another theatre were very noisy when I started there, but after tearing down, cleaning and lubrication and reassembly, they were amazingly quiet. I had to do this about every 3 months or so to keep them quiet. Hearing was still good enough to do 5 years or so as a mastering engineer at a recording studio. I've been using plugs my construction job, but age seems to be causing the high end to droop. Doug  |  IP: Logged Jim Henk Master Film Handler Posts: 364 From: San Diego, CA Registered: Feb 2006 posted 11-11-2011 07:41 PM                     So Richard, how did the appointment go?  |  IP: Logged Randy Stankey Film God Posts: 6539 From: Erie, Pennsylvania Registered: Jun 99 posted 11-11-2011 08:17 PM                     quote: Jim Bedford Yep, mine's going too. But I blame 25 years of the likes of Jethro Tull, Steve Miller Band, The Who, Led Zeppelin, Stones, etc. concerts and especially the Sony Walkman more than booth noise. Almost the same story here but add in some occasional gunfire to boot. When I was younger, I went hunting and shooting with my father a lot. Back in those days, men didn't wear hearing protection. God help you if he even caught you putting your fingers in your ears! Then, just two summers ago, I was at the range practicing silhouette shooting with my 10/22. I had just emptied my magazine and was putting my rifle in the rack when the guy to my right put up his hand and called to clear the firing line. Thinking the range was cold, I took off my hearing protector when this asshole in the stall right on my left let loose with a shot from an 8mm Mauser. Of course, he was shooting hot loads. The concussion nearly knocked me over. The shot was so loud it hurt. It hurt so bad I actually screamed. My ear throbbed for about a week after that. I can still hear in my left ear but not as well as I used to. Why do dickheads like that always have to get in "just one more shot" when somebody calls the line clear? Why do dickheads who have to get in one more shot always seem to be shooting maximum loads? What kind of dickhead shoots max loads out of a vintage gun in the first place? Okay, maybe I should have checked that all the guns were in the rack before taking off my earmuffs but that guy was a dickhead in the first place. That really hurt! I wanted to punch him out but it's not wise to start a fight on the rifle range. Everybody there has guns!  |  IP: Logged

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