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Hi All! In the archive I'm currently working at has a Bell& Howell Filmosound 302M projector that possibly has mold growth in the interior. I wanted to ask if anyone knows how rare or common these projectors are because we might end up deaccessioning it from the collection.
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Hi- I've owned a number of Bell & Howell projectors over the years, including a "302", which, except for
a few minor differences, are almost the same. Both of these can play back both Optical & Magnetic
sound track, and some models could also record a magnetic track, if I recall.
> The fact that your case exhibits mold growth is not a good sign! The cases on those old B&H's
were a combination of metal and pressed wood, often covered inside with a felt like material to
deaden the projection noise, and both the wood & felt are subject to mold under certain conditions.
> Projectors that have had noticeable mold growth often have other mechanical issues such as
rusted bearings and corroded amplifier parts. So this is usually not a good sign.
> That being said, there are so many variables, that I've seen, (and owned) some ancient Bell &
Howell 16mm machines that looked & ran almost like new. And yet I've seen others of the exact
same model & age as ones that I had, ( a model 285) which were pretty much junk. A lot depends
on how well they were stored and cared for over the years.
> Old B&H and other 16mm projectors aren't exactly "rare" - - there's never any shortage of them
on e-bay and other online resources, used professional camera dealers and occasional garage
sales. But, like anything else you might buy on one of these sources- it helps if you have some
knowledge and experience to sort between the good & bad deals.
> If you don't need magnetic sound, and you're looking to run older archival stuff, one of my
favorite projectors is any of the old RCA-400 series, especially those from the mid-to-late
1960's. They are very quiet running and easy to thread, and their slow speed, large diameter
sprockets are very gentle on older films, and usually pretty forgiving of less-than-perfect splices.
Other folks here, I'm sure, have their own preferences and can make sone suggestions and
recommendations too. But again, we're talking a machine that's at least 50 years old.
Fortunately, the RCA's are not too mechanically complex, and the earlier ones of the vintage I
mentioned were fairly well built. About a year ago, I bought one from an e-bay seller who had
several that he had personally re-built and made some modifications to. I paid a lot more for it
than I would have normally paid for a projector of that age, but his feedback was good and from
his detailed listing, I could tell he knew what he was doing​ and I've been very happy with it.
I hope this information helps you a little, and I'm sure that some other people here will also
have some excellent advice for you too. Cheers!
(PS> The only thing worse then a moldy Bell & Howell, was one a friend wanted to give me
several years ago that he'd found while cleaning out his deceased dad's garage. I could tell
right away as I approached it that there were going to be mold & rust issues - - but on
closer inspection, it was obvious that one or more rodents had lived (and maybe died)
inside of it while it was in storage. eeeeeeewwwww, yuck! I told him the best thing he
could do is to put on a mask, bag it up and get rid of it. If it hadn't been inside an old
wooden garage, I would have suggested just pouring gasoline on it and incinerating it!)
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