8MM-16MM FORUM WORLDWIDE

How well built are the EIKI SL-O 16mm Projectors and would you recommend one?

Hey Roger, I have one of these and it was one of the last Eiki's made in 16mm. It is the only projector I use for 16mm and has a really cheap replacement lamp which I have yet to replace the one it came with. It uses one drive belt which is readily available but there is one hitch to this projector, the exciter lamp uses a vertical filament. The replacement lamp most places offer is a horizontal filament which only illuminates part of the soundtrack. Other than that, I can say with experience that this projector hates tape splices and needs a loop reset which is not available on it manually, instead it resets the loop when it wants to. Also the stock lens is a 50mm 2X lens. Meaning you have to either replace it for a small venue or have at least 75ft or more from the screen for a decent size picture.
My SL-0 has a replaced lens, I'm using a collared fixed image size B&H lens and get a nice image size from a 25-30 Ft throwing distance, I replaced the exciter with the proper bulb and the 15W amp in the projector only having a tone control puts out booming loud sound.
Other than a couple tweaks, the SL-0 is my go-to for 16mm. I've used it now on almost a hundred features and shorts and it hasn't failed me once. The Eiki was designed for Japan to throw their hat in the ring at the end of educational, easy to use projectors just before video took over. There are several on the market but I can say that in my experience they are good projectors.

The Eiki/Elf 16mm projectors use a BRK exciter lamo, for those in the UK this is known as a G27, it runs on 4volts at 0.75amps (i.e. 3watts).

The BRK lamps look exactly the same as a BRS (G29). These have the same base, and the same working conditions.

It is very easy to interchange these lamps by mistake, and then wonder why the sound output is extremely low. This is because the filaments are in different positions, the Eiki/Elf lamp is designed to fit in a horizontal position, whereas the BRS lamps which are used in the Bell & Howell projectors burn in a vertical position.

When the lamps are held in your hand with the flange at the bottom, the Eiki/Elf lamp's filament is vertical. The Bell & Howell (BRS) lamp's filament is observed to be horizontal.

I once bought a Bell & Howell from a college who told me it was faulty as the sound was so low. It was sold to me at a give-away price. When I got it home I discovered it had a Eiki/Elf (BRK) lamp fitted by mistake. I replaced the lamp with a correct Bell & Howell (BRS) and all was returned to loud and normal.

So, be careful when buying replacement exciter lamps.

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Maurice