A bright idea, realized -[ HMM ]-

An LED exciter-lamp retrofit and power supply I made for my Kalart-Victor 70- and 75-series projectors. I fabricated a holder/heat sink to mount a high-intensity LED onto and mounted the assembly onto to a plastic disc. I then mounted the assembly into a sound drum unit from a parts projector, using the drum's end cap to hold it in place through holes drilled in the disc for the purpose, to avoid modifying the drum.

 

The power supply was made from a power supply module, case, and other parts purchased through electronics parts suppliers. I modified the case, installed the parts, and wired everything up.

 

Those vintage Kalart-Victors are solid, quiet-running machines, their major weakness being a lot of 60-Hertz (or 50Hz for export models) hum in the sound. Unlike other projector makes using DC-powered lamps, the exciter lamps in these machines were AC-powered; thick filaments in the lamps, intended to minimize hum, did not completely squelch the noise. I originally envisioned replacing the original lamp with some kind of internal retrofit, untill I had an LED light-bulb moment. With this gadget, I just remove the old-school exciter lamp and slip this retrofit into place and kiss the exciter lamp hum goodbye.

Done