3 timers can't get any to work

Hi,

Yesterday I picked up my LPL C7700 colour enlarger which I got off Ebay. It looks to be in good condition and came with three timers:

• Patterson System 1000 (PDC 1010) Timer
• Patterson/Philips System 2000 (PCA 2060) Timer
• Phillips Process Timer (PDT 2015) Colour analyser

If I connect the enlarger directly to the transformer the lamp comes on, but I've not got it to work with any of the three timers. The seller did say that none of the timers were tested, but three duds would be bad luck. The Paterson System 1000 is the simplest and looks like it is just a timer dial and a couple of switches. Unfortunately this has a kettle lead attachment to the enlarger and mine has a standard UK 3 pin plug. When I plug the timer in you can hear it switch on, but when you hit the start button the timer doesn't move. Does it need to be properly connected to the enlarger for the dial to count down?

The second timer was the one I was hoping to use. It has a standard plug socket to attach the enlarger and if I connect everything and click the lamp button, I get light. However if I switch it to print mode and enter a time the lamp will either stay on if on already, or won't come on if it is off. There are a whole host of other buttons, which I don't really know what they do. I've not found an instruction manual so I wonder if anyone has an electronic copy, of if they could explain it's function.

The third one I believe is just a colour analyser rather than a timer, although that was how it was listed. I think i've got the concept behind colour analysers and may have a play around with it if I can get the thing working. I'd really like to avoid counting elephants if possible. Can anyone help me?

I also have a Meopta Viponel S15 Timer which came with another enlarger I picked up for the darkroom kit that came with it. This seems to work perfectly with the Meopta enlarger, but the plug at the back looks like a continental type. If all else fails could I connect a UK to European plug adapter to the back and attach the LPL?

Thanks for your advice.

Simon

Thanks ic-racer, not wanting to seem like a cheapskate (but doing so anyway), but that booklet would represent 10% of my entire darkroom setup costs, so I may hold off for the moment.

I spent an hour playing around with it last night and think I can get it to function at least on a basic level. It seems you need to use the analysis function even if you want to set the time manually. What the print function does I really don't know, but it certainly isn't the obvious.

Hopefully with a bit more playing around I might get to the bottom of it.

I found this picture - is it like yours?



I've never seen one but here are my 2 cents worth. The key word is Process. There are a group of timers that serve a double function. They can control and enlarger/safelight for exposure and time the various steps of your process. IE so long for dev, stop,fix etc. I believe the PR.T key is to set up and use the process timer function. You would program in the various steps and times. To just control the enlarger you would use the LAMP function. (and yours has a third analyzer function!)

Sorry I can't be much more help these are my guesses from a similar type of timer, as I recall the setup was like yours - not intuitive - without the manual it may take a while to figure things out.

Thanks George, suddenly it all makes more sense. I assumed PRT was print, but it makes a lot more sense if it is for the processing steps. It even beeps for the last five seconds giving you a drain time between stages.

Now I just need to sort out my black out material for the windows and I'm ready to start printing.

Simonh82 said:

I also have a Meopta Viponel S15 Timer which came with another enlarger I picked up for the darkroom kit that came with it. This seems to work perfectly with the Meopta enlarger, but the plug at the back looks like a continental type. If all else fails could I connect a UK to European plug adapter to the back and attach the LPL?

Click to expand...

I've got one of these and yes, it's working fine with a travel plug adapter permanently plugged into the output socket.

Ian

The PRT looks somilar to a process timer I have, made by Vivitar. Vivitar used contract manufacturers, and a lot of the buttons seem to have a simialr finction. You likely have a series of timers that can be set to variable length of duration , that can be 'linked' to make a sequence.

I suspect that 'analyse' is used to sample the lightest (thinnest projected area of the neg where you still want shadow detail), press either analyse again, or a store command of some other sort, then the darkest area where you still want highlight detail, and it will tell you the paper grade you need when you press d/grade (display grade).

It really likely will need a manual to get all of the nuances out of it. It is actually a simple microprosessor type unit under the hood.