Anyone familiar with the Ilford Multigrade 500E / Wallner Vario?

[Ron789]

Yesterday I purchased this Focomat 1C with an Ilford Multigrade 500 system, inclusing a 500E automatic exposure board. There was no manual included and I have a hard time figuring out how the automatic exposure works on the 500E board.
Is anyone here familiar with this unit, which was also sold as the Wallner Vario?

 

[AgX]

Is anyone here familiar with this unit, which was also sold as the Wallner Vario?

Actually it was made by Wallner.

 

[AgX]

Furthermore, this is not the Vario 30, but a version seemingly customized for the Ilford head. The small cover plate on the control panel already should have rang a bell. The veiled/missing controls at your sample might give you a hint at the interaction with the head.

 

[Lachlan Young]

So it has a mode for the 30v bulbs in the HLZ head, as opposed to the 120v ones in the regular MG500? Not being sure about this had put me off buying one of these autoexposure easels, but if it can do this, then I might acquire one.

From what I think I've found over the years, I suspect you set the metering area by paper size with the middle knob, the grade with the right one, the speed of the paper with the up/ down speed calibration keys on the right, meter the neg with the measurement button & make any specific +/- speed offset adjustments with the left hand knob. I guess the two buttons under the timer are presumably for manual settings. I also think there's a grade specific speed adjuster set of trim pots under the box thing on the front, as the push button paper speed thing indicates it's for G2.5, but absent a manual...

 

[AgX]

For the Wallner easel there is a manual on Ebay just right now.

 

[Ron789]

I've made my first prints with it yesterday and figured a few things out:
To calibrate it for the sensitivity of the paper:
- make a test strip at grade 2.5 to establish the proper exposure time,
- make sure the "Correction" dial is set to zero,
- set the proper paper size with the central dial,
- without paper on the easel, press the "measure" button, an exposure time will appear in the display,
- press the small black + or - buttons on the right until tthe displayed exposure time matches the time of the test strip; in my case, for Ilford MGWTFB it is 86,
- press the "measure" button again; light goes off, exposure time is set,
The system is now calibrated for the paper; for any subsequent print, pressing the "measure" button will establish the proper exposure time at grade 2.5, pressing it again will fix it for printing.

The exposure time needs to be adjusted when changing the grade: higher grade = longer exposure time, lower grade = shorter exposure time.
I'm not sure yet but I'm under the impression that the "Correction" dial takes care of the proper adjustment for different grades: for every half grade higher or lower, turn the "Correction" dial one click up or down.
E.g. to measure a grade 5 exposure, set the "Correction" dial to +5 (maximum), then measure. The exposure time more or less doubles compared to the grade 2.5 time.
Adjusting a measured time or setting an exposure time manually, without using the automating measuring, can be done with the 4 << >> < > pushbuttons below the display.

The footswitch does not trigger the set exposure time, like with the 500C control unit: it switches the enlarger light on and keeps it on as long as you press it. So it is really meant for burning, not for starting the normal exposure.

The 500HLZ head is not connected to the easel but to the 500S power supply; the same as used for the 500H heads. The 500HLZ manual explicitly states that the 500HLZ can be connected to the 500S just like the 500H head. This susprised me since the voltage of the halogen bulbs is very different: 30v for the HLZ, 120v for the H. I tried it and indeed: it works! You can plug the 500H and the 500HLZ heads in the same outlet.

The easel is connected to the 500S power supply, it connects into the outlet that "normally" connects the 500C controller.

All in all it is a very convenient device for small prints (max 24x30cm image size).

 

[AgX]

Thank you, that will be helpful in case such model of metering easel will come my way.
But what were those index knobs for. And why are they covered at your sample?

With meters with spot-probes around, I am not sure about its usefullness. I rather assume it was intended for rapid (commercial) work.

 

[Ron789]

So I did some more testing and learned that my assumption on the "Correction" dial is correct.
I made 5 test strips, at grades 0 1.5 2.5 3.5 and 5.
I set the "Correction" dial to -5 -2 0 +2 +5.
All test strips were correctly exposed, with exposure times ranging from 19 (grade 0) to 72 (grade 5) seconds.

Under that cover is a set of adjustments to finetune the corrections for all the different grades.


A spot probe, like the one connected to the Ilford 500C controller, also works fine, of course.
What I like about this system is the simplicity and compactness: one device that includes everything, instead of an easel plus a controller plus a probe. For larger prints or split-grade printing I will still use the 500 system with the 500H heads, the 500C controller and the 500P spot probe. This 500E is a nice addition though.

 

[Lachlan Young]

But with meters with spot-probes around, I am not sure about its usefullness. I rather assume it was intended for rapid (commercial) work.

That's the conclusion I came to - I have the probe for the MG500 and it is designed to be preset for MGII paper at ISO (P) 160, but can be easily adjusted for other speeds etc, essentially using the same method of making a print and adjusting the dial till they agree.

The 500HLZ head is not connected to the easel but to the 500S power supply; the same as used for the 500H heads. The 500HLZ manual explicitly states that the 500HLZ can be connected to the 500S just like the 500H head. This susprised me since the voltage of the halogen bulbs is very different: 30v for the HLZ, 120v for the H. I tried it and indeed: it works! You can plug the 500H and the 500HLZ heads in the same outlet.

That's interesting - I was under the (obviously wrong) impression that it was the control panel with the settings for the HLZ that related to voltage limitation circuits etc.

By way of explanation, I've got an MG400 head that's been rewired to interface with an MG500 system as if it were a 500HLZ...

 

[Ron789]

By way of explanation, I've got an MG400 head that's been rewired to interface with an MG500 system as if it were a 500HLZ...

So you should be able to combine your setup with this 500E. The 500E replaces the 500C controller while the 500S power supply remains connected to your 400 head.