Durst 605 Color Head: Little glass plate fell out

[sewarion]

Hi there,

Yesterday, I found my Durst 605 Color Head giving me strange exposures: prints came out darker than before, even though I reduced exposure time. I also found out that even though I was printing at grade 3, the projected image wasn't as magenta-toned as usual. So when I took off the head, I found the lamp not to be sitting straight, thus not shining through both filters (yellow was ok) and heating up too much. I just let it cool down and placed it straight again. Everything works perfectly now. Strange enough, but it sounds like the trouble is over? Not quite:

When I turned the head around in order to mount it again, I noticed a strange sound, like something was moving in there. I turned it left and right (gently), and suddenly, a small piece of glass, a square of about 1 inch by 1 inch, fell out. I have absolutely no idea where this piece came from, nor what it was designated to do in there. I briefly held it against a lamp and could not see any coloring, it is just plain glass, it seems. And as I mentioned above, The filters work again and I am getting the same exposures as before. However, I am worried about this piece of glass. Maybe it is there to protect the filters (or anything else) from the lamp's heat? I have no idea.

So if you have any suggestions what this piece is made for, where it belongs, how I can re-fit it there, or if it is (un)safe to go ahead without it, please let me know!

cheers and thanks,
sewarion

 

[ic-racer]

That is probably your heat absorbing glass. Be glad you still have it intact ((there was a url link here which no longer exists)) . Look around for where it may have come from, perhaps between the adjustable filters and the mixing box. Sometimes mounted on the mixing box itself.

 

[sewarion]

Well, thanks for the reply. I'll try to figure out where it came from. I actually tried to do so, but it seems that I need to open the head, which is what I wanted to avoid in the first place. Scared to do more harm than good this way. Is there anyway an explosion drawing or similar that gives you an idea how the head is assembled? The user manual is less then helpful in this regard.

cheers,
sewarion

 

[pentaxuser]

OK I just had a look at my 605 head and here goes: Under the head there are two knurled headed screws which hold the head to the rest of the aparatus. These screws should only be handtight. Unscrew both keeping your hand on top of the head to stop it falling forward. Once unscrewed, lift the head upwards to clear two metal poles that guide the head to the part of the enlarger to which it fits, then lower it onto the easel upside down. You will see a cover with a similar screw with 100W lamp max written on it. Remove this cover to reveal the lamp, remove the ceramic lamp holder which feeds the power in and then remove the bulb itself by pulling back both spring holders. Note the way the bulb sits and the need to refit it against a metal stop each side. This keeps the bulb square to the mixing box. You must replace it squarely

In front of where the bulb goes there are two sprung curved and flat metal pieces in the middle of which there are slots. The square glass piece fits into these two slots in a diamond shape. Push the sprung metal pieces out the way until you can fit the glass then allow the sprung metal to go back carefully. The heat absorbing glass is now in place.

Re-assemble the rest in reverse. The glass is normally held very securely so check that the sprung slots aren't broken or have lost their spring. The glass under normal circumstances should not be able to fall out but maybe it was never properly fitted in in the first place.

There isn't a lot of room so small fingers will help. If you have a small assistant such as a teenager with small hands( wife?)who can hold back the sprung metal while you replace the glass then this might help.

It isn't difficult and how to do it will be obvious as soon as the lamp cover is off but exercise patience and take your time.

pentaxuser

 

[paul_c5x4]

Would also suggest giving the piece of glass a good clean to remove any greasy fingerprints. Once cleaned, only handle with cotton or latex/nitrile/nylon gloves.

 

[sewarion]

Thanks pentaxuser, I inserted the glass some hours ago. However, I dissembled more or less the whole head by removing the screws at the side, as well as those at the front holding the cover around the filter wheels (the scales you read the numbers off). I found it quite difficult to remove the lamp without taking off the bottom half of head (well, the top half if you place the head upside down in order to work on it), and I also decided that I should give the head a little cleaning. Once I had everything open it was quite easy to figure out where the glass should be, only the diamond-type fitting confused me at first. But it was quite educating to have the head open.

However, having the head off just re-ignited an old question of mine: The milky plate (the diffusion glass or whatever it is called) measures 72x72mm. So maybe it is possible to enlarge 6x7 negs, once the negative carrier is widened and the right lens is fitted? But that's another question.

Thanks again to everyone who helped me figure the glass-plate stuff out.

cheers,
sewarion

P.S.: Although I handled the glass with care and cleaned it briefly, I don't think that gloves are needed, given that it sits way ahead of the filters.

 

[pentaxuser]

Glad you managed to sort out the issue. If you can find the 6x7 masks and they either fit the 605 neg carrier or you can fit a 6x7 carrier into the enlarger then provided the 6x6 diffusion slider gives the leeway to cover 6x7 neg then it should be possible to print full frame 6x7 negs.

However I think that there will be problems as Durst did make 6x7 neg enlargers which the 605 was never designed to accommodate. However if you can accept cropping of a 6x7 neg and I often crop my negs then a 6x6 enlarger might do the job.

I think a 6x7 neg needs more than a 80mm lens but a 80mm lens might just about do the job.

If you have only the occasional 6x7 neg then a 605 might be OK as a compromise but if most of your negs are 6x7 then I'd seriously consider a bigger enlarger.

Give it a go and tell us of your experience. Experimentation is always worthwhile and the results worth sharing

pentaxuser

 

[sewarion]

No no, right now I'm only doing 35mm. However, I would like to 'step up', been playing with that thought for quite a while. I don't like the square shape of 6x6, but with 6x7 I would be fine - in particular as a friend of mine is hardly ever using his RZ67 gear which I could lend easily. Would not be worth to buy a new enlarger just for getting a bit into it, but when I measured my 605 it really seemed like this could work. As long as one can use the full 72x72mm of the diffusion glass.

So while this friend could provide me with some negs to try out, I'm still in need of a lens (105mm or so) in order to ran a decent test. I will post my results as soon as I tried this out. Will take some time, though.

cheers,
sewarion