durst m800 lifting mechanism malfunctioning..

hello all.
maybe somebody has already had this problem, when i turn the knob to lift the head there is a loud rattling noise and the head wont move..
as long as i dont use my hand to lift the weight to help.
so i assume the gear is overused.
anyone has ever found spare parts to replace this?
havent opened the mechanism yet, as i cannot access my darkroom right now.
cheers
c

I think plastic used to make some of the part in lifting mechanism is getting old and it's falling apart. 40+ years ago when those enlargers were made use of plastic was a great idea, now we have to live with consequences of it. My lifting mechanism on M800 is still OK, but, you never know... Good luck finding spare parts!

I had an m800 with a partially stripped gear. I couldn't find a replacement, so I sent the broken one to Glennview, and he made a new one. I think it was around $50.

I just cleaned and re lubricated lifting mechanism of my Durst M800. Difference in rising and lowering enlarger head from before and after is just amazing. What a few drops of lighter fluid and few dabs of lubricant can make!

gorbas said:

I just cleaned and re lubricated lifting mechanism of my Durst M800. Difference in rising and lowering enlarger head from before and after is just amazing. What a few drops of lighter fluid and few dabs of lubricant can make!

Click to expand...

I can't agree more, after refurbishing some M700/M800, the first thing to do is dismantling and thoroughly cleaning ALL the moving parts, including plastic bushings, with a special attention to the column mechanism knob which acts like a brake when grease has dried. After cleaning, a minimal amount of sewing-machine oil on all friction surfaces, except on the focusing rod. For the heavy parts and/or soft metal/hard metal friction areas, a small smear of grease should be more efficient. Keep in mind that the amounts of lubricants are very small, no oil should drip, no grease should emerge from mechanisms. This maintenance is very easy and makes a HUGE difference and can bring back to life many Dursts !

Hope it helps

Cheers

Hi Elias, so you cleaned but did not lubricate focusing wheel and rails? On my M800 it was interesting to see amount of gunk from dried grease between metal and plastic discs under the lift crank. I think that those 2 disc have some brake (friction) function on this enlarger. Did you lubricate plastic rollers guiding the head to the column?
All the best

I used lighter fluid to clean moving parts on my enlargers (including a Durst M601), and then tiny dabs of white lithium grease. In the good old days Omega recommended using white petroleum jelly (aka Vaseline) I think it hardens quite a bit faster than lithium grease.

gorbas said:

Hi Elias, so you cleaned but did not lubricate focusing wheel and rails? On my M800 it was interesting to see amount of gunk from dried grease between metal and plastic discs under the lift crank. I think that those 2 disc have some brake (friction) function on this enlarger. Did you lubricate plastic rollers guiding the head to the column?
All the best

Click to expand...

Sorry for late reply and to be unclear, YES lubricate all the friction surfaces, except the focusing rod. The focusing mechanism relies on friction between the vertical rod and with the grooved wheel. Lubricate the knob, etc but NOT the rod itself which could slip and focusing become somehow difficult....