Enlarger vibration

[Pieter12]

I am having issues with the stability of my enlarger. It is an Omega D5XL, mounted to the wall and braced at the top. Sometimes I get noticeable blur in my prints from the head somehow moving. The enlarger and base table feel quite stable. I see this happening at higher magnifications mostly--enlarger head about 50 inches above the baseboard. I initially thought it was being caused while changing filters above the condenser during split-grade printing and I was ready to install a below the lens set-up, but I see the same thing happening using a single grade filter. I have attached a scan of a print detail to illustrate.

 

[glbeas]

You may be having floor vibrations being transmitted to the frame somehow. Another possibilty is film pop from warming up during the exposure. If this is a suspect a piece of heat absorbing glass over the negative stage will help. Another is to allow the neg to warm up enough before the exposure to pop it before the paper is placed.

 

[Sirius Glass]

There may be vibrations from the floor above to the ceiling or wall vibrations from above or below. I had an Omega 5DXL sitting on a heavy work bench and I have never had vibration problems.

 

[M Carter]

My 67c seemed awfully wobbly when the head got up to the ceiling, and a ceiling brace fixed that. When I got an MXT, I went ahead and braced it as well.

I built my table and it's bolted to the wall and is a very sturdy and well-braced mix of plywood and lumber and bolts and glue. But I'll be wall-mounting the MXT this summer, so I plan to tear out that wall, add a LOT of lumber bracing between the studs, sheathe the wall with 3/4" plywood, etc. Then add a hinged table that can drop down out of the way.

In the past I've tested using a flash unit for printing (I was duping E6 slides to 8x10 Velvia, modded my head to add a Vivitar 285 which just illuminated the light bulb with a pulse of light) and it worked fantastically well; I'm wall-mounting to be able to do prints up to 5' size (and yep, I have a Versalab and a G-lens), so flash may make sense to avoid the long exposures (I'm on the 2nd floor of a 1930's house that is "underframed" by today's standards).

 

[Pieter12]

You may be having floor vibrations being transmitted to the frame somehow. Another possibilty is film pop from warming up during the exposure. If this is a suspect a piece of heat absorbing glass over the negative stage will help. Another is to allow the neg to warm up enough before the exposure to pop it before the paper is placed.

I don't think it's the floor--the darkroom is in the garage built on a concrete slab. However, the enlarger is bolted to an interior wall.

 

[Pieter12]

My 67c seemed awfully wobbly when the head got up to the ceiling, and a ceiling brace fixed that. When I got an MXT, I went ahead and braced it as well.

I built my table and it's bolted to the wall and is a very sturdy and well-braced mix of plywood and lumber and bolts and glue. But I'll be wall-mounting the MXT this summer, so I plan to tear out that wall, add a LOT of lumber bracing between the studs, sheathe the wall with 3/4" plywood, etc. Then add a hinged table that can drop down out of the way.

In the past I've tested using a flash unit for printing (I was duping E6 slides to 8x10 Velvia, modded my head to add a Vivitar 285 which just illuminated the light bulb with a pulse of light) and it worked fantastically well; I'm wall-mounting to be able to do prints up to 5' size (and yep, I have a Versalab and a G-lens), so flash may make sense to avoid the long exposures (I'm on the 2nd floor of a 1930's house that is "underframed" by today's standards).

Flash for pinting...tell me more.

 

[Bob Carnie]

Are you using a glass carrier.?

 

[AgX]

You all are speaking of wood-frame walls?

 

[MattKing]

Are the focus controls or the head elevation controls slipping?
Friends of mine just built a big new darkroom that was designed to, among other things, serve as a location for our darkroom group to do demonstrations.
Two of the enlargers are on a very stable, heavy wheeled work area, in order to permit people to view demonstrations more easily.
The work area is designed to be able to be moved out to the centre for those demonstrations. Initially, there was a plan to have a bracing point of attachment to the ceiling for each of the enlargers when they were in the centre. But as it turns out, the ceiling rafters, which support the floor above, flex slightly when someone walks over on the floor above.
Attaching to them actually added vibration!

 

[faberryman]

Are you using a glass carrier.?

This is a critical but overlooked point. I could not get sharpness in the corners until I switched to a glass negative carrier. Controlling dust is not the big deal it is made out to be.

 

[Pieter12]

Are you using a glass carrier.?

No. Others have mentioned that. I'll need to try.

 

[Ian Grant]

I use glass less carriers never had an issue, however my columns are strapped to the wall that's needed when using a bead near the top of a column.

Ian

 

[Bob Carnie]

No. Others have mentioned that. I'll need to try.

If your head is braced and the bottom is secure, this is an obvious possibility negative pop... also the negative stage or lens stage on some enlargers can slip but my money is on neg poppiing..Using a glass carrier requires
some dedication to figure out how to clean the glass or the dust will drive you nuts.

 

[Pieter12]

If your head is braced and the bottom is secure, this is an obvious possibility negative pop... also the negative stage or lens stage on some enlargers can slip but my money is on neg poppiing..Using a glass carrier requires
some dedication to figure out how to clean the glass or the dust will drive you nuts.

Any wisdom or tips for cleaning the glass? Does the ANR glass need any special care?

 

[Mainecoonmaniac]

Sorry to hear about your problem. One way to see it is to raise your enlarger fairly high and use your grain focuser to look at the grain. If your film grain jiggles, then you have to find the source of your vibration. Could be coming from the wall or the floor. You can first try to remove the wall brace if it doesn't compromise your safety then check again.

 

[David Brown]

I am having issues with the stability of my enlarger. It is an Omega D5XL, mounted to the wall and braced at the top.

Could you tell (or show) us how it is "braced" at the top. I used to have a D5XL. Great machine, but it vibrated like a huge tuning fork until I used two cables with turn buckles to apply enough tension.

 

[Pieter12]

Could you tell (or show) us how it is "braced" at the top. I used to have a D5XL. Great machine, but it vibrated like a huge tuning fork until I used two cables with turn buckles to apply enough tension.

 

[Mainecoonmaniac]

It looks like your enlarger is on a cement floor which is a good thing. I'm guessing your vibration might be from your wall brace. IF it's not a danger, try disconnecting it and see if it stabilizes your enlarger.

 

[Mr Bill]

One way to see it is to raise your enlarger fairly high and use your grain focuser to look at the grain. If your film grain jiggles, then you have to find the source of your vibration.

I agree. Further, I'd bet that if you had someone go outside and push against the side of the garage you'll see vibration. If so, then random wind gusts could be the culprit.

I once helped a friend "straighten up" a very old garage where the garage doors were moving "out of square." A cable hoist diagonally across the doors pulled it back into shape, and diagonal reinforcement was needed; difficult to do without obstructing the open doors. I was a bit amazed at how flexible the structure was.

 

[Mainecoonmaniac]

I agree. Further, I'd bet that if you had someone go outside and push against the side of the garage you'll see vibration. If so, then random wind gusts could be the culprit.

I once helped a friend "straighten up" a very old garage where the garage doors were moving "out of square." A cable hoist diagonally across the doors pulled it back into shape, and diagonal reinforcement was needed; difficult to do without obstructing the open doors. I was a bit amazed at how flexible the structure was.

Since it's getting warmer, I wonder if the vibration is caused by a HVAC motor? But there's nothing more solid than a concrete floor. A wall brace may be the source of vibration.

 

[Bill Burk]

Haa yes, during earthquake season I have to wait until a lull between aftershocks or the same thing happens to me.

 

[ic-racer]

Find the glass carrier and cherish it.

 

[mgb74]

I'm not sure how you determine that it's vibration as opposed to other causes. But, given that, what is the material, shape, and size of the 2 diagonal braces? I can't make it out from the photo.

 

[Bob Carnie]

Any wisdom or tips for cleaning the glass? Does the ANR glass need any special care?

No I treat the ANR glass the same as the bottom glass
I buy my packages from Focal Point in Florida, they are nicely wrapped for protection... Regular Glass down and ANGlass on top, I keep the glass in antistatic cloths when not in use, I raise the humidity in the
darkroom to drop the floating dust.

For Cleaning Glass I use 90% alcohol , High quality Glass Cleaner, soft cloths, and anti static. A can of Air is always nearby and I have a loop for looking for dust when the negative is in the glass carrier.
Overtop a light box I prep the glass with cleaner , and then give the negative a clean with antistatic cloth, Then I tape the negative one side only to the bottom glass and use the canned air (no nozzle) to flap the negative
by blowing the air from one side which makes the negative (FLAP) and this will release any dust on either side still on negative, I put the AN Glass on and look through a 10 x loop to see if I can see anything.. Nowadays I never have to
repeat this more than twice to get great results.

I use 4x5 glass carriers and on the underside of the bottom I mask out the Aspect Ratios of each format with Electrical Black Tape, this allows me to always center the negative for good lens/ bulb/ease positioning but as well controls flare in printing, ( I have about 8 carriers )

I think one of the main keys is to keep the humidity up and be patient.

Once the glass gets scratched their is nothing one can do to fix and its time to replace

 

[Bill Burk]

I see a simple change you could make.

Move the timer off the easel table, but not on the wall with the enlarger. Then punching the start button can't introduce vibration.

You might have to avoid touching anything while the enlarger is in operation - so forgo the split grade printing.