foot switch wiring

[rmolson]

Time-O- Lite


I have just acquired a mint condition Time-O-Lite M72 for $40.Considering they cost $150. new I figure I got a bargain., When I set up my first darkroom over 35 years ago a neighbor gave me an old WWII, APECO MIM timer made by the American Photo Equipment Company. This had to be a predecessor of Time-O-Lite. The times being what they were I didn’t look a gift horse in the mouth and I am still using it. The old adage “they don’t build them like they use to” must be true. By now I am ready for something a little newer. I could never figure out how to wire in a foot switch. with the old one and I wired my entire basement and darkroom and not only met code, but exceeded it.
I would like to wire in a foot switch on the new timer but am at a lose. Any one out there familiar with this kind of wiring.? I have ordered a Time-O-Lite FS -65 if that helps.

 

[Monophoto]

When I first set up my darkroom about 30 years ago, I purchased an old GE x-ray processing timer (in a brown paper bag along with a bunch of 8x10 trays) for $5. It's still going strong. So are the trays, for that matter.

I also wanted a foot switch. At the time, our Company photo lab was in the first floor of the building my office was in. Periodically they would do some housecleaning, and when that happened, I would do a little dumpster diving - and on one of those occasions I found a foot switch.

The switch was equipped with a two conductor cable, and some simple tests confirmed that it was a single-pole, single-throw arrangement - the contact was closed as long as pressure was maintained on the switch.

When I opened the GE timer, I found that it has a mechanical release, and there was not any way to use a switch to start the timing sequence. But I could wire the switch so that it bypassed the timer motor - that is, so that line voltage would be delivered to the receptacle on the side of the timer when the switch was depressed.

And that still works today. To start an exposure, I press the button on the timer and it counts down per the time setting I have dialed in. For burning and flashing, I step on the switch and just count - 1000-1, 1000-2, 1000-3, etc - for the time that I want to burn. It's not fancy, but it works just fine.

Your first problem is to find a switch - that's easy, just go to Radio Shack. The second problem is to figure out how you can wire a switch into your Time-o-Lite. I did a brief web search for information on the internals of that timer but I couldn't find anything. So you will probably have to open the Time-0-Lite and try to decipher how it works and how you can modify it to do what you want to do. If it has a solenoid release, then you should be able to use the foot switch as a trigger. But if it (like my old GE timer) relies on a mechanical release, then you will probably have to settle for using the foot switch to control burning only.

Some of the commercial sites I found suggested that Time-o-Lite does offer a switch option for the P-72 timer, but they don't mention that for the M-72. Wonder what "M" stands for - manual, perhaps?

 

[rmolson]

Time O Lite

I opened up the unit and it is as you described, not adaptable to remote starting of the timer.The wiring is a nightmare but I have a Multimeter and time and will start tracing circuits .And then wire in the override.As you say it 's the burning and dodging that get hairy and need two hands some times. thanks for info.

 

[David A. Belew]

The Time-O-Lite Professional (don't remember it's
number--mine is mounted on the wall) has a small
round connector on it's side between the
in-out plugs for a foot switch. If it's not there,
it probably would be a major job to "safely" rig
up a foot switch, even if your wall plugs are grounded.

 

[Papa Tango]

Cut off the Cinch-Jones bipole plug on the end of the foot switch. Bore a hole of sufficient diameter to insert a Heyco strain release that will securely clamp the cable from the switch. Allow for about 4 inches of wire to protrude beyond the release. Cut back the jacket to about a quarter inch from the release, and press firmly into the hole. Strip back and tin the connectors on the wires.

Identify the two pole connectors on the momemtary contact switch that initiate the motor sequence. Solder the two wires from the footswitch on these poles. Reassemble.

If you can find a C-J female jack, this is even better. It is possible to replace both (plug and receptacle) with newer. Your choice, but it makes it more compact if you ever need to dispense with the footswitch (why?). Electrically the M & P models are identical except for the female C-J receptacle.