GERMAN (220v) ENLARGER TIMER IN JAPAN (100v)

Juan Paller · Jul 30, 2017

So, I got this timer from Germany (220v 50hz 5A) and would like to use it in Japan where the current is 100v. The timer has an enlarger and safelight outports. My enlarger is 100v 100w, and the safelight, I'm guessing, (100v 20w). Question: what size STEP-UP converter do I need for the timer that would allow enough power to supply to the timer, enlarger, and safelight? 500w? 1000w? 2000w? I'm also aware that at STEP DOWN transformer would be needed for both enlarger and safelight ports.

Any feedback most appreciated.

Luis-F-S · Jul 30, 2017

I'd get a timer that is compatible with the local power grid rather than trying to adapt the timer.

samcomet · Jul 30, 2017

Juan,
In my opinion you should first determine whether or not your timer is a mechanical one that uses the electrical line frequency to run the timer at speed or is it a solid state timer with its own built in clock chip. Japan has two line frequencies 50 Hz and 60 Hz, as a relic from reconstruction post WW 2. Depending on your location and if you have a mechanical 50 Hz timer in the 60 Hz zone you may find the time deviation as much as 10 seconds over each minute of interval (1 minute set on the timer would be in reality 1 minute plus 10 seconds). If however you are in the 50 Hz zone or have a digital timer then you would have no problems. To avoid another bunch of transformers have you considered simply using 220 voltage lamps for the enlarger and safelight (I've seen them available in Japan)? At any rate if you go down the path of another two step down transformers you would need to know their wattage rating to complete the calculation (add all the wattage ratings in your circuit together - timer + enlarger + safelight + 2 step down transformers and then add a percentage for contingency). Off the top of my head though I would imagine that a 1000 watt step up would be more than ample.

Best of luck,
cheers,
Sam

Juan Paller · Jul 30, 2017

Hi Sam,

Many thanks for the input. I'm in the 50hz zone, so no problem with my mechanical timer. I was suggested not to put 220v lamps as I might see sparks coming out of the machines: hence the step-up transformer. 1000w was my initial guess, which I feared considering the 15,000 yen (about 130 USD) price tag. Oh well....

To sell it or not to sell it. Lol.

Thanks again, Sam.

Regards,
Juan

samcomet · Jul 30, 2017

Hi Juan,

In my humble opinion, as long as the wiring is ok (insulation and ground etc.) you would have less issues with 220v lamps in the two housings, as when you increase the voltage in a circuit with the wattage draw being equal, the amperage goes down. Voltage and amperage are inversely proportional and it is simplistically considered that it is the amps flowing through a circuit and running through a human that is the "killer" factor. Just make sure that the wattage ratings on the 220v. lamps are the same as the 100v. ones to keep exposures etc. the same.

Cheers for now!!
sam

Juan Paller · Jul 30, 2017

Luis-F-S said:
I'd get a timer that is compatible with the local power grid rather than trying to adapt the timer.

It's more about experimenting with new equipment.

Juan Paller · Jul 30, 2017

samcomet said:
Hi Juan,

In my humble opinion, as long as the wiring is ok (insulation and ground etc.) you would have less issues with 220v lamps in the two housings, as when you increase the voltage in a circuit with the wattage draw being equal, the amperage goes down. Voltage and amperage are inversely proportional and it is simplistically considered that it is the amps flowing through a circuit and running through a human that is the "killer" factor. Just make sure that the wattage ratings on the 220v. lamps are the same as the 100v. ones to keep exposures etc. the same.

Cheers for now!!
sam

Interesting. Another area for exploring! Cheers!

Juan Paller · Jul 31, 2017

Juan Paller said:
Hi Sam,

Many thanks for the input. I'm in the 50hz zone, so no problem with my mechanical timer. I was suggested not to put 220v lamps as I might see sparks coming out of the machines: hence the step-up transformer. 1000w was my initial guess, which I feared considering the 15,000 yen (about 130 USD) price tag. Oh well....

To sell it or not to sell it. Lol.

Thanks again, Sam.

Regards,
Juan

I got a great deal on a step-up / down converter (100v ~ 240v) which puts out 1500w. With a multimeter, I probed the enlarger port on the timer and it is indeed putting out 230v as expected and then around 115v when a step-down transformer is attached. When I connect the enlarger (100v, 100w), the power to the enlarger lamp looks dim when compared to when connected to the regular 100v wall socket. Any thoughts appreciated.

samcomet · Jul 31, 2017

Juan Paller said:
I got a great deal on a step-up / down converter (100v ~ 240v) which puts out 1500w. With a multimeter, I probed the enlarger port on the timer and it is indeed putting out 230v as expected and then around 115v when a step-down transformer is attached. When I connect the enlarger (100v, 100w), the power to the enlarger lamp looks dim when compared to when connected to the regular 100v wall socket. Any thoughts appreciated.

G'day Juan,

You've plugged the converter into the mains and read on the meter 230v. which is fed into the timer which reads on the meter 230v. on the enlarger port? When another step down is put into the timer, the output reads 115v. BUT the lamp looks dim? Have I got this correct?
cheers,
Sam

AgX · Jul 31, 2017

samcomet said:
To avoid another bunch of transformers have you considered simply using 220 voltage lamps for the enlarger and safelight (I've seen them available in Japan)?

The most simple and economic solution would be to substitute the german mains plug by a japanese one and the 220v lamp by a 100V one of same wattage (in case the enlarger has only a mains-run lamp and that the wiring can handle the doubling of the current. And to buy a japanese timer.

Juan Paller · Jul 31, 2017

samcomet said:
G'day Juan,

You've plugged the converter into the mains and read on the meter 230v. which is fed into the timer which reads on the meter 230v. on the enlarger port? When another step down is put into the timer, the output reads 115v. BUT the lamp looks dim? Have I got this correct?
cheers,
Sam

Cheers, Sam. Absolutely correct. Transformer > 230v > step-down > 115v > plugged into enlarger 100v. At 115v, the light is dimmer than when plugged directly into the 100v wall which was also probed with multimeter. I am awaiting for this morning's postal arrival of my Durst C35 (purchased in Japan) to see how this combination will work out. Absolutely baffling....

Juan Paller · Jul 31, 2017

AgX said:
The most simple and economic solution would be to substitute the german mains plug by a japanese one and the 220v lamp by a 100V one of same wattage (in case the enlarger has only a mains-run lamp and that the wiring can handle the doubling of the current. And to buy a japanese timer.

Thanks for the input. Now that's another challenge! : )

samcomet · Jul 31, 2017

Juan,

I'm going out on a limb here but in my humble opinion the converter and/or transformer are NOT wire wound inductive/resistive devices; but rather they are SCR's (simplistically, a type of chip). In a wire wound device the voltage is actually choked down by a percentage by adding a resistance into the circuit. If you look at an AC sine wave you would see the wave's peaks and troughs both diminish in amplitude towards the x axis (being 0 voltage). In an SCR or other type of electronic device the chip triggers an "off" signal for a fraction of the sine wave - it ends up looking like a sawtooth rather than a smooth curve. The longer the "off" period is the less total amount of current will flow over a given period of time - which averages out to a dimming effect in the circuit. As you can imagine an incandescent lamp has a filament that takes a short period of time to reach full potential (i.e. warms up to fully hot brightness). If one "starts and stops" the flow of electricity the filament never really has a chance to reach full brightness. Your meter on the other hand can read and average out, the amount of electricity flowing because, simplistically, it doesn't need to "warm up".

That is a very, very simplistic overview but it may be essentially correct. In light of this I might suggest a clockwork timer (i.e. a watch) to check that the timer's intervals are not affected by this and also see if you need to bump up the wattage of your enlarger lamp or use a longer exposure time. The safelight can be moved a tad closer to your working surface if need be - just make sure to do a fog test on a scrap of photographic paper.

The pedant in me also would say that if you are going to use a colourhead or filters for V.C. papers or use colour chemistry, there may be a slight colour temperature shift in the lamp that may or may not affect your print.

Hope this is not too dense for you,
cheers for now and best of luck!
Sam

Photo Engineer · Jul 31, 2017

Umm, one thing overlooked here is that parts of Japan are at 50CPS and another at 60CPS. This can be important with respect to the type of timer you have and the color temperature of your bulb, much less the output voltage of any converter.

PE

samcomet · Jul 31, 2017

Thanks for that PE, but I've already canvased that issue with Juan (in relation to the mechanical timer) and he is assured that he lives in the 50 Hz part of Japan.

I myself mistakenly, used to use, a U.S. (120v. 60 Hz) Gralab sweep timer through a 240-120 volt stepdown trannie in Australia (240v. 50 Hz) and found that my developing times were increasing by 10 seconds per minute - one extra minute on a 6 minute development time! Discovered the fault when I tested my timer against my watch (and the apparent densities of my developed film). Most embarrassing!! Nice of you to add that though. Thanks!
cheers for now,
Sam

AgX · Aug 1, 2017

Photo Engineer said:
Umm, one thing overlooked here is that parts of Japan are at 50CPS and another at 60CPS. This can be important with respect to the type of timer you have and the color temperature of your bulb, much less the output voltage of any converter.

Yes, for the cycles and old electromechanical timers.
But how is the light-temperature effected by the cycles?

The light temperature of an incandescant lamp is dependant on the current and that typically is only dependant on the feed voltage. With very low feed frequencies there will be a cooling effect on the filament resulting in lower light-temperature, also with asymmetric cycles (dimmers). But I do not expect such in the case of 50Hz vs. 60Hz.
As far as I know it has not been described in literature. And likely none of us did a side-by-side comparison (by lacking different mains-frequencies).

Photo Engineer · Aug 1, 2017

Well, you can see the effect on tungsten lights. And, the TV images on tube type TVs were smaller.

PE

Luis-F-S · Aug 2, 2017

Juan Paller said:
It's more about experimenting with new equipment.

I thought the purpose of photography was to make images......have fun "experimenting" and try not to blow yourself up!

Juan Paller · Aug 11, 2017

Thanks everyone for the input. The initial enlarger bulb was giving dim output. However, when I hooked up the monster "porta-power"grid (1. step-up 100-220; 2. step-down 220-100 (enlarger); 3. step-down 220-100 (safelight) on another enlarger, things turned out fine. I compared the light output connected direct to wall vs monster grid. Works perfectly. Phew....

Juan Paller · Aug 11, 2017

samcomet said:
Juan,

I'm going out on a limb here but in my humble opinion the converter and/or transformer are NOT wire wound inductive/resistive devices; but rather they are SCR's (simplistically, a type of chip). In a wire wound device the voltage is actually choked down by a percentage by adding a resistance into the circuit. If you look at an AC sine wave you would see the wave's peaks and troughs both diminish in amplitude towards the x axis (being 0 voltage). In an SCR or other type of electronic device the chip triggers an "off" signal for a fraction of the sine wave - it ends up looking like a sawtooth rather than a smooth curve. The longer the "off" period is the less total amount of current will flow over a given period of time - which averages out to a dimming effect in the circuit. As you can imagine an incandescent lamp has a filament that takes a short period of time to reach full potential (i.e. warms up to fully hot brightness). If one "starts and stops" the flow of electricity the filament never really has a chance to reach full brightness. Your meter on the other hand can read and average out, the amount of electricity flowing because, simplistically, it doesn't need to "warm up".

That is a very, very simplistic overview but it may be essentially correct. In light of this I might suggest a clockwork timer (i.e. a watch) to check that the timer's intervals are not affected by this and also see if you need to bump up the wattage of your enlarger lamp or use a longer exposure time. The safelight can be moved a tad closer to your working surface if need be - just make sure to do a fog test on a scrap of photographic paper.

The pedant in me also would say that if you are going to use a colourhead or filters for V.C. papers or use colour chemistry, there may be a slight colour temperature shift in the lamp that may or may not affect your print.

Hope this is not too dense for you,
cheers for now and best of luck!
Sam

Sam,

This post literally numbed me. lol. You lost me at right after "I'm going out on a limb here...." Thanks for that dose.

Cheers,

Juan

GERMAN (220v) ENLARGER TIMER IN JAPAN (100v)

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