Ilford Multigrade 500 Head

[Absinthe]

Well I just picked up one of these used. BTW if anyone has a control panel or the light mixing boxes for it laying around somewhere I would love to have them I would happily trade the ones for the 400 head for them as I do have those

I notice on the power supply there is a plug for a safe light. Is it common to see safelights with plugs like that or is there a special magical safe light that goes with this unit?

 

[GM Bennett]

Well I just picked up one of these used. BTW if anyone has a control panel or the light mixing boxes for it laying around somewhere I would love to have them I would happily trade the ones for the 400 head for them as I do have those

I notice on the power supply there is a plug for a safe light. Is it common to see safelights with plugs like that or is there a special magical safe light that goes with this unit?

Hi, Absinthe -

I've got two 500 systems and both power supplies have a regular grounded plug for the safelight; can you post a pic? I also note that someone's parting out a 500 system on *bay now, and you can pick up the mixing boxes separately, which is nice as they often only come with the system. Graham

 

[Absinthe]

Here is a full frontal, notice how I didn't get my feet in the picture

 

[Absinthe]

See it looks like the male version of a computer power cable

 

[GM Bennett]

I guess I have newer power supplies; in addition to the regular safelight plug on the front, mine have a fuseholder on the front as well. I went and dug up my operating and service manuals, and the diagrams of the 500S power supply look like yours. The operating manual instructions relating to the connection of the safelight indicate that "a suitable plug is supplied for connecting to your safelight lead", and further advise that the brown wire is connected to the live pin (L), the blue wire to the neutral pin (N), and the green/yellow wire to earth/ground (E). I'm assuming that you can swap the proprietary plug out with a regular female grounded plug, or alternatively have a dongle cord fabricated.

 

[Ross Chambers]

The safelight cable on my model has a plug similar to a male computer "jug cord" type. However I did have to make a small and careful operation with a saw to remove the collar which these cords have. It ends up quite safe as the power unit has a collar of its own. Worth the trouble as the lamp on/off is controlled automatically by the power supply. A standard 15 w 240 v (in Oz anyway) lamp is fine.

Regards - Ross

 

[kapro]

I have two surplus control panels. I use RH Designs Stopclock 500 instead.

 

[GM Bennett]

I see the guy who's parting out the 500MG system on ebay has a 500S power supply like mine. When I had it serviced by KHB in Mississauga I recall them saying it was a newer "UL" approved model without the 240/120v switch on the back.

Wow, $62 so far for the Omega mount. Looks like you have a couple offers for a control unit from fellow APUG'ers if you get outbid. Good luck; it's a great system.

 

[Rafal Lukawiecki]

That plug was used on non-US Ilford 500S (power supply part of the Multigrade 500 system) units, I believe. Mine certainly has it. It is a discontinued item apparently due to lead content safety legislation. You would need plug Bulgin part number PX0770. There is another thread on APUG about this, see (there was a url link here which no longer exists)

I have seen US Ilford 500S units with a more normal US-style socket with earth/ground.

If you really need that Bulgin plug you may still find it somewhere. I got mine from Odyssey Sales in UK, and it was not cheap at about £15 or so, but it spared me replacing the socket on the unit.

 

[Absinthe]

You bet! Good thing I don't need that mount. I assume that what I have attached to the back of mine is the correct mount. I guess when these things are new they have no mount and you just buy the one that corresponds to your particular enlarger?

I am half tempted to bid on the power supply just to have a "normal" plug on it. However, I assume I can make this one work if I have to

 

[Absinthe]

well I just bought an extra computer monitor cable. I will cut the edges off around the male end and replace the female end with a regular 3 prong outlet and will just use it like an extension cord/converter. Hopefully I get the right wires to the right sides

 

[Absinthe]

Wow, that stuff went way high on eBay!!!

If it always goes that high I may need to consider an alternative. Does anyone have a control panel or some light boxes that they are not using that they would like to help me out with (for a reasonable fee )

That said, can I possibly convert the 400 light boxes? Are they any more different than the fact that the base board is longer? Or even, someone that has a set of 500 boxes that can take some accurate measurements (and a decent picture or two), I could probably manufacture them myself if need be.

I hope at least I can find a control panel somewhere... I know at least one person suggested that they had extra ones.. so we'll see on that...

However, if the whole 500 head thing doesn't work out, is there another decent alternative that is reasonable? I see Dichros and Multi-Condensers... what should I be looking for? Many of the ones I have recently seen around eBay don't seem to be the "whole thing" and not knowing all the parts makes it difficult to not get screwed

 

[rmann]

The mixing boxes from a 400 are different than the 500 - it might be easier to make one up from some sheet metal than to convert one. The RH Designs option might make some sense as it is more than just a control unit - if you look at the last auction results for a used probe and a control unit you are not that far away from a new RH Designs unit's cost. The RH Design unit also exposes in two steps, one just green and one just blue - rather than blending the two together - see their website for more information.

 

[Absinthe]

RH Designs would be one option, the costly option. I am trying to get out of this cheaply

I don't mind trying my hand at fabricating the boxes, just need some specifications, I think.

 

[kapro]

Rh Designs Stopclock 500 or Analyser 500 are both much better and working different way than original control panel. When control panel is used both bulbs are alight together. Stopclock 500 switches on one bulb and after that the second one. This is very convenient for split grade printing. On top of that Ilford control panel was designed long long time ago. Stopclock 500 is much more sophistcated device. You can use f-stop printing. It is worth every penny buying it.

 

[Absinthe]

Well I will keep my eye open for the StopClock, but at present it is out of my budget

Hoping for somethig more expedient. I am also looking at a D5500 dichro head, not sure how to attach it, but if the price is right it will work until i cna get the rest of the ilford stuff