Is this normal? Question about delay in light coming on with a Durst VLS 501.

[Stuart Richardson]

Hello everyone. I recently got a Durst 1200 with a VLS 501 head.
I have found it to be excellent in most respects, but one thing is bothering me. It came with a Durst Digitim 1000 timer (if anyone had a manual, that would be great! I have not really gotten a handle on how the channels and range functions work). The problem is that after pressing the button to start the exposure, the enlarger seems to take its sweet time to actually light up. This is not much of a problem during the actual exposure, but it makes test strips a bit of a pain, as it makes it more difficult to see how long the actual exposures are. There seems to be a delay of at least half a second before the enlarger lights up. Is this normal for the Durst? My main experience before this has been with an Ilford 500 system, which does not behave this way...The VLS head seems to produce really excellent results, but the Ilford head and controller are certainly more user friendly, with the push button filter grade changes, timed burning and so on.
I am hoping that this issue is more from the timer than the head, but perhaps someone here can enlighten me!
Thanks in advance.

 

[Luis-F-S]

Gudmundur Ingolfson is a photographer in Reykjavik with several large format Durst enlargers. He is often on the forum, and may be able to help with yours. PM me for his Email if you wish to contact him.

 

[Stuart Richardson]

Thanks Luis. He actually already looked at it in passing and said it did not seem right! I will have to see if I can borrow another timer from him. I was just wondering if anyone on here had direct experience with this kind of delay.

 

[RobC]

I suspect its the timer. I think some timers have a delay but I can't remember for what purpose. Can you bypass the timer just to see if light comes on as soon as power is switched on which would tell you if its the timer or not.

 

[Stuart Richardson]

Thanks Rob, I will see if I can bypass it and see how quickly it comes on...that is probably the most efficient, especially if I rig a power strip with a switch...that should be close enough to pressing a button on a timer to tell if the timer is the delay.

 

[ic-racer]

Can you post pictures or give a better description of what you have? What you are describing is normal operation with the OPTO-TIM equipped units. Is that what you have?