LPL/Saunders 4550xl dichroic

I've scanned through a bunch of old threads and I have a couple of questions for which the answers were not definitive or simply got muddled with all of the other info.

1. mixing boxes: They're getting harder to find. If I decide to bust out any 35mm negatives, is it best to have/install the 35mm mixing box/chamber

1a. Does having the dichroic (cmy) head negate the need for the various mixing chambers?

2. The lens boards/cones. Are they designed to be recessed or "extended"? They all seem to be in the 25-30mm height range. My rudimentary test seems to result in a solid hold in either orientation.

3. The fan; does it only come on when the timer (or however you have yours hooked up) asks it to power the lamp house? I can't recall hearing so much fan on/off cycling in my community darkroom, but maybe there's just less ambient noise at my house?

4. I've seen reference to the various light leaks and methods of fixing them. Before I start taping things together, is it worth the time to disassemble and clean any internals? I hooked everything up last night, and aside from my missing blue and yellow filter knobs everything seems to be fine.

5. Mine came with the universal masking part for the negative stage. I've never used one with this accessory before. I understand its function. Its placement though? It just slots in and is not secured with any screws correct? Just like the negative carriers?

6. Subquestion: The ET-400 timer; it looks like it was not intended for use with this enlarger as it only has 2-prong outlets. I know that 2-prong to 3-prong adapters exist, but that seems wonky.

7. Has anyone stumbled into any "new" issues with these machines in the last 4-5 years? I see reference to a few of the ones that have been in service for a while falling out of alignment. Are there any solid strategies to overcome this issue should it arise? I've seen "shim the column," adjust lens stage (if applicable), wedge things here and there. I'm guessing some of the issues come from wear in the moving parts that allow the head to travel.

I'm 1 more day of tinkering away from being able to print at home. I'm excited.

Great enlarger if you got the space for it! More than once, I bumped into mine pretty hard, yet that didn't seem to affect alignment one iota. But who knows what yours has been through previously, so you might want to verify that yours is okay prior to use.

I don't recall any fan cycling going on with mine, but it's been years since I sold mine.

Light leaks: Never observed anything that seemed in need of fixing.

Mixing chamber: I used the 4x5 chamber for everything. I wasn't making large prints, so excessive exposure times were not an issue.

Power supply: Dunno why Saunders opted for their own, non-LPL power supply for use in the USA. But if you want to use it in combination with LPL timer, I guess you could use 3-2 pin plug adapter, and run a separate ground wire to said adapter (or not).

Cleaning + lubrication: There's not a lot to do inside the filter modules, save for light dusting (don't freak out if your dichroic filters have cracks). IIRC there are a series of white plastic cams which are lightly greased

You don't need the 35mm mixing box but if you want to do large prints then I'd get one. IIRC there is about a two stop difference in light output. Don't quote me on that though. I accidentally did some Minox prints with the 4x5 box in there once. That was painful....

Mixing chambers? Do you mean the VCCE module? I used the Dichroic module for a while before I got the VCCE module. It worked fine. Easiest if you are going to do black and white with the Dichroic module is to just use Ilford filters below the lens. I wish I still had the Dichroic module only because I'd love to do color at some point. The VCCE module makes everything really easy but they are expensive these days. You could also just learn to split print. Max magenta for the blacks and max yellow for the highlights.

The lens boards are reversible. For 50mm and lower you use them extended into the body of the enlarger. For longer lenses they are use extended out. KHB has one that has more extension than normal, but I don't really see a need for that one. The regular ones work fine for every lens I've put on mine.

The fan stays on as long as the enlarger's power source is turned on. Drives me nuts sometimes.

I've covered light leaks. I put flocking on the top of the negative carrier. I use aluminum to block some of the head leaks. I use it in a small space though. If you can just make the walls black around your enlarger then you really don't have to worry about them.

The masking neg stage is incredibly hard to find so you are lucky you have one. Other than that, if it ain't broke don't fix it.

Timers work with the enlarger on a loop system that I've always found strange. I guess it is because the fan is designed to stay on all the time. Other than that I am not qualified to answer the two/three prong thing.

The only issue with the enlargers that I've ever read about is the power supply going bad. If yours works then it works.

I have mine shimmed a bit under the column and I have to shim my lens board. I suspect it took a whack at some point since I got it used. As long as the negative stage and the lens stage are parallel then you are 90% there. If the column is a little out it won't make a massive difference. If you want it to be perfect plan on getting a laser alignment tool or maybe borrow one from someone you know. Once they are aligned, they are aligned.

To follow on with what 4season wrote, one of my filters is cracked. Still works fine.

The only thing I've had to do to mine as far as maintenance goes is clean the rubber wheels that contact the column. They eventually started to slip a bit when I tried to move the head up and down. Easy enough to do. As long as you are getting yours together, you might as well clean it all up.

Hope that helps.

My enlarger is not the XL, I've had it since early 1997, purchased new.

I only have the 4x5 mixing box/chamber, I print 35mm negs using that. 11x14 is the largest I've ever done from 35mm and that's rare. Works fine

The dichroic or vcce head does not negate the need for the mixing box.

The previous post on the lens holders matches my experience.

For a while the coarse focus on mine required extra effort to move and felt rough. A post here, or maybe LFPF said lube on the focus rack might have gunked up. A little working back and forth seemed to loosen that up. I haven't done any other service other than new lamps, and maybe I've blown out dist. I keep it covered when not in use.

I've made 12x16 prints from 35 using the 4x5 mixing box, which is the only one I have. Yes, the exposures were long, but not that bad, IME.
On mine the fan comes on when the power supply is switched on, the timer only turns the light off and on. The power supply should be plugged into a wall socket, not the timer, not sure how you'd have the fan going off and on with the timer.
All enlargers have various light leaks, the LPL isn't particularly worse or better than others I've worked with.
Everything has its quirks, but overall the LPL is lovely to work with.

Thank you all for the replies. I appreciate it. Mine is equipped with the dichroic module. I'm missing the knobs for magenta and yellow. KHB has them "out of stock." There is a solo knob out of the UK on that auction site. After shipping, it will be a $50 knob. I've got queries into a few folks I know who are in the 3d printing game.

The elevation of the head on the column is buttery smooth on mine. The focus seems a bit stiff. Mine does have the fine focus extention attachment. I wonder if that got installed with too much oomph.

The Et400 timer went into a box. My preliminary tests last night were done using a gralab 450. It seems to work fine.

My biggest light leak is in the lower corner of what I think is the lamp house cover as it meets the dichroic module on the knob side. There's also a bit of a leak on the top seam between lamp housing (heat sink ribs), and the main body of the head.

I may be missing one small screw or one of the rubber shrouded movement limit pegs. There are 2 small threaded holes on the column top, one in front, and one in back that looks to be a "safety" screw for the main spring. Does the same fastener occur in both of these?

I have a lot of hours on this machine back in college, but the minutia never came up.

I'm not too worried about the light leaks, it just seems to be a recurring theme in the old threads regarding these machines.

I'm looking forward to actual use. I have a bit more basement work to do, then I should be off to the races.

@bdial I'll double check my electrical.

I Had the power supply and timer hooked up wrong. I'm glad I didn't fry anything. Power supply "on" now turns on fan. Timer "on" gives me light.
I wish the lead from power supply to timer wasn't only 12" long, I'd love to have the power supply up on a shelf and only have the timer down on the baseboard.

Late to the party, but I'll add a few observations:

I have a 4500II with the color head, purchased new 30 years ago. I've always used it with the 4x5 mixing chamber for all formats from 4x5 down to half-frame 35, though I make only smallish enlargements.

There's some light leak from the head. I've never worried about it nor ever observed any adverse effects - my darkroom has dark gray walls and a rough-textured white ceiling that scatters much of anything that reaches it.

I have the masking accessory. It just sits inside the head without any screws. Be forewarned that there are limits to how small an area you can define with the mask blades. Also, assuming you're using the universal glass carrier and depending on the format you're trying to mask and on how large you are printing on your paper, the mask can leave some areas on the paper exposed - you might need to position some cardboard to cover those. That said, I'm glad I have the masking attachment - would hate to be without it.

Either the masking accessory or the standard frame allows for modest adjustment of the alignment of the negative plane by stuffing shims under one or more of the corners.

Note that the opening in the head fits the image area of a 4x5 negative with negligible margin. I tried using a 5x7 carrier from another enlarger to print 4x5 negatives full-frame-with-border, but it's very hard to do. Not an issue at all if one is in the habit of cropping away the border.

I've had only one problem with the enlarger over the years - about nine years ago, after a period of little use, I discovered that the mechanism for moving the dichroic filters in and out of the light when you turn the control knobs had gummed up. I ended up sending it to George Brown (eBay seller "apogeebee", still in business) for a CLA, which he turned around very quickly. It's been fine ever since.

Good luck, and enjoy!

Thank you again everyone.
KHB Photographix has the filer knobs I need. I also ordered a 53mm threaded lens board as I just received a really nice older El-Nikkor 150mm.
I had the presence of mind to measure the threads before I placed the order. Through quite a few darkroom stuff purchases over the years, I have quite the Nikon lens suite built up; Newer version of the 50mm f2.8, 80mm, 105mm, 135mm and now the 150mm. I also have a Fujinon Ex 50mm f2.8 I'm curious to head-to-head test the 2 50mm lenses and see if I can even discern a difference.

There is A Lot of information between this and the large format photography forum dealing with enlarger alignment. I would think at a bare minimum, I need my baseboard level on two axis, and (in the case of my specific enlarger) I need the column plumb and a true 90 degree perpendicular to the base board. The Saunders has a machined (or extruded) Aluminum column. The bolts that secure it are hardened steel I would think. The steel support piece under the baseboard provides some security against going caveman on the 4 column bolts, but a steel bolt can wreak havoc on aluminum. My column is not plumb right now. I'm pretty sure (2) 1/16" washers will tune it up nicely. I have no idea regarding the history of my machine. I took it apart to get it home, but I have no idea how many times it's been re-assembled over the years.
From that point I can verify the lens stage being parallel to the baseboard. (Yes, I am glancing over the potential issue of the head itself not being perpendicular to the column)

I took apart the fine focus mechanism last week. My advice is for anyone else to just leave it alone. Here's the weird thing; both before and after I messed with it, the focus is less stiff when using the left side focus knob or the actual fine focus knob. Using the right hand knob focus is stiff and a bit jerky. With the fine focus removed, things were silky smooth. There needs to be just a bit of lubrication in there that has to work ok on brass, and not eat plastic. Any suggestions? I also could have a broken tooth or two on the delrin or whatever fine focus hub inside the mechanism. I did not take it apart that far. All of the brass parts look perfect.

Has anyone here invested in the KHB "heavy duty" fine focus upgrade?

1/16" makes it sound like someone hit it with a truck. A few pieces of paper/aluminum is the most you should need to level the column.

Get a laser level. The most important thing is to have the lens stage and the negative stage absolutely parallel to each other. If the baseboard/column is a little off that is ok. When I align mine I just make sure the laser returns on the same spot for the neg stage and the lens stage.

You should take the fine focus apart to see what the issue is. See if it is cracked inside. You don't need the fine focus attachment but it helps. Also see if you can find the wand thingy that attaches to it so you can focus easily when the enlarger is higher up. Might be hard to find that these days though.

I received my "care package" from KHB Photographix after it got bounced around by our local post office: 2 Missing filtration knobs, the 53.5mm lens board for the older Nikkor 150, and the "updated" instruction manual. I couldn't figure out why one of the new knobs wouldn't fit. It turns out the little metal core in the knob remained on the post from the missing knob.

I had no idea the Omega Negative carriers worked. I had heard it before, but I thought it was more a "worked" situation and wasn't ideal or required babysitting of the equipment while in use.

@Patrick Robert James I have the fine focus extension. I am suspicious that the "Hub" (the white nylon/delrin/whatever) piece may be cracked or, that I need to clean and re-lubricate the brass parts. There was definitely some type of lube in there before which had become sticky. I cleaned it but didn't have any goop around which seemed appropriate.

Oh, I also realized (or finally accepted) that a 5x7 enlarger is needed for 6x17 negatives. Crap.

There is always 6x12...

Only some of the Omega carriers worked, being the older ones that are mostly square, which are also the most common. I tried a double glass carrier once but it barely fit with the screws being the problem. I can't remember if the screws protrude too much on all of them or just that double glass carrier. In any case you could just replace the screws or just glue the guide frame on which would be easy to do. I have another glass carrier I lent a friend that is the rapid shift type. I plan on adapting that at some point which will require major surgery since it is a later one.

I wonder if one could mount the true Saunders/LPL guide frames to an Omega carrier and if that would work better? I was also going to bring an lpl carrier down to my metal working friend and see what he thought a shop would charge to water jet one from raw aluminum. Likely more than they cost on the used market, but some sizes were never produced. It's at least worth a phone call or email. The sheet Aluminum I have on hand from my failed metal lens board adventure is thicker stock than the carriers themselves.

See if your friend could modify an existing one to the size you need - say modify a 6x7 to use with 6x8.
By the way, that Craigslist listing near Seattle for the VCCE head seems to be joined by listings for an entire very comprehensive darkroom.

If we're only talking mods, I'll give it a go myself. I just need to source a couple of possibly "ugly" carriers first. I have a different water-jet Aluminum project in mind anyway, "batching" usually saves a person money in those situations.

I've been stalking those listings Matt. I'll pm you.