Meopta Opemus 6 Colour 3

pinzone · Jan 25, 2011

Hi, I only just joined, hope you don't mind me crashing in. I have a little query. I just acquired this enlarger cheap. Mechanically it looks fine. It's been neglected, like some spiders had made a home out of it. I gave it a good clean, plugged it in and the bulb popped immediately. Looking at it, it appears to be 12V 100w. I live in the UK by the way, so this got me thinking (always dangerous). Does this enlarger may require some sort of transformer, I'm not really sure? The manual isn't entirely explicit either. I haven't done any darkroom work in over 10 years so whilst I'm not new to the whole thing, for what it's worth I might as well be. Just wondering if anyone knows anything about this enlarger and can help save me from blowing more bulbs. And get it working!

John Kasaian · Jan 25, 2011

Copy down the info on the data plate and talk it over with someone knowlegible at a real old timey hardware store (not one of those dadgum "big Box" places.)
They should have what you need.

Mick Fagan · Jan 25, 2011

I think it does require a transformer.

I am looking at a Meopta colour brochure which has a page on the Meopta Color 3 colour head.

The lamp is as you say a 12v / 100 W

At the bottom right of the A4 page it mentions and shows two transformers. The ST 100 which is a stabilised transformer and the TR 100 which is a normal transformer.

I had the earlier Meopta colour head on my transformed Meopta 5 enlarger eons ago, I recall having a little transformer on one side of the enlarger table.

That colour head is an excellent colour head and one with which you will be grateful for once you understand how it works.

The neutral density filter is marvelous, I have used colour heads with this feature and always ran the ND filter midway through it's two stop range. This allowed me to go up and down in image size, whilst keeping the same exposure time, absolutely great feature.

Mick.

ic-racer · Jan 25, 2011

You plugged "it" in. What actually did you plug in? In the US, there are no cords to 12V bulbs that fit in our 120V sockets.

Do you have either of the 12V power supplies that were mentioned? Some european power supplies had a tap for 120v or 220v on the transformer primary.
What is you supply voltage where you live? Does the power supply list the input voltage required.

pinzone · Jan 26, 2011

ic-racer said:
You plugged "it" in. What actually did you plug in? In the US, there are no cords to 12V bulbs that fit in our 120V sockets.

There is a wire that comes directly out of the Colour 3 head (which houses the bulb). I fitted a plug and stuck it in the wall! I'm no electrician so my skills in this area run very short. UK mains supply is 240v generally. Hence me thinking a transformer to step from 12v.

perkeleellinen · Jan 26, 2011

There are two transformers which will work; the Trafo TR100 and the RK100. I used to print with the color 3 head and used the RK100 but it did need rewiring, see here:

(there was a url link here which no longer exists)

pinzone · Jan 26, 2011

Mick Fagan said:
I think it does require a transformer.

I am looking at a Meopta colour brochure which has a page on the Meopta Color 3 colour head.

The lamp is as you say a 12v / 100 W

At the bottom right of the A4 page it mentions and shows two transformers. The ST 100 which is a stabilised transformer and the TR 100 which is a normal transformer.

That colour head is an excellent colour head and one with which you will be grateful for once you understand how it works.

Mick.

I've been unable to find a manual for the colour 3 head so what you say sounds really interesting. I remember using a colour head back in the 90's for B&W but I hated the flat tones & low contrast it produced. I didn't know how to use it! I went back to a 'normal' enlarger with a filter draw. It will be great when I get this beast sorted. You've got me all fired up now. But still,step at a time ...

The Opemus 6 manual lists a transformer in a very long list of accessories, giving no indication that it is a necessity. Maybe though in international sales it isn't always going to be needed. Anyway an ebay search throws up a TR100!
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=120645680210
Kind of looks expensive in relation to what I spent on the enlarger, but maybe that is what transformers cost. I'm going to pop in to Maplins and see if anyone there knows of a suitable off the shelf device.

Thanks everyone for your replies. It's all very helpful.

perkeleellinen · Jan 26, 2011

There's actually a TR100 on ebay now with a £50 BIN, but a better way would be to buy a whole enlarger to get the unit, like the Axomat 5 which is selling for £20.;

pinzone · Jan 26, 2011

perkeleellinen said:
There are two transformers which will work; the Trafo TR100 and the RK100. I used to print with the color 3 head and used the RK100 but it did need rewiring, see here:

(there was a url link here which no longer exists)

Thanks for this, it's an interesting thread and (I suspect) soon to be very useful!

hadeer · Jan 26, 2011

perkeleellinen said:
There's actually a TR100 on ebay now with a £50 BIN, but a better way would be to buy a whole enlarger to get the unit, like the Axomat 5 which is selling for £20.;

It would be a good way to buy another complete set and just use the transformer, but any transformer with a capacity of 100 Watts @ 12 V will do.

pinzone · Jan 26, 2011

hadeer said:
... but any transformer with a capacity of 100 Watts @ 12 V will do.

And I found pretty much the same statement being made here:
http://photo.net/black-and-white-photo-printing-finishing-forum/00WTTA

So I went exploring and returned home with the NL48 low voltage lighting transformer from Maplins. The guy in the store seemed pretty sure it would do the trick (!?) - I wouldn't normally trust these folks but on this occassion I was willing to go with it. Though it's a good idea buying a cheap Axomat for the transformer, especially if it's bundled with darkroom kit. That might be Plan B.

I don't have a bulb so I can't yet confirm that the NL48 works so I'll be back with an update ....

but again, thanks for all your suggestions and advice, it's been great.

hadeer · Jan 26, 2011

perkeleellinen said:
There's actually a TR100 on ebay now with a £50 BIN, but a better way would be to buy a whole enlarger to get the unit, like the Axomat 5 which is selling for £20.;

It would be a good way to buy another complete set and just use the transformer, but any transformer with a capacity of 100 Watts @ 12 V will do.

ic-racer · Jan 26, 2011

pinzone said:
There is a wire that comes directly out of the Colour 3 head (which houses the bulb). I fitted a plug and stuck it in the wall! I'm no electrician so my skills in this area run very short. UK mains supply is 240v generally. Hence me thinking a transformer to step from 12v.

Ouch!
But, some good, in that if you can connect a plug then you can probably get by with just about any 100W 12V power supply by just matching up with a new plug or wiring it directly which I see you are doing. I looked up that transformer you hot from Maplins and it looks like that is going to work fine.

pinzone · Jan 27, 2011

Hi All
I just want to confirm that the low voltage lighting transformer from Maplin (mentioned above) appears to have done the trick. I removed the Colour 3 head from the stand, wired it up, plugged it in and had it sat on the floor for 10 minutes whilst I played around with the filters. All seemed well. So, anyone reading this in the same predicament - there's a solution.

Now I got to go clean those dead spiders and caked on dust off the glass in the negative holder. Actually I'm hoping the glass is removable but it does look fixed. Anyway, that's another thread! Once again, thanks to everyone for chipping in. A great forum.

ic-racer · Jan 27, 2011

Good work!

tih · Jan 28, 2011

I've got an Opemus 6 with Color 3 head, too, and am very happy with it. After I bought it, used, from another hobbyist, I purchased additional bits and pieces for it from RK Photographic, and I don't hesitate to recommend them to others. Check their Meopta inventory at http://www.thedarkroom.co.uk/products_class.php?brand=22

Anon Ymous · Jan 28, 2011

pinzone said:
...Now I got to go clean those dead spiders and caked on dust off the glass in the negative holder. Actually I'm hoping the glass is removable but it does look fixed...

Yes, the glass is removable. Both parts (upper/lower) of the carrier have a plate in natural metal finish, which is held in place with two small screws. If you remove them, then you can remove the plate and so you can remove the glass. So, you can replace the glasses with any insert, or spare glass if yours is damaged. Keep in mind that the upper glass is anti newton ring glass, so cleaning it is probably difficult.

Two more interesting bits about the carrier:

1) The lower half has two "pins" that slide forward - backwards (toward the hinges). When they're in the fully forward position, they're set for 135 film, so you only need to put the film strip against the pins and move it left/right to align the frame to the mask. Likewise, when the pins are at the "backwards" position (close to the hinges), they're set for 120 film. If you have misplaced the negative in the carrier, you don't need to take it off the enlarger. Just lift the front handle of the carrier until it clicks and it will stay there. Realign the film strip, then gently push the silver lever at the handle, which releases the upper part of the carrier and puts it back in contact with the lower half.

2) There's a focussing aid at the lower half of the carrier. Turn the enlarger on with the carrier in place and start pulling it. At some point (about half out), it you'll see two lines projected on the easel. Use the focusing knob until the lines are aligned and so you have focused the enlarger, but this only works with a glass carrier. I've tried it with my glassless carrier, but it doesn't work.

pinzone · Jan 28, 2011

Anon Ymous said:
Two more interesting bits about the carrier:

Great tips. This sort of thing takes ages to learn/discover. I got home from worked plugged it in, fiddled around for 5 minutes and I'd got these little tricks figured out. If it works correctly then can I assume that the focus alignment thing does away with the need for a micro-focus. I doubt it but I'll ask the question. I have to say this is a really nice enlarger, solidly built and some decent features too.

Meopta Opemus 6 Colour 3

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