North American enlarger to Germany??

sly · Jul 29, 2007

My son is visiting from Germany and I would like to give him my old Omega 35mm enlarger to take back with him. How difficult will it be to adapt it to 220? Thanks, Sly (and son)
If he can get it to Germany and set it up, he could be our next European/Canadian Apugger.

Donald Miller · Jul 29, 2007

I am not sure of the model that you have. Some of the Omegas had voltage converters to enable an 82 volt lamp. If that is the case, your best bet would be a 220V to 110 volt voltage converter.

If your enlarger does not have the low voltage lamp and instead uses a 110 volt lamp then you could switch to a 220 volt lamp of similar design. Bulbman would be a good place to check for that.

Of course, in the event of the later scenario, you will need to install a 220 volt plug end on the power cord...that is best handled in Germany since the US 220 volt plugs are totally different.

Nick Zentena · Jul 29, 2007

Colour or B&W? IIRC the condensor heads just need new 220V bulbs.

I'm taking a couple of my enlargers with me to Europe. Both have colour heads. I'll be running them off step down transformers. There is a place in Montreal that seems to have some nice step downs.

http://www.dcacpowerinverters.com/voltage_converters.html

They've also got pure sine wave inverters. For a small enlarger a 12v battery and an inverter would run quite a while.

Petzi · Jul 29, 2007

The Chromega Head I have uses a 24 V / 250 W bulb and needs a big transformer. Whether that can be reconfigured to 230 V depends, ask an electrician.

By the way, the nominal voltage in Europe has been 230 V for several years now, the British dropped theirs from 240 V, and the rest increased theirs from 220 V. No big deal though.

Mike Richards · Jul 29, 2007

If your son will be anywhere near a US military base, departing families are a good source of good quality used step down transformers. Just check bulletin boards and local want ads.

ath · Jul 29, 2007

There are many high quality enlargers available in Germay next for (or even for) nothing. Why bother with transporting it?

If your son needs advice in Germany, direct him to www.aphog.de, kind of german apug.

Kilgallb · Jul 30, 2007

I would recommend using a step down transformer when running North American devices on 230 VAC. The various components in the Omega enlarger may not be specifically rated for 230 VAC. The wiring in the unit, the connectors, AC cord and lamp housings may not be considered safe at 230 VAC. You might get away with it when things work, but if a component failure occurs and someone is injured, you might be held liable.

Ole · Jul 30, 2007

It should be very easy to find a good 35mm enlarger in Germany.

Your job is to get him hooked on doing his own enlargements; then he can easily pick up a Leitz Focomat wherever he is. Or whatever else takes his fancy...

Chan Tran · Jul 30, 2007

I think bringing an enlarger to Germany is much more difficult than to convert it to run on 220V 50Hz power.

sly · Jul 30, 2007

already hooked

[Your job is to get him hooked on doing his own enlargements; then he can easily pick up a Leitz Focomat wherever he is. Or whatever else takes his fancy...[/QUOTE]

He began to use my darkroom in his teens, before he moved to Europe. He has been shooting film there, but moans about scratched negatives, flat lab prints etc. He brought negatives to print in my darkroom while he is visiting. I bought a lovely 4x5 enlarger this spring, and my old one was sitting covered with a garbage bag in a corner. Hmmmmm.... Sly

copake_ham · Jul 30, 2007

sly said:
He began to use my darkroom in his teens, before he moved to Europe. He has been shooting film there, but moans about scratched negatives, flat lab prints etc. He brought negatives to print in my darkroom while he is visiting. I bought a lovely 4x5 enlarger this spring, and my old one was sitting covered with a garbage bag in a corner. Hmmmmm.... Sly

Aha!

I read this thread expecting to find a "hidden agenda"!

Dad got a new enlarger and feels guilty about no longer needing/using the old one. Kind of sentimental about it, I'll bet.

After all, why sell or trash an old friend when you can keep it in the family!

While logic would suggest that your son should just find a comparable enlarger in Germany - sentiment matters too. So, pony up the cash to ship it. Pack it up real good and send your son enough additional cash to buy a power converter.

And if you ever visit him and don't see your old enlarger - don't ask!

haris · Jul 31, 2007

Well, when I was young I built my own music amplifier. So, I needed transformer. I took wire, E metal profiles for transformer, little mathematics for calculating how much wire and revolutions for that much Voltage, and how thick wire must be for that much Ampers, and made my own transformer...

Now, in Europe (atleast here) still exists people who knows those "old" crafts, and have those crafts as business. So, your son go to some of those people and order one 230V 60HZ to 110V 50 HZ transformers to be handmade. Easy as that. Or he can make one for himself, it is not astrophysics...

Or, buy one in shop, much more easy, but less fun

Thomas Bertilsson · Jul 31, 2007

I would be very interested to see a transformer that can convert 50 Hz power cycle to 60 Hz. Me knowingly, you need a Variable Frequency Drive for that, and that will cost more than an enlarger.
It could also be that you don't have to convert from 50 Hz to 60 Hz. I think a light bulb is a pretty stupid device that might just glow anyway...
- Thomas

AgX · Jul 31, 2007

For an enlarger just containing an incandescant bulb and no electronics the frequency is of no interest at all.
And to me the issue of current seems of more importance than the change of voltage in this case.
Coming to Europe with a North-American device means putting about halve of the current strain on the wiring, fixture, switches etc. So one is on the save side with this issue. So I just would change the bulb, and to be more on the safe side give the whole thing a good earthing and relay on the leak current switch in the supply of my darkroom.

Whether it is really fair to be so negligent and say that an isolation made for 120V has enough reserves to be save enough for 220V only a electrical engineer with all his rules and guidelines can tell, which I am not...

haris · Jul 31, 2007

Thomas Bertilsson said:
I would be very interested to see a transformer that can convert 50 Hz power cycle to 60 Hz. Me knowingly, you need a Variable Frequency Drive for that, and that will cost more than an enlarger.
It could also be that you don't have to convert from 50 Hz to 60 Hz. I think a light bulb is a pretty stupid device that might just glow anyway...
- Thomas

OK, OK, don't be so...

sly · Aug 4, 2007

Well, he has diassembled and packed up the enlarger up and squeezed it into his luggage. He's taking Mom's enlarger with him. Turns out any overweight luggage charges will be less per kilo than mailing, and inexpensive enough that it seems worth it. Thanks to everyone who posted advice. Miss him already and he's not out of the country yet. Sly

copake_ham · Aug 4, 2007

sly said:
.... Thanks to everyone who posted advice. Miss him already and he's not out of the country yet. Sly

Well, I guess it's time for you and the missus to get onto Travelocity (or similar) and plan your next trip over for a visit!

sly · Aug 4, 2007

The mister and I are waiting to hear about wedding plans - he and his German fiance have not yet decided which continent they will get married on. I'm crossing my fingers they will plump for Canada. Sly

North American enlarger to Germany??

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