Omega D5500 elevation jamming

[hspluta]

I picked up an omega D5500 the other day and have been going over it. The Dichro head seems to work perfectly. I was able to use all of the functions as per the manual and both mixing chambers zero out.

I then turned my attention to the motorized lift and focus. The focus works smoothly however the lift did not work at all. Pulling it apart I saw that the nylon gears are broken. Not a problem, I ordered 2 new sets from SDP and once they get in a buddy will let me use his Bridgeport to mill the groove in the larger one.

However I decided to run the head up and down the column to see why the gears broke in the first place. Out of 20 attempts to move it up and down it jammed going down on three of the attempts! There really does not seem to be a lot to this mechanism and before I tear my new toy to pieces I was wondering it anyone had any suggestions.

Thanks, Harry

 

[ic-racer]

Common problem.

Two big rubber rollers turn solid and chunks come off.

Two ways to fix it. 1) Remanufactured new part from KHB photographic.
2) http://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/showthread.php?t=35033&highlight=d5500 (points to my thread on repair with some large rubber o-rings)

Since getting a motorized Durst, I thought it would be cool to motorize one of my D5500 columns but those motorized units seem to be pretty rare.

 

[hspluta]

Thanks I appreciate the post.

One of these days I hope to pick up a second Dichro head and then offer you large sums of cash to rebuild the electronics for me, lol. After reading your series on doing it yourself I know it is a bigger task then I ever want to undertake!