Omega Simmons DII

Sorrycharlie · Feb 3, 2020

Hi there, I’ve recently come across an Omega DII and it has an American lamp house and plug in it. It has also come with a Master Time O Lite timer. If I want to use the enlarger and timer here in Australia (240v) just wondering if anyone knows what type of step down transformer I would have to use, how many watts etc??

I’m considering trying to convert the head to an LED in the future, would anyone suggest not bothering or is it a worthwhile experiment. Hoping to just use it to do 4x5’s only.

John Wiegerink · Feb 4, 2020

The Omega "D" series enlargers are very good, robust enlargers. Are they the Cadillac of enlargers??? No, but your finished print won't know that. One nice thing about the DII is that it is 100% adjustable for alignment. Also, they made millions of them and parts are easily found on the auction site. I use a D6 with a lford VC head, A DII with Aristo cold lite and a DII with the standard condenser setup. All three didn't put a big dent in the wallet either. I'm sure if you do a Google search you'll find somebody who has done the LED conversion on a DII. I would imagine a simple step-down transformer would work and if the enlarger has the standard condenser head it wouldn't require very high wattage since it is basically running just the bulb and maybe your timer.

koraks · Feb 4, 2020

Sorrycharlie said:
I’m considering trying to convert the head to an LED in the future, would anyone suggest not bothering or is it a worthwhile experiment.

Depends on if you want to do only B&W or also color, and how well-versed you are with electronics.
For only B&W, it's not too complicated, especially if you (1) know about Ohm's law, (2) can find your way through a few lines of Arduino code and (3) can hold a soldering iron, to put it simply. Google around a bit; several example builds are documented on the web with blue and green leds, for different enlargers, but should be easy to re-engineer to fit to yours.
For color, it's a bit more challenging as you're virtually on your own, as I haven't come across anyone actually giving it a serious go. As far as I'm aware, I'm currently the only person to have documented a color led head build online in the English-speaking sphere at least. https://www.photrio.com/forum/threads/craziness-using-leds-to-print-ra4-and-b-w.171911/

Doremus Scudder · Feb 4, 2020

U.S. power is 120V AC 60 Herz. You'd need whatever conversion needed to get 120V AC. I don't think you need to worry about the AC frequency with an incandescent bulb, so a simple step-down transformer should work. To use the timer, however, you will likely need to match frequency or deal with an error (which should be consistent, but...)

Or, you can just find a bulb to fit the socket, or make some kind of adaptation, and use your own mains power. Personally, I'd work for this latter solution, ditch the Time-o-Light and find another timer to use. I'm sure someone here's converted one and will have more specific advice.

Best,

Doremus

AgX · Feb 4, 2020

The most simple approach to get started would just be exchanging the lamp for a 240V incandescant version, if necessary the lamp socket too, and the mains connector. The original wiring should take twice the voltage and the current would be half anyway.

bdial · Feb 4, 2020

The usual screw base bulb would be 75 watts.

Sorrycharlie · Feb 5, 2020

Thanks very much for all the replies. Ok so maybe I can just replace the lamp assembly with a 240v lamp head and put a 75w bulb in it like the one in this image?

Huub · Feb 9, 2020

Yep, that is the kind of bulb you need.

kevs · Feb 13, 2020

Sorrycharlie said:
<snipped>
I’m considering trying to convert the head to an LED in the future, would anyone suggest not bothering or is it a worthwhile experiment. Hoping to just use it to do 4x5’s only.

I'd deffo recommend an LED conversion; I've converted my De Vere 504 Varicon head to green/blue LEDs with some simple-ish switching, veroboard, a variable AC power unit, a few rectifier diodes and a spider's web of wires. There are a few techie things I wish I'd known at the time but I've no regrets. No more popping negatives or burnt-out, expensive bulbs to deal with - hoorah!

You could also use a bank of white LEDs and ordinary Multigrade filters, or just use a domestic LED bulb in place of the original tungsten one. I hate faffing with filters so I chose the blue/green route. Good luck with your project.

https://petapixel.com/2019/03/16/how-i-converted-a-durst-laborator-1200-enlarger-to-use-led-lights/
http://www.trippingthroughthedark.com/category/equipment/led-head/

Omega Simmons DII

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