Repairing an Enlarger Timer

[bvy]

I picked up a Paterson 2000D enlarger timer from eBay recently. Long story short, it doesn't work very well. You get what you pay for, I guess, and I didn't pay very much for it. The seller offered me a refund, but by the time I figure in shipping, I'll about break even. So I'm wondering if it's possible to repair the thing, and what it would entail.

The problem is the buttons. The Reset button either doesn't work at all, or I don't know how to use it (no manual came with it). More troubling, though, is the Run button. It has to be depressed firmly and on the right side of the button. Then, if it does make contact, it sometimes triggers twice, thus flashing and pausing. One time it just turned the enlarger on but the timer didn't start running.

Any thoughts? I don't know the mechanics of the buttons. Maybe (hopefully) some contacts just needs cleaning, or there's some other simple repair that will make this work. Or maybe it's garbage.

Thoughts? Thank you.

 

[Rick A]

Dirty contacts? Radio Shack or similar spray contact cleaner. Open the case and clean, spray any contact points, etc., then test.

 

[RH Designs]

Most probably the switches are dirty and/or worn out. Try a clean as Rick suggests, if that doesn't work you may be able to replace the switches. I've not seen inside that particular model but most will use of-the-shelf standard parts which may still be available.