Repairing B&W Saunders 4x5 Enlargers

[tech-c]

Hello,

I was wondering if anyone has experience with a Saunders/LPL Super Dichroic 4500 II enlarger?
I help run a group darkroom filled with these enlargers and some of them have dimmer lights then others.

I've been doing my best to trouble shoot. I tried switching new enlarger bulbs and it didn't help. I switched out the power supply units and I even ran extension cords to other electrical outlets just in case it could be a problem with the electric. Nothing has helped. The enlargers with the dim light are not burning as bright as the others and it's effecting exposure times.

Does anyone know if there is a place that repairs these kind of enlarger heads? I'm struggling to find a place. I'm located in NYC but would gladly ship it elsewhere if it could help the problem.

Any advice would be great!

Thanks.

 

[MattKing]

Contact KHB Photografix in Ontario Canada: http://www.khbphotografix.com/

If for no other reason that they are a font of knowledge about the brands they sell, service and otherwise support.

 

[bdial]

The socket the bulb plugs into is probably bad. These can deteriorate due to the heat of the bulb. The good news is that they are replaceable. I don't know of a source to recommend offhand, but googling something like "MR16 bulb socket" or similar should get you some good results. KHB Photographix (http://www.khbphotografix.com/) in Canada is the go-to North American resource for parts and help on these.

 

[Oren Grad]

In addition to KHB, George Brown, who is on Long Island and can be contacted through his eBay ID "apogeebee", does some LPL repairs. Just last week he did a quick-turnaround service on the color module from my LPL 4500II.

 

[tech-c]

Thanks everyone!!!!

Really helpful responses. I think it could be the sockets that the bulb plug into. It seems like that would be the next logical step.
Hopefully I can find a place to purchase them and try and have them replaced.

If anyone knows of any other places that specialize in Enlarger repairs please let me know!
I'm going to try and get work done with KHB.

 

[bdial]

It just occurred to me that if these enlargers have color heads, you may want to make sure that the neutral density control is set to the full brightness.
I'm not sure whether the other modules have that control though.

 

[Marco Buonocore]

Might be a simple problem. On the right hand side of the head there is a dial with two settings: one bright, the other dim. See which way it's set. I used to use the dim setting when making small prints on a fast paper like Ilford Multigrade IV.

 

[tech-c]

There doesn't seem to be a dial on the right hand side that controls the dim setting. Just the dial that changes filtration.
All of the heads are set up for black and white printing so there isn't the standard color dial heads installed.

I'm a bit at a loss trying to figure out what the issue could be.

 

[AgX]

Exchanging the sockets would not help much if the contacts of the lamps are bad too. Look at them too.

I takes two to tango.

 

[John Koehrer]

Swap one of the dimmer bulbs with one of the brighter lamps. Clean the pins and check it. If the dimmer bulb works OK then you need new sockets.
Google MR16 socket and there are quite a few sources.