saunders LPL enlarger

johanselmerlarsen · May 5, 2009

I've acquired a Saunders LPL dichroic enlarger (6X7) but light source is too dim with 150 watt bulb. Exposures are 1-2 min. at max. aperture. How do I brighten this. Is there any detailed user info. out there?

Jon Shiu · May 5, 2009

Something is wrong here. A normal exposure is something like 10 seconds at f11 with 82W bulb, with Ilford Multigrade IV paper. Which model of enlarger is it and what light bulb do you have? I suspect the bulb is wrong. Also, what paper and developer are you using? Is your negative of normal density (one way to check is to lay the neg on a newspaper and see if you can see the writing through the dense parts).

Jon

slumry · May 5, 2009

I agree something is wrong here. I have an LPL 4550 and had a similar experience. I was using an odd paper; it had a smooth side and a grainy side and I assumed the smooth side was the emulation side. It was not; however if I exposed for a minute to two minutes I would get an image. Flip the paper and everything was normal.

david b · May 5, 2009

On the 4550 there is a knob on the side that cuts the light in half. Is there one on your enlarger?

bdial · May 5, 2009

On the 4550 there is a knob on the side that cuts the light in half. Is there one on your enlarger?

This is my thinking too. Another possibility might be a defective power supply, but the light control is more likely assuming it has one.
Also,
Do you have any cyan filtration dialed in? Are all three filter controls working properly?
Are the contacts for the bulb clean?

johanselmerlarsen · May 6, 2009

Thank you very much for the reply. If you'll bear with me, there is a yellow lever on the left that turns a 'White' light on and off, and there's an increase in light with it in the off position. I think the bulb is correct, an intense 100 w halogen dichroic - the highest wattage available with a two-pin plug and 12 volt power supply. The enlarger appears rather new. Dial filters appear to work. I'm coming from years of using an omega/aristo cold light head. But with 16 X 20 prints the far edges were short on exposure and Bruce Birnbaum told me to get the saunders lpl. I notice the inside of the white light reflection box is lined with what appears to be white styrofoam, of all things. Mechanically, the thing all seems to work fine. This particular bulb heats to 500 degrees C. I could have an electrician remodel to higher wattage power supply and bulb, perhaps???
Any further ideas are much appreciated. thank you very much... Johan (in Maine, US, where there's not a lot of help with this kind of problem).

david b · May 6, 2009

What model enlarger do you have?

Also, your first post says you have a 150w bulb and your last post says 100w bulb. Which one?

RH Designs · May 6, 2009

If it's an LPL C7700 (which is sounds like) it's not an especially bright enlarger. You don't say what paper you're using or what size prints you're making but for 16x12 on for example Multigrade Warmtone, a minute or so isn't that unusual I'm afraid, in my experience at least. The correct lamp for the C7700 is 12v 100W. A new one might help - old lamps can get cloudy and I've seen a one stop improvement in output when I've replaced a blown one.

xtolsniffer · May 6, 2009

I have an LPL 6700, and I found about a stop increase in brightness when I replaced the bulb with a new one, that would equate to a change from 1 minute to 30 seconds - I regularly print at 30-45 seconds at say f11 on my 6700 at 12x16", so perhaps you're not too far out here.

naeroscatu · May 6, 2009

You should check the specs in the manual then verify if you have the correct lamp in your dichroic head.
you also need the manual to get familiar with all the knobs and functions. I have the LPL 4550 and it works very well: there is a knob that switches the light source to full power and a lever that disengages the filters leaving you the white bright light to focus and frame before the exposure.

mealers · May 6, 2009

Buy new a new lamp - I've bought two used enlargers in the past and both had similar problems to what you describe.

grompirx · May 6, 2009

I found in my LPL 6700 the bulb was not properly seated in its socket resulting in long exposures. Easy fix.

johanselmerlarsen · May 6, 2009

the enlarger isn't in front of me at the moment, but it's the saunders LPL 6X7. The bulb is 100 watt

johanselmerlarsen · May 6, 2009

the enlarger isn't in front of me at the moment, but it's the saunders LPL 6700, the bulb a brand new 100 watt. A 16X20" print with nikon 105 mm lens at 5.6 aperture on Forte warmtone paper is one min. exposure min. for average 6X7 cm. negative.

johanselmerlarsen · May 6, 2009

thanks, I'll try reseating the bulb - it's pressed fully down, which may be too low. I'm new to APUG - all this help is terrific!

ath · May 6, 2009

johanselmerlarsen said:
A 16X20" print with nikon 105 mm lens at 5.6 aperture on Forte warmtone paper is one min. exposure min. for average 6X7 cm. negative.

That sounds OK. Forte Warmtone is very slow (some people like this as they have more time for burning and dodging).

johanselmerlarsen · May 7, 2009

That turned out to be the problem - I doubled the light by raising the lamp half a centimeter. Thanks!

saunders LPL enlarger

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