Hope to save a D5500

Joel_L

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I picked up a D5500 cheap. The column needs the typical rebuild, there is goo from the rubber wheels coming out.
The color head is missing the front cover. The column is missing a knob.

All of this I can address, it's just going to be some work. I did power it up and first thing I noticed is the rubber wheels that drive the filters up and down are goo. Everything was pretty much stuck.

I pulled the head apart and 3D printed some new wheels, they worked out fine. The next issue is the controller thinks Magenta is always full on. The Magenta filter is always trying to drive up. It was obvious to me that someone had been in there, so I thought maybe they wired it wrong. I reversed the leads on the Magenta motor and it would drive down all the time.

At this point I need to debug the sensor which I'm sure is no longer calibrated, signs of the adjustment pots being turned every which way. The sensor module is pretty simple. I will make a harness so I can measure what kind of signal I'm getting for each color. The controller seems to work, It's the older membrane type, but all buttons seem to work. I can set Cyan and Yellow, just not Magenta.

Hopefully I can restore it all.

 

Aidan Sciortino

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Tell me more about the 3D printed wheels! What material did you use to print them? I recently picked up a D5500 too, it has the same wheel issues and the chassis wheels are also all gooey.

Havent had time to dig into it yet - will be following your approach with great interest! I know @ic-racer has posted a wealth of knowledge about these enlargers on here.
 

mshchem

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Good luck with your project. Sounds like you know what you're doing. It's rewarding to save these things. I had one of those turrets, and some carriers that I gave a friend. Should be a great machine when you are finished.
 
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Joel_L

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Right now I'm using a 40D hardness TPE which is moderately hard. They seem to be working fine. Just enough slip that when the filters hit their stops they slide. Once the head is sorted out, I might reprint them with some 60A TPU filament I have, much more elastic.

 
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Joel_L

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The price was too good to pass up. I just ordered a service and users manual for it. The service manual should help me square it away. Once the basic functions are working properly, I will replace any electrolytic caps I find.

mshchem said:
Good luck with your project. Sounds like you know what you're doing. It's rewarding to save these things. I had one of those turrets, and some carriers that I gave a friend. Should be a great machine when you are finished.
Click to expand...
 
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Joel_L

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I think I found one problem, seems the color probe should have an RGB filter in front of the respective CMY sensors. There isn't anything. I'll see if I can find some appropriate film and make a mask.

Nope: I took another look and the RGB filters are there.
 
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Joel_L

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Now I found at least one issue with the Magenta channel. The photo sensor in the color probe is bad, had no output at the sensor. the other two working fine. Hope I can find the same part. If not, I will likely replace all three with something similar. No markings on the part. Hopefully the service manual will have schematics and a parts list.

 
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Joel_L

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As I'm waiting to figure out what I'm going to do about the color probe, I dismantled and started cleaning up the column an head. That rubber really broke down and left goo all over the place. Here are some random pics.



It was a pain to get to this point



New rollers being printed



One knob wiggled on the shaft, now I know why.

 
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Joel_L

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Finished printing the rollers for the column, fit just fine. The enlarger is back together and I think I found some photodiodes, they are on the way.

New roller installed on shaft.



Enlarger back together. Height adjustment works perfectly

 

ic-racer

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I can’t help but see you workshop. Is that your hobby workshop or are you a machinist or prototyper?
 
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Joel_L

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It's all hobby stuff. The things in the background are a Sherline Lathe and Mill, D bit grinder, and a 600x900mm 80W LASER. Mostly into Large scale Sailplanes and Helicopters, though I have a about everything. I'm an EE by trade.
 

mshchem

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Joel_L said:
It's all hobby stuff. The things in the background are a Sherline Lathe and Mill, D bit grinder, and a 600x900mm 80W LASER. Mostly into Large scale Sailplanes and Helicopters, though I have a about everything. I'm an EE by trade.
Click to expand...
OK, EE. That explains the knowledge thing. Looks like you can get things done in short order.
Keep going!
Kevin Brown at KHB in Canada is all knowing and would know about parts, heck of a nice guy.

http://www.khbphotografix.com/
 

albada

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Since you're an EE, you would have no problem replacing the entire dichro assembly with a LED lamphouse. A few of us can recommend which LEDs to use, and I've designed and programmed a smart controller (Arduino-based) that understands grades, so it can set the blue/green ratio of the LEDs correctly for B&W work, or set all three LED-strings for color work, plus a bunch of other features such as both printing test strips and setting exposure+grade based on them. But if you go that route, you won't have the original D5500 system, so it will lack the appeal to the collector in you.

Mark Overton
 
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Joel_L

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I have often thought about doing my own design RGB enlarger. Though I'm a fan of PIC micros and would do it based on one of those. But you are correct, I want to make this D5500 as original as possible. I have a Paterson ( Philips ) PCS 2000 that would be a candidate for a home brew controller.
 
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Joel_L

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I fix the last mechanical bit. The column lock was broken into pieces. There's the cam that has some slots that engaged with the ribs in the knob. They were all broken off. I had the pieces, so I glues them back on. I wrapped some tape around it to make a mold. I filled the whole thing with epoxy. When cured, I routed out the center so the core of the knob would fit and cut new slots. It all went together fine and the column lock is back to working. Oh, I replaced the rubber pads that were worn with rubber feet I had. Took 4 rubber feet per brake.

 

ic-racer

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The service manual lists only "Photocell" and the Omega part number. You may have to check the existing ones and get 3 new that are similar. I have a Rollei 35 LED in need of a new photocell, but have not sat down to reverse engineer the required response.
Great collection of tools. I love helicopters too, my darkroom has to double as my RC workshop.

 

mshchem

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Nothing wrong with halogen lamps for the light source. (Nothing wrong with LEDs either)

Not looking for a debate. This enlarger in it's original form will be spectacular.

 

ic-racer

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I did not run into any bad photocells in any of my mixing boxes but I did find what looked like a faded filter in one probe compared to all the others, so I replaced that with a new Wratten disk.


 
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Joel_L

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Well, I don't think I can post pics of my helis, they are not in a darkroom Most are vintage Hirobo Eagles. You will find a some of my stuff on Helifreak as helijoel

 

ic-racer

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mshchem

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You guys are geniuses! 20 years ago I cornered the market on a obscure, and even then, obsolete opto coupler for the old, Beseler dichro 45S heads. I had a tip or I would have never figured it out.

Great work and documentation for others!
 

mshchem

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Joel_L

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Now with the enlarger chassis all done, I made a quick 4x5 mask just to see how it looks.



It makes my PCS2000 look tiny. My Vivitar VI Dichro is in between



It's tall enough that I need to watch for low flying aircraft.



This whole exercise started because I got the itch to do another darkroom. My basement is unfinished and there are rough ins for a bathroom. I'm going to clear out that area and put up a new darkroom. I'm thinking 10x12 feet will do. For the past 18 years or so I have only been doing film and scanning. Want to do a full darkroom one more time.
 
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