Ilex Synchro shutter repair manual?

[David R Munson]

Anyone know if any Ilex Synchro shutter repair manuals exist anywhere? On the web, photocopied, for purchase, etc. I picked up 4 inoperative No 3 shutters on eBay for about $10, and I figure if I can get my hands on a repair manual, I can get at least one operational shutter out of the deal. Thoughts anyone?

[David R Munson]

Sorry for the double post. Had another thought just after I hit the button.

Also picked up this. Felt like playing with some old glass again. Any resources anywhere for working on this kind of shutter?

And for the sake of reference, these are the Ilex shutters in question.

[Ole Tjugen]

David, aren't those Ilex'es electronic? There was a question about that very recently, see http://largeformatphotography.info/lfforum/topic/498681.html if that's so. If so the shutters could be perfectly OK, just need an electronic controller unit...

The old shutter I know nothing about - even less than about Ilex'es which I remembered 'cause I'm at work and I'm bored. But I just bought four old shutters with glass in them myself, so I'll have a look in a few weeks time when I get home. Unless someone else has solved in the meantime, in which case I'll read and learn

[Ernest Purdum]

Since those are electronic shutters, which are very simple mechanically, and you have four of them, I think you could be brave and open up one of them. I think you'd find the assembly fairly self-evident.

[Jim Galli]

Yes, very simple and straight forward. One pair of external contacts is the flash sync. The other larger pair will operate a solenoid that opens the shutter. 24V works fine. Then figure something out to time out the 24V and you'll have a useable shutter. The Tektronics C5 scope cameras have just such an electronic timer and go for about $5 on Ebay. You'd have to incorporate it to control the 24V but it was a project (1 of hundreds) that I've thought about and never got around to. When you get it all figured out post it here. Biggest problem with these and also the mechanical 3's is a lack of interesting glass that is a direct fit. All of the nice Goerz glass that used these requires a bushing that is expensive to make.

[David R Munson]

Thanks for the info, everyone. I knew nothing of these shutters when I got them - but I figured for that price I couldn't really go wrong. I'm sure I'll find something to do with them. I can make a power supply pretty easily - anybody know what kind of amperage would be appropriate? Would 16 AA batteries wired together do the trick? Also, any ideas about something to use as a timer? If anyone knows of any wiring diagrams for something that would be appropriate, I wouldn't mind building something up from parts. Or if there are any timers I might find scrapped or on eBay that could be adapted, that would be cool too.

[Jim Galli]

David, a bundle of NIMH AA's would work fine. For a timer idea, see above. Here's a link. They have a shutter timer for .1 sec - 5 sec. You could use the electronics from one of these. Plus they come with a battery holder for 8 AA's if I recall.

[Ernest Purdum]

The maximum current is shown as four milliamps. The factory controllers used a pulse of 192 VDC to snap the blades open quickly, followed by a holding voltage of 24VDC. If you send me your mailing address, I'll send you copies of catalog pages on the shutters by Melles Griot, who took over the manufacture from Ilex.

[Michael S. Briggs]

The info from the Melles Griot catalog on the electronic protocol to operate these shutters is online at http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-...?msg_id=007Ixa.

[David R Munson]

For others interested in building a controller for these shutters, this is where the above photo.net link eventually leads. I think I'll work on building one of these, assuming I don't come across a better solution before I start, which I doubt I will.