The Cost of a Schematic....

[ic-racer]

You may have seen in the thread on my L1840 that I drew out a schematic by following the traces on the PC board. Since I only followed out the circuits that were faulty, I did not do the whole thing.

To see what would happen, I wrote to Durst.it to see if they could fax or e-mail me the complete schematic, just to have. Here is the exchange of e-mail:


**********************

Initial contact through the Durst.it website:

Dear Durst,
I have a L1840 for which I am missing some of the documentation. The previous owner gave me everything he had, but said he never had the schematics, even though it says in the documentation they should be included.

I need schematics:
AC 81.705
AC 81.706
Table A

Thanks,


*********************

Dear_____,
thank you for your message.

Please note that the service for this unit stopped already some years ago!

Consequently, neither spare parts nor accessories nor other services are
still available from Durst.

Normally our service manuals are for authorized Durst service technicians
only and it is not allowed to forward such manuals to customers directly due
to the high danger of accidents during repair work.
(Ignore if your owners manual says otherwise. It has been written many years
ago. Laws and rules change while time is passing by).

However, given the age of the unit, we could send you a copy of the service
manual including wiring diagrams, but only if you first will send us (per e-mail)
a written confirmation that you will not hold Durst liable in any way in case
of damage to the machine or yourself during repair!

Please do not forget do indicate your mail address too, otherwise we cannot
send you the manual as it does not exist in digital form.

Yours faithfully

*********************************************

I, ______, on Feb. 28, 2008 do declare that I desire a service manual for an out dated Durst L1840 enlarger for historical archiving purposes, and the intent to maintain vintage or antique electrical equipment in working order. I maintain full liability and responsibility for any and all ill consequences that may result from the possession and/or use of said manuals. The Manufacture Durst Phototechnik and any or all related companies will not incur any burden of responsibility or liability from my possession and/or use of these manuals.

Sincerely, _______


********************************************

Dear ____,

Before we send you any documentation we would like to have a confirmation by your side that you declare us not liable for any damage what can occur to you or the machine during repair, maintenance or whatever you are doing with it.

By the way, attached is the proforma invoice for the documentation what have to be paid.

Thanks a lot for your attention.

Regards

Durst Phototechnik AG

*****************************************

(The Invoice shows 80 euros for a service manual and 20 euros for shipping, totaling about $138 USD.)

*****************************************

Dear Durst,

I got the invoice and saw what amounts to $134USD. Wow, that is a lot of money to spend on an enlarger that by your own doing, is not worth anything (no servcie, support or parts). Is that for the whole service manual? I already have the 'Durst LABORATOR L1840 Repair instructions' which came with the enlarger. Maybe I was not clear with the original contact, all I am missing are the schematics "AC 81.705", "AC 81.706" and some "Table A L 1840"

On page 2 of the "Repair instructions" under Item "2.) Description of components" it says "The following circuit diagrams are enclosed: " but I don't have the 'enclosed diagrams'. Perhaps the prior owner could have misplaced them, but he did save everything including the original unpacking instructions and the original Durst "quality control card" with the original little bag of fuses attached.

So, what I initially was wanting was just to have those two schematics and that "Table A" faxed to me or e-mailed. I didn't realize I would have to buy another manual for $134. Is there some way I can just get those three loose pages?

Thanks,

*****************************************
Dear_____,

I'm sorry. If somebody has purchased a unit not directly from us or a distributor from our company, this is the regular procedure that you have to pay this.

Regards

Durst Phototechnik AG

****************************************


I did not reply to this last e-mail. The original distributor for my unit is out of business and so is the original owner.

It looks like Durst's product liablility lawyers have pushed to get the L1840s into dumpsters as soon as they can. Don't get my tone wrong here. Its not Durst's fault that some dipshit can open the thing up, burn himself, then find a pig lawyer to sue Durst (there is no 'Coffee is Hot' sticker on the power supply )

I'll just get the manual from here for $20 USD if I feel so compelled : http://www.stonemills.net/inventory/...rs_service.htm

[Brook Martin]

Ouch,
I was about to get a L 138, now I kind of have to think about it...

[ic-racer]

Ouch,
I was about to get a L 138, now I kind of have to think about it...

I was having a bad day because of the Formula One restults yesterday. The 'scuderia' were not performing well . Taking it out the Durst, my own 4-wheeled Italian 'vehicle.'

Anyway, all is not so bad because my impression of Durst Pro is that they are going be be better to deal with than Durst.it since they are an english-speaking continental US business. I, personally have never had the need to call them, but I hope they will be there if I need them.

I didn't ask Durst Pro for the schematic because I did not buy the enlarger from Durst Pro, and did not expect them to send it to me for free. But based on the good things I have read, I suspect they would be able to supply the schematic for a reasonable price.

[Brook Martin]

I guess thats why I ice fish, even a bad day of ice fishing is better than....and going fast is never an issue.

I may have some questions for you in the near future.

[Ash]

So there's nothing here?

http://www.jensen-optical.us/library.html

[jetcode]

I was working a contract for Intel on a mobile bridge chip. I was desiging software to run bus cycles to expose flaws in the chip. About 3 months into the project I noticed I was getting repeatable failures from a test card designed by another group. I called the group and asked for schematics and code. The reply was "we don't know where they are. We lost a lot of stuff during that last move". SOL - One must be prepared for work arounds, which is why no one can find the BIOS guy at Intel.

If you like your enlarger pay the $134. It will be worth it in the long run.

[ic-racer]

So there's nothing here?

http://www.jensen-optical.us/library.html

No, they don't have it. They don't have the L1840 Owner's Manual either.

I have scanned my Owner's Manual and it is available here:http://manuelsphoto.free.fr/
I DO have the L1840 Repair manual and can send it to anyone that needs one. It is about 12 pages, I only have 3 of the 6 or so schematics, though. Once I get the missing schematics I'll get the whole repair manual up on that site also.

[Ash]

Why don't you see if you can find a few members either here/apug/pnet/etc and pool the cash to buy the manual from Durst. That way you can send a copy to each person and it only costs a fraction...


....otherwise call them up and ask down the phone to get just the pages you need, if you talk on the phone you might get further than by email. People are more willing when you can beg in your most wimpy voice.

[Ash]

Oh also I'd try calling that Jensen Optical place, according to here http://www.jensen-optical.us/l1840remanf.htm they re-manufacture the buggers, so they should have a copy to scan and email?

[ic-racer]

I was working a contract for Intel on a mobile bridge chip. I was desiging software to run bus cycles to expose flaws in the chip. About 3 months into the project I noticed I was getting repeatable failures from a test card designed by another group. I called the group and asked for schematics and code. The reply was "we don't know where they are. We lost a lot of stuff during that last move". SOL - One must be prepared for work arounds, which is why no one can find the BIOS guy at Intel.

If you like your enlarger pay the $134. It will be worth it in the long run.

I was actually considering it, if I knew it would be an original, because I like to collect literature and stuff. I was in a similar situation quite a few years ago, I had a Xerox copy of the Rollei TLR repair manual and later found out I could get a manual right from Rollei. So, I contacted Rollei and paid about $100 for a manual, thinking I would get an original. Turns out I just wound up with a second Xerox.