Hi ,

I recently acquired (for free!) an aristo D2 cold light. I'm sure it’s moderately ancient (product# 3 026 410). It does work, although with a HALTING lack of consistency in print times (as in stop printing right now before you waste another 10 sheets of paper!). The same print time will yield wild variances in print brightness. Once when I took off three seconds, the print went even darker! I've had my challenging print sessions, but this is ridiculous! Time for a beer.

My home darkroom is under construction, so I've been using the college darkroom, now that all the students are away. The enlarger draws power from a designated transformer which regulates the voltage @ 120V. Would an additional voltage regulator be required to keep the light constant? Would this explain the problem?

The other question revolves around that other mysterious power cord that appears to do nothing at all. I believe this is for the "thermo”. Can someone explain what this is, how it works and how it might be contributing to the problem?

Any other ideas? Replace the tube?

Thanks!

CJ Jordan (troy)