"New" Gralab darkroom timer

[Leigh]

I just got an email from an industrial supplier announcing a "new" line of process timers...

Look familiar?
100885

They even list two darkroom timers (one 60Hz, one 50Hz):
http://www.reidsupply.com/products/metalworking/precision-instruments-measuring/counters/timers-and-time-meters/?fl=97701and4294869071

These are Gralab brand.

- Leigh

[Jac@stafford.net]

Thanks for that, Leigh. I have several Gralabs thinking they were no longer made.
If memory serves well, they were $15 new when I got them.

[Leigh]

The product assortment even includes the electronic timer with two rotary switches to set the time.

I don't know who makes these. I thought they were long out of production, but B&H lists them also.

Maybe this isn't new news.

I do think the non-photographic marketing bodes well for continued product availability.

- Leigh

[cuypers1807]

Leigh, I just got one and it is missing one important feature.... The volume control for the buzzer. I am sending it back to B&H because their photo with the item includes the volume knob at the bottom right.

[Leigh]

Volume control?

In almost 60 years of using Gralab 300 timers, I've never encountered one with a volume control.

- Leigh

[ic-racer]

This one. 100903

[bobwysiwyg]

This one. 100903

Yup, just like mine. Use the buzzer all the time.

[Leigh]

Yup, just like mine. Use the buzzer all the time.
They all have the buzzer. It used to have a buzzer on/off switch.

Apparently it now has a volume control (multi-position switch?).

- Leigh

[John Kasaian]

I actually prefer my old metal Gralab to the new plastic incarnation. It's sort of like the Hudson Hornet of dark room timers!

[Roger Cole]

I have one from way back in the day. No volume control and I never knew they made them with one. That buzzer will wake the dead.

A friend saw it and said "oh, you have the basketball timer" and now that he mentioned it, the buzzer DOES sound exactly like the ones they had in gym class.

[cuypers1807]

Ok. Perhaps volume control was the wrong word. I just want to be able to turn the buzzer off. The new one from B&H had no switch at the bottom right as shown in the pictures above.

[bobwysiwyg]

They all have the buzzer. It used to have a buzzer on/off switch.

Apparently it now has a volume control (multi-position switch?).

- Leigh

My bad, meant to type volume control. As a matter of fact, even if I turn the volume all the way down on mine, it still emits a weak croaking sound.

[Roger Cole]

Ok. Perhaps volume control was the wrong word. I just want to be able to turn the buzzer off. The new one from B&H had no switch at the bottom right as shown in the pictures above.

Oh my old one has a switch to turn the buzzer OFF (located on top in the center, can post photo later if you want) just not to lower the volume. You have two choices - wake the neighbors a block away or just a nearly silent click when time is up.

[bigdog]

I have several Gralabs thinking they were no longer made.

They're still made. The company makes much more than darkroom equipment, so it's never gone out of business. Still, this is one of those items that you wonder why you'd buy one new for almost $200 when used ones are all over the place for $20-25, if you're patient.

http://www.gralab.com/

I actually prefer the model 170 over the 300, as is does not glow in the dark (I know - but I, personally, have no need for that) and the switches are water-proofed - handy when I am doing film processing. Having said that, there is something mechanically wrong with my 170, and so I am using a 300 until I get the urge to open up the 170 and see if I can fix it. :p

[Jerry Bodine]

I have a Model 168 from the 60s with the buzzer on/off switch on top (no volume control), and I only used the buzzer one time (never again). Much later I got a used 300 that has the volume control, but it stays OFF as well to avoid waking up family in the wee hours (and the dogs would have fits). Then I got a Model 655 digital for the enlarger which also has volume control (it too stays OFF for same reason) + display dimming. All are still chugging along fine. Neither 168 nor the 655 show up in their list of discontinued timers for some reason, but the 300 is shown (without the volume control). I am amused by the mfr's statement that the buzzer can be heard above ambient noise level; I can't imagine anyone working in such an environment if they value their hearing, but I suspect it can be heard with hearing protection gear.

[Michael Cienfuegos]

Oh my old one has a switch to turn the buzzer OFF (located on top in the center, can post photo later if you want) just not to lower the volume. You have two choices - wake the neighbors a block away or just a nearly silent click when time is up.

Sounds like the one I got for $10 so many years ago.

[Jody_S]

Volume control?

In almost 60 years of using Gralab 300 timers, I've never encountered one with a volume control.

- Leigh

I've had a couple. I wish I had kept them, because the volume feature is quite nifty when you work at night, while your family is sleeping upstairs.

I'm just fondly remembering the days when I could get $75 for a Gralab. I guess I can't feel too badly about selling my volume-control timers, all things considered.

[Leigh]

It appears several folks have seen the volume control.

I recall the buzzer on/off switch like Roger mentioned, which I always had turned off.

- Leigh

[jk0592]

I also have the "no volume control" unit with buzzer on/off. Bought it new I'm 1968...Still works like a charm, but I prefer models like 505, 605, etc. because of the pedal control, and possibility of repeating time intervals, which are absent from the 300. Also, being without much experience, the 300 with its big whitish glow in the dark indicators make me very nervous in the darkroom when loading 4x5 film in film holders, or unloading them prior to processing, so I hide it in a cupboard, and do not use it often because of this.

[Leigh]

You definitely do not want any glow-in-the-dark instruments out and visible while working with film.

I have one timer with a luminous face. I throw a black apron over it when working with film.

- Leigh

[Bill]

Anyone know how to disconnect/turn-off-permanently the wake-the-dead buzzer on the "new" Gralab 300 which has neither an on-off switch nor a volume control? My old GraLab had the on-off switch on the top. Can't imagine why they would delete this switch while raising the price by an order of magnitude. Contacted the company and they told me I'd have to return the unit. When I said that was very inconvenient, and couldn't they please give me a hint with no representations or warranties the hint would work, they blew me off. It can't involve more than cutting a wire. Has anyone tried this?

[Jerry Bodine]

It can't involve more than cutting a wire. Has anyone tried this?

No, haven't had a need to do this, but it seems to me that, since the "buzz" comes from a speaker, all you'd need to do is find the speaker inside and simply disconnect (not cut) any wires leading to it and cap the wires. If that messes up the timer function somehow you can always reconnect the wires and seek a different solution. Obviously, you should disconnect from power source before doing anything.

[Roger Cole]

Wow. I can't imagine not being able to shut that thing off, though I do use it sometimes if it won't disturb anyone upstairs.

I also hide the timer when loading film or film holders, but I leave it out and use it to time my development in deep tanks. The exposure is very short, the timer is both dim and not too close, and development starts to de-sensitize film somewhat anyway which is what makes develop by inspection possible. I've had no problems at all doing that.

[alavergh]

Ugh, I got my darkroom timer of the same style, but the old metal style, free from a friend of the family. A few times I must have bumped the switch on the top and turned on the buzzer. I got a rude awakening when the time expired...gosh I had how loud and petrifying that thing is.