Prontor Magnetic pinout

[Edwin Barkdoll]

I have a Prontor Magnetic shutter with a Zeiss controller. The controller no longer works, however, for my purposes I don't really need much more than "open" or "closed", so, I want to make a simple switch with a power supply for the shutter.

Does anyone know the pinout for this shutter? I'd rather have a good idea before I start experimenting and potentially damage the shutter.

Thanks,
Edwin

[John Koehrer]

No idea about the pinout. That's never stopped me in the past ;]
you should be safe with a minimal voltage applied to various pins. One has to be a ground so if you have an ohm meter that's an easy one to find "0" resistance.
Apply your negative lead to ground and momentarily apply to each remaining pin. One will open the shutter. You may want to limit the current to the shutter by putting a resistor in line with one of the leads.

[Dave Grenet]

See here (http://www.schneideroptics.com/ecommerce/CatalogItemDetail.aspx?CID=1434&IID=6320) for a datasheet. They're a little tricky as they want a 50 ms pulse at about 30V followed by a voltage of 3V to keep them open. I have two of these at home that I keep meaning to make a controller for - let me know how you go!

[erie patsellis]

I have found for the Ilex shutters, for slower speeds, the 10x pulse requirement can be ignored, it's meant to get the shutter to snap open quickly by overcoming the magnetice hysterisis of the coil. For b and t one can use the lower voltage, or slightly more, the actual voltage needs to be determined based on your requirements for responsiveness.

[George W.]

I would be very interested to get the detailed schematics someone might have, especially how the pulses are generated.
I am familiar with coil driving circuits, and know that you can destroy your electronics due to high induced voltage peaks.
Using suppressor diodes will reduce this risk, but the mechanical response times will go up.

[erie patsellis]

George, I'll have to dig up some old notes, but I generally used automotive relay drivers, they're robust enough and simple to interface.

[Edwin Barkdoll]

Thanks for the ideas.
I went to that Schneider page and completely missed the tech spec page. Thanks, Dave.

[Bob Salomon]

I have them. Call with which version Prontor Magnetic you have. 800 735-4373.