looking for Chromegatrol/ power supply Chromega E

[Roger Vadim]

Hello everybody,

my Durst 138 is equipped with a Super Chromega E Dichroic II head - it is a fine working unit but the Power supply I had for it was just borrowed.

Need to give it back, so I'm in need of a power supply/ or Chromegatrol for this unit.

Because these things are super hard to trace here in Germany I'd like to ask if

a.) anybody got one for sale in Europe or

b.) anybody soldered / build themself a power supply for this head?

thanks for any help,
Michael

[frotog]

Hi, Michael,

You realize that the E power supply is the same as the D, right? I see them come up on ebay from time to time for like $40-$60.

Hope this helps....

[ic-racer]

I was going to make one for a friend in your same situation. There is only one electrical component in the box (the transformer), as you can see. However, an appropriate transformer was somewhat expensive. Then you add the price of a nice metal enclosure. Then the price of the socket for the cord to the head (over $30 just for that socket). So, even though it looks easy to build, all together it would have been as much as the most expensive one on e-bay.
During my search someone from APUG sent us one for free, so I never had to build it.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v670/ic-racer/2012/Chromega.jpg

[Roger Vadim]

Thanks for the feedback -

that is an interesting diagramm IC - but because I'm in Germany it needs to have a second transformer from 220 to 110 volt - I figured out by now... makes it even more difficult...

so one for 24 V for the bulb - and a second one for the fan... might as well build a 220 Volt fan into the housing then.
does anybody knows if the electromagnet for the shutter is 110 or 24 Volts?

the little bulbs for viewing the scales don't work anyway.

so I might hunt for a used one on Evilbay... there are two up at the moment actually, but the sellers don't send abroad.
yeah, and shipping + customs also add to the equation.

Its a nice color head, but I'd rather have a Durst, because parts are so much easyer to get over here.

thanks again, cheers, Michael

[ic-racer]

does anybody knows if the electromagnet for the shutter is 110 or 24 Volts?
Are we talking about the Super Chromega II head?

[Roger Vadim]

It's a Super Chromega E Dichroic II - the 1980-90's version of the collor head.

And it has got a shutter with a electro magnet - you can hear the "clack" when you switch on the light.

Its not needed for b/w anyway - I think the idea with the shutter was to have a consistent color temperature.

And now to something completely different: what is the best VC / colorhead for up to 4x5 / 5x7 out there in your modest opinion?

cheers, Michael

[frotog]

I have the same head, same vintage. No shutter though. I think your head was modified to include a shutter - certainly not oem.

[ic-racer]

And now to something completely different: what is the best VC / colorhead for up to 4x5 / 5x7 out there in your modest opinion?

cheers, Michael

For those living in the USA, I'd recommend the Chromega E that you already have!
If living in europe the CLS1000 would be what I'd want (the 'baby' version of the head I have).
http://www.durst-pro-usa.com/images/light_heads/cls1000/1.jpg

[ic-racer]

Power supply I had for it was just borrowed.


That must have been some fancy power supply to deal with the electromagnetic shutter, the odd voltage on the fan, and the main light. What possible enlarger could it be used with besides yours? Can you get it back?

[frotog]

I have two of the cls 1000 heads and a chromega E head. The Durst heads are much more even than the omega and a good two or three stops brighter.

[Roger Vadim]

That CLS 1000 looks great!! going to hunt for this one;)

Coming back to the Dichroic II:

mine definately has got a shutter, I'll attach some pics. The mixing chamber is removed. You can clearly see the magnet and some condensators (?). Once the power is on the door is being pulled to the bottom, like an inverted guilotine.

The serial # of the head is: 245244

I used a Chromegatrol (analog) with a broken start switch, so I just had a timer switching on the whole unit. Not perfect but it worked.
The Chromegatrol was a 220 Volt version, and had the normal cable.

Didn't knew that the Chromega E's noramly don't have a shutter - I thought this is was nice idea - quite simple but working,

The head was being sold via PSL - the German distributor for Omega gear.

Any ideas??

Thanks for the interesting comments, Michael

[ic-racer]

Thanks for posting the pictures of the inside of that Chromega E. I don't have enough literature on the "E" to know if that shutter came from Omega or the German distributor.

In terms of the CLS1000, realize that it has a motor to run the shutter. There is also a lamp pre-heating circuit. Also, there is a thermostat circuit for the fan. Also, there is a timing circuit to start the lamp before the shutter (one second).

All that means that the power supply for the CLS1000 is one-thousand times as complicated as the power supply for the Chromega E. In fact I'll bet it has about one-thousand times as many parts.
CLS2000 power supply (very similar to CLS1000)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v670/ic-racer/2012/PowerSupply.jpg