Re: Omega D5500 repair/parts
Contact Harry at Classic Enlargers (http://www.classic-enlargers.com/). He's the best Omega enlarger resource there is.
Re: Omega D5500 repair/parts
I had the same problem and could not find either the parts or an easy way to dismantle it to get at the wheels - that plus the mis alignment that only could be resolved by shimming the baseboard and column make it easy for me to "junk" it. For what its worth the carriers and head parts I was able to sell for more than I paid for the D5500 enlarger package. The Beseler 45 enlarger series was a much better built unit, and much easier to work on than the D5500 in my opinion, I have also high opinions of the Durst and Omega units over a D5500. So, Unless you are doing color work and need the closed loop head and control unit I would advise thinking about another Brand of enlarger if you are not able to get it fixed cheaply.
Re: Omega D5500 repair/parts
I know I saw someone who has a 'refurbishing' kit for those rubber wheels, perhaps one of those places listed.
I have two D5500s and I did a little picture sequence showing how I fixed one of them with some large rubber O-rings. I will try to track down the photos....if I can't find them, I will re-do the photos because enlarger #2 is in need of new rubber wheels now also.
Re: Omega D5500 repair/parts
Ok, I found the pictures, all 30 of them...I will try to post the relevant ones.
The first sequence shows how to get the head off the column.
Re: Omega D5500 repair/parts
Next step is to get the knob off.
Re: Omega D5500 repair/parts
I used a rubber 'foot' from the hardware store and two large o-rings for each of the two sides. I don't have the measurements off hand, but once the axle is out you can measure it easily to see what size rubber pieces you need.
Re: Omega D5500 repair/parts
To get it back together just 'reverse the steps of disassembly' as they say...
I put some anti-seize on the knob so it wont freeze on there again.
Re: Omega D5500 repair/parts
I want to thank everyone for their suggestions and especially to ic-racer for the do-it-yourself photos. This looks like an accomplishable project and I will begin working on it. Where I live, enlargers better than this are very hard to come by. If they have to be shipped any distance at all, the freight bill is more costly that the equipment.
The wealth of helpful information from members of this forum is amazing.
Thanks for your help,
Re: Omega D5500 repair/parts
It took a while to get around to it, but I have refurbed my D5500 using the instructive photos provided by ic-racer.
I have made one change to the solution, however. I have added more O-rings to the crutch tips so they get a better grip on the support beam (see attached image) for a total of 7 o-rings on each spool.
The first ring is 1 1/8" ID, the next four are 1 1/4", and the last two are 1 5/16", all with 1/8" walls. I could not find any with 1 3/8" ID at my local stores so I just stretched the ones I was able to find. This fix is working very well. Hope this might be useful info for others. Thank you ic-racer!