Saunders/LPL 4x5 Enlarger: New Power Supply

[J.Medlock]

Hi,



To those who own the Saunders/LPL enlarger -- and -- to the great electrical
engineers of the world who happen to be photographers.



I own a Saunders/LPL 4500II 4x5 enlarger from before OmegaSatter took over
the line.



I just purchased a new power supply from

B&H.



Note that the picture on the website is not accurate - the power supply being
shipped is different - OmegaSatter is now shipping the original power
supply developed by LPL (part #200400).  Unfortunately the new power supply
is not compatible with my old power supply. The 4-prong connection on the cable
that runs from the enlarger to the power supply doesn't fit!



I talked to Customer Service at OmegaSatter and they said that "Saunders
bastardized the enlarger by developing a different power supply than designed by
LPL." She told me that Hazlow Electronics in N.Y. (585-325-5323) developed the
Saunders version of the power supply.  She also said that they have had
customer complaints about the new power supply not fitting the old-style
connection to the enlarger, but do not have a solution. In other words, I
am SOL.



So now my questions:



I write software for a living and know little about electronics, but I am
hoping I can use the new power supply.



I called and left a message for Larry at Hazlow Electronics and hope he will
be able to help. But failing that, I am hoping someone here can help.



Does anyone have a schematic for the old power supply? The cable that plugs
into the power supply has 4-pins: but I don't know which pins are for what
(options are: fan, lamp, ground).



The new power supply schematic states the following (formatting below is what
they show):

<ul>
<li dir="ltr">
<p dir="ltr">No.1-2pins to Lamp.</li>
<li dir="ltr">
<p dir="ltr">No.3-2pins to Fan.</li>
<li dir="ltr">
<p dir="ltr">No.4-to Earth.</li>
</ul>
<p dir="ltr">So I take this strange formatting to mean that Pin #2 is doing
double-duty. It is serving both the Lamp & Fan, and that Pin #4 is ground.



Does anyone know where I can buy the 4-prong connector for the new power
supply?&nbsp; (This assumes you know what it looks like -- I don't have a
picture of it, but it is a round connection with 4 inputs.&nbsp; How is that for
a description?)



Could there be such a thing as an electrical adapter that would fit the old
connector & the new connector? (This assumes you know what the old connector &
new connector look like.&nbsp; Do I need to do a Google search?)



Has anyone else come across this problem? Do you have a solution?



I bought the power supply as a backup because of the great price ($160 vs
$360 or whatever other places are selling it for).&nbsp; Fortunately my old
power supply still works! But I'd like to know if I can get the new power supply
to work with my enlarger, otherwise I'll return it to B&H.



Thanks,



Justin

[Brian Ellis]

"But I'd like to know if I can get the new power supply to work with my enlarger, otherwise I'll return it to B&H."

You better be very very careful. B&H has a short return period which they strictly adhere to when they don't want the item back. I'd guess there isn't a big market for these power supplies that you have and B&H is probably happy to have found a buyer so returning it may not be feasible if you go even a day past their return period. They sold me a defective scanner and then wouldn't take it back when I spent too much time trying to get it to work. So don't let that return period expire while you try to figure out if your power supply will work.

[wfwhitaker]

"I called and left a message for Larry...."

If he can't help, maybe Curly or Moe can. Barring that, send it back to B&H. If you're not comfortable working on electronics and assuming the risk that entails, you're asking for headaches.

[Michael S. Briggs]

If your old supply fails, the connector on it will be usefuless. You can then remove the connector and use it on your new supply. With the voltmeter portion of a multimeter you can confirm the voltages from the suppy, and with the ohmmeter portion of a multimeter, you can confirm what the wires on the enlarger are connected to. You might want to measure the voltages from the current supply before it fails. (Of course, it may never fail during your lifetime.) If these suggestions are confusing to you, you should either return the new supply or plan on having an electrician do the work.

[Witold Grabiec]

If you were anywhere near the Cape Cod area, I'd help you take care of it. This is an easy conversion, and getting the correct plug would probably only take a trip to a local Radio Shack or electrical supply house (take power supply to them and they should be able to help). There is of course a multitude of on-line suppliers, but not knowing exactly what you're looking for makes this suggestion almost pointless.

As long as the power supply is built correctly for your enlarger, there is no reason to worry about this conversion. It will work just fine. Most half-decent electricians who don't get the "that-thing-you-fixed-blew-up" call backs, should have the needed skill to cope with it. Hope this helps.

[J.Medlock]

Thanks for all the responses.



I wanted to follow-up with some new information in case someone else runs
into this problem:



This morning I sent a detailed email with pictures to the lead engineer at
Hazlow Electronics (Larry).&nbsp; He hasn't responded yet, but since then I've found out some new information I wanted to share.



Although I don't own a digital camera, I forgot that I have a scanner!&nbsp;
So I scanned the connectors on both power supplies.&nbsp; I think my analog
photography is better than the scans... but maybe not.... ha....



Here is a picture of the power supply developed by Hazlow Electronics for
Saunders/LPL - the connector is made by "Cinch" - it is a 4-pin input:







And here is a picture of the power supply originally developed for the
enlarger by the LPL company in Japan -- this is the power supply now being shipped with the LPL enlarger from OmegaSatter.&nbsp; I have no idea what kind of
connector this is, but it is also a 4-pin input (I know it is not a DIN
connector):







Although on Friday the customer service person I spoke with at OmegaSatter told me they
didn't have a solution, I also sent an email to "info@omegasatter.com".&nbsp;&nbsp;
Bob Smrcina responded and told me the power supply being carried by B&H (part
#200400) is the correct replacement power supply, but that I'll have to purchase
an adapter plug.&nbsp;&nbsp; I put in a special order with Calumet for
Part Number 3684 7622A.&nbsp; It is $74.50 (with shipping) so is not
cheap!&nbsp; It is also a special order and will take a few weeks to arrive.



It's too late as I already put in an order at Calumet, but I do wonder if the adapter can be purchased somewhere else for less than $74.50. Hmmm....?? Maybe someone else will benefit.



Even though my Saunders power supply from Hazlow Electronics still works,
it has always had a problem with sparking when turning the unit off.&nbsp;&nbsp;
The original power supply from LPL looks to be very well made.&nbsp; So I am planning to
use the LPL power supply (assuming the part from OmegaSatter solves the problem)
and will keep the Hazlow version as a backup.



I'll update this thread if I learn anything else.



Thanks....

[J.Medlock]

<body>

Final follow-up from me:



Here is the description for each pin:

<ul>
<li>Pin 1 = Red = Lamp</li>
<li>Pin 2 = White = Neutral (for Lamp & Fan)</li>
<li>Pin 3 = Black = Fan</li>
<li>Pin 4 = Green = Ground</li>
</ul>

I also have clarification:&nbsp; the replacement part from OmegaSatter (part
#3684-7622A) is the original connector from LPL.&nbsp; It is not an adapter
between the Cinch-and-LPL connector as I was hoping.



Here are some giant instructions on how to replace the Cinch connector with
the LPL connector - pretty simple even for me (just need to solder):









Regards...

</body>

[kkurian]

I have a new power supply and I am in the same situation. The instructions you posted are not showing in the thread. I would like to see them. Do you still have them?

[RPNugent]

Try contacting Greg Blank at Omega Satter for help. He is on the forum and may respond to this thread on his own.

[J.Medlock]

Unfortunately I lost the email that had the graphic that I attached to this forum post back in 2005 -- i.e. I guess the graphic got lost when this forum transitioned to new software?

I'm still using the Saunders power supply, though I still have the LPL as a backup if I need it one day (but now I wished the contents of this post were still available somewhere).