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Thread: Ilford Multigrade 500

  1. #1

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    Ilford Multigrade 500

    I recently purchased on eBay a Ilford Multigrade 500 system. The 500H Light source came from another source. The 500 S power supply, console unit, and foot pedal came from another person. Both parties agreed that the light source should match up with the power source. Much to my chagrin today I discovered they do not. The light source has 8 pins. 4 horizontal and 4 vertical. The power supply has 8 slots 4 looked to be horizontal and the other 4 slots look to be vertical EXCEPT the one in the upper left corner is round. What is going on here? Is the light source a different version? When I looked on the manual at Ilford's web site nothing was mentioned about a difference in plugs. Should I scrap this idea and send them both back? or should I keep one and send the other back? In the future what should I look for in trying to get the right match? thanks

  2. #2

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    Re: Ilford Multigrade 500

    One of my 500 sets has the round pin. I can't find my spare setup at the moment to check, but I believe it had all flat pins, 4 horizontal and 4 vertical. The owners manual shows this configuration.The round pin is the ground pin and my guess is they wanted it longer so it connects first, hence they upgraded the original design.

    See the wiring diagram at https://www.ilfordphoto.com/wp/wp-co...anual-Copy.pdf
    Last edited by Larry Gebhardt; 3-Feb-2019 at 04:35. Reason: Remove potentially bad advice on changing plug.

  3. #3
    ic-racer's Avatar
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    Re: Ilford Multigrade 500

    Pin 1 is the ground, if that is any help.
    Click image for larger version. 

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  4. #4
    8x10, 5x7, 4x5, et al Leigh's Avatar
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    Exclamation Re: Ilford Multigrade 500

    There are two different versions of the 500 head.
    One uses two 150-watt bulbs, the other uses two 300-watt bulbs.
    Mine uses 300-watt, but I don't have access to it right now to see which connector it uses.

    The manual appears to show the 150-watt version using all flat pins in the connector.
    That would be standard for that type of connector.
    I suspect they changed to a round pin to avoid plugging a head into the wrong power supply.

    DO NOT try to change the connector.
    If they don't match, you have the wrong head or power supply/controller.

    If I were you, I would keep whichever one has the round pin and return the other.
    Then look for the mating unit, either the head or the power supply/controller.

    - Leigh
    Last edited by Leigh; 31-Jan-2019 at 20:26.
    If you believe you can, or you believe you can't... you're right.

  5. #5

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    Re: Ilford Multigrade 500

    Thank you all. I suspected that the part in question was the ground. The unit I purchased is the 300 watt bulb but it has the 8 flat pins. The power unit has the rounded ground plug. Do you see this units for sale frequently or are the like a white whale?

  6. #6
    ic-racer's Avatar
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    Re: Ilford Multigrade 500

    Service manual shows round ground pin on the 300W lamp model. Maybe someone put the wrong lamps in yours, if the flat pin is an indicator of 150W lamp limit.

    Except for the lamps, there are no 'electronics' per say, in the head. I'd just make an adapter cable for the head and use 150W lamps.

  7. #7

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    Re: Ilford Multigrade 500

    No. I don't think this was an error. It was manufactured this way. The light source came from Canada. They may have manufactured different electrical system/plugs for different parts of the world. Maybe Europe and Canada had this kind of plug.

  8. #8
    ic-racer's Avatar
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    Re: Ilford Multigrade 500

    How are you determining it initally came with 300W lamps? Is there an indication somewhere on the head?

  9. #9

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    Re: Ilford Multigrade 500

    The round pin version was the latest version. There are some differences in the head and the power supply but nothing major. The controller will work with both versions. The older heads started with 150w bulb but there was a change along the way which added extra heat shielding which allowed the 300w bulbs. The older power supplies had a lower wattage rating rating but the are okay for the higher wattage bulbs. I have some measurements somewhere but the key point is that lamps are never turned fully on at the same time.

  10. #10

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    Re: Ilford Multigrade 500

    As noted before there are two versions of the 500 system. The early (150w) version uses the 500C controller and a power supply labelled "ILFORD ILFOSPEED MULTIGRADE 500S" and a head labelled "ILFORD ILFOSPEED MULTIGRADE 500H". The later (300w) version uses the 500CPM controller, and a power supply labelled "MULTIGRADE 500S" and a head labelled " MULTIGRADE 500H".

    early power supply and controller
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    early head
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    late system
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