DeVere 504 questions

[interneg]

experience using the Intrepid LED Head

Remarkably good, with a few mild quirks. More power than an Ilford MG500.

[6x6TLL]

I had one of those and sold it when I moved to the US. It's the Rolls Royce of enlargers. I would definitely pick it up, you can find all the missing bits and get it back to working order, it is the most stable, versatile and ergonomic enlargers ever made. (Can you tell I miss mine ).

It would be a big step up, but you'd need to find the missing parts and give it some TLC first.

That's an enlarger for life, you'll never need anything else.

[Tin Can]

Clean the notchy chain

I rode only Brit Motor Bikes for decades

They used the same sticky grease

Use modern modern grease

The chain will be fine if clear\ned thoroughly in situ

[kfed1984]

Well my model does not have a chain, it's got cables, per my previous posts. The issue was the notchy bearings, which I loosened and lubed, but did not grease.

Focusing is good now, better than my LPL 6x7 enlarger, which is a fine machine.

I also have an Omega D2 and a Besseler 23, which I will be getting rid of, as I think I found now what I want to keep.

The good thing about this purchase was the relatively good cost, $1500 USD, with 3 good lenses, 2 neg carriers with 35mm 6x6 6x7 4x5 masks with AN glass, and a spare set if dichroic filters.

The bad thing is that the plastic CMY color disc scales have been melted by the dude who sold me the enlarger. I think he did not mention it intentionally and I found it at home. Probably the fan broke down at some point and they melted away. Not so much melted but deformed.

So I bought a sheet of translucent plastic, and I will end up machining new discs, printing the scales on a transparency and sticking them onto the new discs. Which is a bit of a pain.

But overall I do not feel like this was a loss or an impulsive purchase, which I am very prone to. Also the white board that came with the enlarger was a DIY thick piece of plywood which I will trim down, sand, varnish, and apply a rubber guard to around the perimeter. That's why there's no board in the picture.

[Mick Fagan]

I have the free standing version of this enlarger, so I'm unsure if the baseboard mounts the same way, but on my enlarger the baseboard is mounted by four independent and very adjustable bolts with a locking nut and they hold the baseboard up, each with a flat circular top. I have seen one very secondhand DeVere enlarger with a solidly mounted, but non adjustable, home made baseboard. The owner purchased the correct mounts from England, very expensive, but he was glad he did.

In the head the little white lead that sends power to the enlarging globe is a simple two pinhole piece of ceramic/porcelain material, rectangular in my head. The little pin holes where the lamp pins slide in, are prone to bad contact. If in doubt, replace the ceramic/porcelain piece and its short lead, an inexpensive piece of equipment which gives quite a bit of grief until you diagnose the issue.

The switch on the top right of the head, turns the backlight for the filter settings on and off, I don't believe the backlight would have enough heat to melt the plastic. Perhaps the enlarger was left on for a very long time one day, it can happen in an industrial environment, it shouldn't but it does.

You'll love this enlarger once you have it perfectly aligned, something which is possible with these units, and unlike almost anything else out there.

[Tin Can]

The 504 I have has long and short knobs

The short is wall mount the long is bench

[richydicky]

Anyways, the notchiness came from dry ball bearings on the focusing stage carriage. I removed the bearings and lubricated with automotive oil. Though it should be grease.

The old grease has dried out and the balls were notching into the bearing race probably.

I did not tighten the bearings as much now and the issue is gone, it focuses smoothly.

I'm setting up my 504 now, acquired two years ago, now I have space. I was looking to the do the same but it seems that your model has completely different bearing assembly where the bearings are mounted on a separate block that can be removed from the focusing stage whereas on mine and what I have seen in the manual, the bearings are part of the stage unit. I managed to unbolt one bearing but it is tricky to remove and doubly so to replace. There is just enough wiggle of the stage to do it but reluctant to try on the others. Maybe yours is a later model. I have the DVB desk model.

Oh, I washed in it paraffin and was surprised by the amount of grit and dirt that came out. Re=packed with grease.

[interneg]

Maybe yours is a later model.

OP's is the later column revision (the black/ grey paint ones as opposed to the cream/ brown ones) that has a different profile shape to resolve wear problems that emerged with the power/ autofocus versions.