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Old 18th February 2010, 11:05 AM
Neil Smith Neil Smith is offline
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Default Ilford Multigrade Head Setup

I have been reading the manual of the Ilford 500H Head and they advise that when first setting up and when changing a bulb, that a couple of tests are performed to determine 1. which lamp is the brightest and 2. where the program switch setting should be set.

I tend to set up equipment as per the instructions, so I will do this when I get the chance, but I was wondering if people here do this and if so does it make any significant difference to operation.

Neil
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Old 18th February 2010, 12:03 PM
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B&W Neil B&W Neil is offline
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When I first got involved with the 500H I used to fiddle with the program switch but in the end I decided not to bother as I found the difference between bulbs (even with a new and old fitted) was negligible. I would set the switch as recommended and start off with two new bulbs and take it from there.

Neil.
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Old 18th February 2010, 12:42 PM
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Trevor Crone Trevor Crone is offline
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I bought mine S/H from Odyssey and it came set on 4. I've fiddled with it at times but have left in on 4.
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Old 18th February 2010, 01:06 PM
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It has been a long time since I was clued up on what this program switch actually is used for. However, I have vague recall that it would be handy in a commercial lab if a bulb was to fail say half way through doing a run of 100 of the same print. Getting back to same bulb balance as was before would in these circumstances save a lot of time.

Neil.
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Old 18th February 2010, 02:03 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by B&W Neil View Post
It has been a long time since I was clued up on what this program switch actually is used for. However, I have vague recall that it would be handy in a commercial lab if a bulb was to fail say half way through doing a run of 100 of the same print. Getting back to same bulb balance as was before would in these circumstances save a lot of time.

Neil.
Neil, that happened to me a while back. I was wondering why the print looked like a grade 3+ when it should have been grade 2. I soon realised the green lamp was burning dim so I simply replaced the lamp.

This is what my MG manual says of the program switch;

1 balanced lamps (normal setting)
2 increase green light by 10%
3 increase green light by 20%
4 increase green light by 30%
5 increase green light by 40%

It goes on to say, "1. If the density is high at the low contrast end, interchange the lamps and proceed to 2 as necessary.

2. If the density is low at the low contrast end, optimum balance and density over the contrast range can be obtained by selecting a higher number in the range 2-5 on the program switch".
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Old 18th February 2010, 03:39 PM
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Neil, that happened to me a while back. I was wondering why the print looked like a grade 3+ when it should have been grade 2. I soon realised the green lamp was burning dim so I simply replaced the lamp.

This is what my MG manual says of the program switch;

1 balanced lamps (normal setting)
2 increase green light by 10%
3 increase green light by 20%
4 increase green light by 30%
5 increase green light by 40%

It goes on to say, "1. If the density is high at the low contrast end, interchange the lamps and proceed to 2 as necessary.

2. If the density is low at the low contrast end, optimum balance and density over the contrast range can be obtained by selecting a higher number in the range 2-5 on the program switch".

Trevor, yes it would be very noticeable if you were doing a run of the same and a lamp goes on the blink. I have my switch set to 1 and I just leave it there now, but of course I am only doing one or two prints and no long runs. Interesting to know though that all this is built into the kit.

Neil.
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