DURST-PRO-USA LABORATOR 184 Counter Weight Spring Adjustment Instructions
- June 17, 2024
- DURST-PRO-USA
Table of Contents
DURST-PRO-USA LABORATORY 184 Counter Weight Spring Adjustment
WARNING!
Working with the counterweight spring in a Durst Laboratory 184, Laboratory
138SP, or Laboratory 138S is extremely dangerous. There is a high risk of
personal injury and damage to the equipment when working with this
counterweight
spring. The spring combined with the spring tool can release an impact with a
force of more than 2000 pounds per square inch. This manual is put at your
disposal on the clear condition that DURST-PROUSA, Inc. their employees,
owners, Durst-Italy, the original reseller and the original manufacturer of
the enlarger under no circumstances whatsoever can be held responsible for
personal injury or damage to the equipment, this also holds if this manual is
faulty, in case of personal injury or damage to the equipment.
Breaking the seal on this envelope, to access the manual constitutes your full
consent to the above – if you do not consent DO NOT break the seal and return
the envelope for a full refund – return freight is free of charge using the
DURSTPRO-USA, Inc. UPS account # 6404XW.
This manual is issued to_____ To avoid any
responsibility, on your part, for third-party claims we advise you not to
duplicate or copy this manual.
WARNING!
DO NOT ATTEMPT TO CARRY OUT THE SPRING ADJUSTMENT ALONE! SPRING ADJUSTMENT IS
A TWO-PERSON JOB.
If this person continues the travel of the tool in a downward direction the force of the spring will make the enlarger travel in the direction of the red arrow, it will pull you off the ladder and possibly hit you in the head with the end of the tool. NEVER STAND IN THE LINE OF TRAVEL OF THE TENSION TOOL.
WARNING!
DO NOT ATTEMPT TO CARRY OUT THE SPRING ADJUSTMENT ALONE! SPRING ADJUSTMENT IS
A TWO-PERSON JOB. If this person continues the travel of the tool in a
downward direction the force of the spring will make the enlarger travel in
the direction of the red arrow, as soon as you start the upward motion. It
will pull you off the ladder and possibly hit you in the head with the end of
the tool. The force released by the tension tool is several thousand pounds
per square inch, enough to KILL if hit in the head or the face.
The two springs inside the spring housing are each 4” wide, 1/8” thick and fastened to a ½” chrome steel axle. The front plate on the spring housing is 4mm thick plate aluminium. If the spring is allowed to uncoil uncontrolled it will knock off this plate, ripping ALL SIX 4mm screws from their sockets.
If the spring is uncoiled uncontrolled it will crack the ½ to 1” thick cast aluminium housing In this picture, you will see the effect of a spring accident. The force of the spring knocked the ½ – 1” thick aluminium housing almost ½ inch out of shape. If you look carefully at the image below you can see that the entire 10-pound aluminium housing has been knocked out of shape by more than 1/4”. The aluminium housing is 1/2” thick at its thinnest place. The force released by an uncontrolled spring is several thousand pounds.
The correct way to work SPRING ADJUSTMENT IS A TWO-PERSON JOB. This is the correct way to operate the spring tension tool. The person holding on to the chassis should be able to exert a force equal to lifting approximately 50 pounds.
Please use your common sense when working with the spring. Go slow and anticipate your next move. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO USE AN ADJUSTABLE WRENCH FOR SPRING TENSIONING MANUAL FOR SPRING TENSION AND SPRING REPLACEMENT ON A DURST LABORATOR 184.
REMOVE THE LIGHT HEAD
FROM THE ENLARGER and drive the head carriage to its BOTTOM position, this
will move the camera out of the way and will ensure that the spring wire is in
its most exposed position.
- In some cases, it is necessary to remove the camera also access the wire behind the half-moon-shaped scale.
- On some models, the wire is situated behind two large 10mm bolts behind the scale, it is not possible to reposition the wire without removing the scale.
The correct way to work
SPRING ADJUSTMENT IS A TWO-PERSON JOB.
To remove the camera on an L184 it is only necessary to remove one screw. When this screw is removed the camera will slide off the support arm. Here it is also helpful to have two persons, one person to hold onto the chassis and one to pull the camera off. The camera is quite heavy, so be careful not to drop it.
The tool kit consists off
- Tension tool – 4-foot wrench w/handle and stop.
- Bolt to secure tool to spring housing.
- “C” shaped ¼” steel bracket
- Wire brace tool. If a replacement wire has been ordered the wire kit will be enclosed with the tools. It is metric wire. It is important to use the right thickness wire,
- The wire is coiled up inside the wire wheel.
- If the wire is too thin it will break, and ruin the spring housing, if it is too thick it will not fit inside the wire wheel.
- An excess thickness of less than one millimetre – less than 1/32” of one inch – will prevent the right amount of wire fitting inside the wire wheel.
- Remove the cover from both sides of the spring housing
MANUAL FOR SPRING TENSION AND SPRING REPLACEMENT ON A DURST LABORATOR 184.
-
Move the enlarger head/head carriage to its bottom position.
-
Moving the head to the bottom position will tighten the counterweight spring
- Continue by removing the cover from the right side of the spring housing.
- Please NOTE the round hole inside the chrome axle. The axle is the round rod inside the large nut. This hole is threaded inside. The threads will accept the large bolt which is part of the tool kit.
-
Install the tension tool on the bolt on the left side of the spring housing. Slide the tool onto the chrome nut in a position approximately as shown.
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SECURE the tool with the enclosed 4” long bolt, the bolt screws into the threaded hole at the end of the chrome axle.
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MAKE SURE THAT YOU HAVE AN ASSISTANT HOLDING ON TO THE CHASSIS – THIS IS THE MOST DANGEROUS POSITION OF THE ENTIRE OPERATION. The long tension tool will allow you to exercise a force equal to several hundred pounds of lift and the chassis is enclined to escape in the direction of the red arrow.
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Turn the tool counterclockwise to a position where it is parallel with the chassis and the wire is starting to slack. Then have your assistant install the “C” shaped bracket around the tool and the column. You can hold on to the chassis.5)
When the bracket is installed slowly let go of the tension tool untill it is secured by the “C” bracket in a position as shown on the right. The steel bracket has to be positioned in such a manner that it will not SLIDE up on the tool. Most of our tools are equipped with a cross rod for this purpose. If the tool is not equipped with a cross rod use tape or a rubber band to make sure that it will not slide and lose the grip on the tension tool. This whole procedure is done to render the wire slack enough to make it possible to remove the wire on the right side of the spring housing.
-
When the wire is slack it is possible to remove the wire and the wire disk on the right side of the spring housing. First, remove the screw and the disk holding the wire securely in place. Then remove the pin sitting through the axle and the nut using the pin extracted enclosed with the tool set and a hammer. The hammer is not supplied. The pin will be thicker in one end, it is important to knock it out by hammering on the THIN end. When the pin has been removed it is possible to remove the nut. When the nut has been removed it is possible to remove the wire disk. It is often
hard to remove the disk. The disk is atta -
ched to the axle with a pin on the backside. To disengage that pin it may be necessary to manipulate the disk clockwise and counterclockwise, and possibly tap with a semi-hard tool, a rubber When the wire disk on the right side has been removed and the wire hanging lose it is possible to bring the tension tool back to a position where it is parallel with the column and then remove the “C” bracket.
-
After the “C” bracket has been removed it is possible to move the tension tool several times clockwise until the spring is completely slack and no tension is on the tension tool.
-
While loosening the spring the existing wire will be wound partly onto the wire disk on the right side of the spring housing. When this position is obtained the tension tool can be removed, and the cover plate, the nut and the wire disk on the left side of the spring housing can be removed. After the left wire disk has been removed it is possible to remove the old wire and install a new fresh wire. Please notice that the nut is NOT symmetrical, it is important to reinstall the nut with the same side facing the spring housing as was facing the spring housing before you removed it.
-
If this little detail is ignored it will not be possible to align the pin hole in the nut with the pin hole in the axle.
THE NEW WIRE -
Install the nut on the left side of the spring housing without any wire disk in place on either side of the head.
-
Tighten the spring entirely without any wire disks installed on either side.
- Release the spring 0.5 to 1 turn.
- Install the “C” bracket.
-
install the wire disk on the right side of the spring housing
To install the right wire disk you have to:- Secure the wire to the wire disk by threading it through the hole in the disk, create a wire loop and seal it with a copper brace using the wire tool enclosed with the tool kit, and finally secure the wire loop with the screw and a thick washer.
- thread the wire through the hole in the spring housing
- and install the wire disk on the axle by threading the loose end of the wire through the hole in the spring housing and angling the wire disk in place.
- Refit the nut and the pin in the nut.
-
slack the spring entirely, or until the wire taken up blocks further movement, thus taking up the wire on the wire disk, make sure that you keep the wire tight at all times because the space is so limited inside the spring housing that even the least bit of slop will get the wire caught between the disk and the spring housing.
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Move the tension tool to the side with the disk installed.
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Retighten the spring using the tension tool. While doing so the wire that was just wound up is now being exposed. While the wire is being exposed it is important to keep the wire tight. If it gets caught between the spring housing and
the wire disk it will get “kinked” and you will have to start all over again.- When the spring is completely tightened secure the tension tool using the “C” bracket
- Remove the nut on the left side of the spring housing.
- Thread the wire through the slots in the camera carriage and through the hole in the spring housing.
-
Thread the wire through the wire wheel and slide the wire wheel in place while
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Pull the wire tight to make sure that it remains without any “kinks”.
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Secure the wire to the wire disk by creating a copper-sealed wire loop and finally securing the wire loop with the screw and a thick washer.
- Replace the nut and the pin.
-
Replace the wire wheel covers. Now the spring is completely tightened with the camera in the lowest position. This is ideal. You are finished. One final remark – make sure that the wire is completely secured in both wire disks. If not – it will slip and the spring will uncoil itself and destroy the spring housing. Good luck
RESUME
- Head carriage in the bottom position.
- spring is tight.
- Install tension tool
- Turn to slack wire.
- Secure tension tool with “C” bracket.
- Remove the wire disk on the opposite side of the tension tool.
- Slack spring until it is fully slack or blocked by wire taken up.
- Install nut and pin in the side without wire disk installed.
- Move the tool to the opposite side – the side with no wire disk and where you just installed the nut and pin.
- Tighten slightly to allow the second wire disk to be removed.
- after both wire disks are removed tension spring fully.
- Install the new wire in the wire disk
- Install a wire wheel on the opposite side of the tension tool.
- Release the spring until spring is completely slack or blocked by the wire taken up.
- move the tension tool to the side with the wire wheel installed.
- Tighten the spring completely or until further motion is blocked by the wire taken up
- thread wire through the head carriage loop and through the spring housing.
- pull the wire tight while sliding the last wire wheel into position. Avoid kinks.
- install and secure the wire in the wire wheel. replace wire wheel covers. end.
Note
It is possible to simplify the process by using the locking feature built into
the spring housing. The two screws indicated with arrows are lock screws that
can be used to lock the two wire wheels in position, one at a time, without
using the tension tool to lock the spring. These screws are prone to fail
under strain and we strongly advise against using the set screws.