# Got an Omega D5500 enlarger.  Help me understand what I have.



## battletone

Haven't posted to this forum in a long time.
My day went very well I think.  I got this enlarger for free.  Its an Omega D5500.  I guess its supposedly a Black and White Condenser head?  Here are some photos of it and everything I got.  The owner said there is a timer for it also he will give me in a couple weeks, but he wasn't there when I picked it up so I didn't get a run down on any details of this.  Just dumb luck on my part.
I am just starting to put together what I need for a darkroom, and I have no idea how complete this is.  Am I missing anything for using this?
I want to do 35mm for now, and eventually move into 4x5.
I notice the thing looks almost crooked to me, but it supposedly works he said.  It has two lenses, one is a 50mm and the other an 80mm.
Any info anyone can provide would be much appreciated.
The last image is some stuff that crumbled off it from somewhere, but not sure where.
Also, the lever on the left side, is that supposed to wobble in and out to lock the head up and down?  It looks like that is how it works but it also doesn't seem like it is supposed to either.


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## 480sparky

Well, you got an enlarger that can do color as well as utilize multigrade black & white paper.

The 50mm lens is best for 35mm, the 80 for 6x4.5 medium format.  I see one negative carrier for 35mm.

Can't say for sure anything about the wobbly lever.  The crumbly stuff might be part of the light seals.  Is it hard/rigid, or soft/spongy?  I have no experience with this particular enlarger.

What else will you need?  A timer for it.  And trays, tongs, safelight, thermometer, beakers, easel, as well as the obligatory paper & chemicals.  And if you want to do film as well, a developing tank and reels.


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## battletone

It feels like it was soft and spongy once.  Fairly stiff now.

Here is an image of the arm that I was referring to.  When you pull the arm, are you supposed to then maneuver inwards with it towards the right so it rests on these silver bars?  It sort of seems like you would, but then the rest of it doesn't seem like it is supposed to bend inward like that.


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## 480sparky

Maybe that's how you insert the negative carrier.


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## Derrel

It was made from 1982 to 1997, from what I found online. I think that crumbled foam was a light seal. The wobbly lever is I think, what lifts the head up so the negative carrier (you have a 35mm carrier) can be inserted. The two lenses are well-known, good brands. That type of lever system is one Omega used on other models; it was always kinda' wobbly. I had an Omega D-series, used a similar, yet smaller lever system.

This is a well-known older enlarger. Lotta info on-line.

I think the reason it looks crooked is that the lamphead NEEDS that light-sealing/gasket material under it, and it has crumbled away on the right hand side.


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## battletone

Ah ok.  I don't see any gasket material where that cylindrical part of the lamp head meets up.  Totally gone.  So thank you because that stuff showed up while moving and I couldn't figure out where it even was.


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## battletone

Also, I guess I realize I need chemicals and trays to develop, but interms of the enlarger itself, is there anything its missing or I need for it?  I am trying to track down a manual but not seeing anything in PDF online, so I will have to get a print copy shipped.


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## 480sparky

A timer.


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## webestang64

You should be able to get a manual here...... The Omega Enlarger Guide Simmon Omega enlargers timers and analyzers


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## astroNikon

Wow, I actually used to have a Simmons Omega D2 B&W Enlarger.
I'm sure Derrel is correct on the lever.  I barely used mine before selling it in 2009.


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## Derrel

480sparky said:


> A timer.



I always liked the large "black box" GraLab type timer, like the model 300. I've used the Time-O-Lite as well. At the university darkrooms, I got to use many different types of enlargers, but those two timers were almost universal--it was one, or the other, and both DO work...I just liked the GraLab for film developing and enlarging.


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## timor

battletone said:


> Ah ok.  I don't see any gasket material where that cylindrical part of the lamp head meets up.  Totally gone.  So thank you because that stuff showed up while moving and I couldn't figure out where it even was.


You should correct this misaligned lamphouse. In D series everything is modular. Top of the enlarger, the part with ribs contains the bulb. This two "boxes" beside the ribbed cupola could be opened to increase, maybe by forcing, air flow to cool it. The box below, with this three colour stripes can be opened and is almost empty inside. (No sparky, this enlarger, as it is, cannot do colour.) This is a space for movable part of condenser, for each format it should be moved to different position. Instruction on inside of the door. This is also space for inserting the contrast filter, which is a good situation, it it is much better to have filter above the negative, than under the lens. The cylindrical part it is condenser itself, beautiful, huge piece of optics. It is so big as this enlarger is 4x5 capable. Each of this pieces could be disassembled without using any tools. So disassemble it, see, how it works, take this opportunity to clean the condenser (both pieces of glass will slide out of the cylinder ) and then put it together, this time right way. For 35 mm it should work OK the way it is now, but for any larger format this crooked state of lamphouse will give bad, one sided light falloff. Plus this chassis has ability to align the negative plane with the base..


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## battletone

Thanks everyone for all the help so far.

So quick question...
http://www.fotolabor.ethz.ch/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/image.jpeg
That image I found online shows a carrier I think its called for the film holder to slide into under the cylinder condenser lens box.  I don't have that from the looks of it.  Is that something I need?  Also, this image doesn't have the lever mechanism.  Would that carrier remove the need to ever lift it?

On a separate note, it doesn't seem the knobs to raise and lower are working.  They just freely spin.  The crude adjustment one underneath in the center works fine though, as does the focus adjustment.

I loosened a bunch of the thumb screws and gave it another once over but nothing jumped out at me as to what was causing the lamphousing to be crooked.  But the plate the lifting lever mounts to seems like it would need almost a 1/4" shim to get it upright, so something is definitely off.


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## timor

This picture shows only partially disassembled d5500. Without the lift lever. Take your enlarger and take a photo from both sides and back. Lifting head - take a good look, is it rack and pinion or friction system ?
Crooked lamp house might be a bit bigger problem after all. But to see that you gonna need to take off the top dome housing bulb and the cylindrical part housing condenser. On the last picture screws to be undo are clearly visible. Loose them up and turn a bit the part to the right or left. Then you will see, why the rest is crooked and not parallel to negative stage.. Maybe someone dropped it and is bent.
I don't know, what you see in that picture referring to negative carrier. The enlarger doesn't seems to have a carrier inserted at all.


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## timor

Looks like bad news, head moving system  is of friction type, with rubber rollers which fails. Looks like someone gave you something he/she didn't consider worth fixing.


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