23C Enlarger Maintenance

I just acquired a Beseler 23CII-XL enlarger, it's the first enlarger I've ever owned, I have primarily used schools or others previous to this one. It looks to be in great shape, lamp works, bellows look good, everything moves as it should.

It is however extremely dusty. I've done a pretty good job of cleaning the exterior. I think I need to take a crack at the internals, in the lamp/condenser housing, and inside the bellows. Does anyone have recommendations or best practices on proceeding with that? What things to watch out for, do I stick to canned air, or use a vacuum, etc?. Are there any other maintenance related things I should be aware of for this Beseler or enlargers in general?

Joel.

Slide your bellows down to expose the condenser. The condenser slides out towards the front of the enlarger. There are 4 screws on the condenser which hold in the glass. BE VERY VERY careful with these. Clean the glass with window washing fluid cleans them and protects against more dust (when replacing put the convects sides towards each other). While you have the condenser out clean out the surrounding areas. Remove the lamp attachment by a small black screw holding it in place. Once you have every thing out go nuts with a soft cleaning brush. I like to use my feather duster which works for me. Take out the enlarging lens and clean the bellows completely and inspect for any marks , cracks or pencil holes (thats another story for a different time)

Just make sure anything you can reach or vacuum is dustless and clean.

You'll enjoy the durability of the 23 C II as I have 2 in my darkroom and 1 @ home.

I have never had any particular quirks that you have to watch out for except that they work so well I have to buy LOTS of paper but thats what we do this for !

The 23C is a workhorse of a machine. We have 12 of them at school and each has seen many years of student work. The only things that are regularly replaced on ours are the gears that move the head up and down for sizing the print. They are plastic (Delrin?) and wear out as kids move down to print 5x7, up to do 8x10, up again to enlarge some detail, etc. We buy the gears whenever we can and keep them around. Other than that, I think dances_w_clouds has it covered.

Have fun.

They are plastic (Delrin?) and wear out as kids move down to print 5x7, up to do 8x10, up again to enlarge some detail, etc.

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Thats probably from not loosening the stop screw. Never met a student who hasn't done that once or twice. Me included.

Do yourself a favor and buy a new bulb. They are surprisingly cheap and having a new one can make a lot of difference.

And buy a few spare bulbs. I love my 23C.

Thanks for all the great advice. I go it all cleaned up today and it looks wonderful. Now I just need to finish clearing out and sealing up the new darkroom space and I can run it through its paces!