Beseler 23C II dichro and stuff

[Stregone]

So I responded to a craigslist ad for the above enlarger and a big assortment of darkroom stuff for the princely sum of 75 dollars. I am going to have to drive an hour or two depending on traffic to pick it up, and I was wondering how I should transport it, as well as what to look for to make sure it is in good condition.

I've got a big buick, so overall space isn't an issue, but I was scanning posts in this forum I noticed people suggest disassembling certain delicate parts to ensure they don't break during transportation.

Any other info or suggestions would be appreciated. I am really excited about this, but also bummed because the room I am going to use is still full of junk I need to get rid of. I wasn't expecting to find a good deal on exactly what I was looking for almost immediately after deciding to make a darkroom.

 

[ann]

check the bellows for pin holes.

you can take the dichro head off and move the negative stage down as far as it will go. You could take the base board off.
also check that the gears on the rails are in good condition as well as the bearings on the rail that moves the head up and down.

 

[Stregone]

I have never used this specific enlarger before so a description on how to do those things would be nice. Unless its pretty obvious once I see it.

Thanks!

 

[Tim Gray]

I just bought a 23cII and put it together yesterday. The condenser head on mine is only held on by one bar. Remove the retaining clip at the end of the bar, pull out the bar, and the head is completely disconnected from the rails. Make sure the stage is locked when you do this - probably best to do it all the way up since it's counter weighted for the weight of the head.

You could also remove the rails from the baseboard - 8 machine screws hold it on.

 

[ic-racer]

Here is some info on the 23c dichro models: http://www.oresteen.com/bess23c.htm

 

[jasonhall]

This is great, I just got home with a Beseler dichro 67s that popped up on Craigs list yesturday. I just sat it in the back of my chevy suburban sitting on its base board as it would be in the darkroom. I took the long way home makeing a few stops. No issues at all. I guess that is not an option with a buick however. Anyway, good luck getting it home.

Jason

 

[Stregone]

Yeah I will definitely have to lay it down. The space inside this thing is endless, unless you want to stand up. How tall are these things anyways?

 

[jasonhall]

Well mine is a 67s and not a 23, and its a double post and not the single center one. I don't know if any of that matters, but mine is 37 inches tall.

Jason

 

[Chan Tran]

I carried the 23cII and both the condenser and dichroic head in the back seat of the Saturn L300 without any problem

 

[Stregone]

Cool, I think it may fit standing up in the back seat. I'm just used to the massive 4x5 enlargers we have at school.

 

[Chan Tran]

I bought the Beseler CB-7 not too long ago and had to have the guy who sold it to me delivered in a van, otherwise I would have to make a major disassembly at his house (he didn't like it that was why he volunteered to deliver it free). I had to completely disassemble the CB-7 to clean and fix it up any way. Now I have a very nice CB-7 with the dichroic head.

 

[Tim Gray]

Mine is 45" tall. The baseboard is 26" long. I can't imagine you're going to get it in your backseat standing up, but who knows.

I'd still take off the head. One little retaining clip.

 

[Stregone]

I just picked it up earlier today. It fix perfectly in my truck laid down on its side. Gotta get up early tomorrow, so i'll post some more about it tomorrow

 

[Stregone]

So right off last night I noticed 2 problems nwhile I was playing with it.

One is the numbers on the magenta dial don't line up properly, you can turn it past 0. It still works fine, but that clear plastic disk with the numbers on it that turns with the dial must have come loose somehow.

The second is that the head doesn't sit flush with the negative carrier. The head has a flange or something along the bottom of it that prevents it from being mounted completely flush with the mechanism that raises and lowers it. This is causing the bottom to protrude forward slightly. I'll try to post some pics of it tonight.

Any ideas on how to proceed?

 

[Stregone]

Sorry guys, I think I had the flu all week, been feeling like crap. Anyways, here's the pictures.

Here's the part about the head not sitting level.

Here is what is causing it:

That little tab is preventing the head from sitting flush with that plate. If its ok, I could dremel a pair of notches into the corners of the plate to make clearance. What do you guys think?

Here's the dial:

The inner workings are rather complicated, i'd really like an exploded view diagram or something before I start digging in to fix this. I can't even find a manual for this thing anywhere though.

I appreciate any help you guys can give. Thanks.

 

[Tim Gray]

Very nice. I have a manual for the 23C II-XL online if you want it here. I don't think it talks about the color head though.