Beseler 23cii mystery parts, can anyone identify?

[Arkasha]

I just bought a 23cii, and it arrived with a 35mm diffuser and one I've never seen before. It's just like the 35mm one, only, er, bigger. It fits perfectly in the condenser housing. I thought it might be a 2 1/4 diffuser, but I checked the manual and did an online search, and didn't find anything. Could it perhaps be a *color* diffuser, as used with the dual dichro head? If this is the case, can I use it with the 75w lamp designed for the condenser head, or will the light be too dim?

My other source of puzzlement is what seem to be handles protruding from the bottom of the lamp house. There are two of them, with screws to hold them in - the screws themselves bed into what appears to be white plastic. The manual and exploded parts diagram don't refer to them. Does anyone know their purpose? I was afraid to just unscrew around, in case I damaged something.

Sorry if these are silly questions, but I have looked about and tried to find answers, without any luck.


Thanks for the help.

 

[Rick A]

The screws and plastic inserts are for fastening the 23DGA dual dichroic head onto the condensor head. It appears your machine was set up for color at one time. The fasteners come with the dichro head in the kit, not with the enlarger originally. The diffuser goes along with the dichro head, take it out and use the slot for VC filters. None of these serve any purpose when using the enlarger in condensor mode.

Make sure the condensor adjustment handle is on the right side (facing) of the con. head so you can raise or lower the condensors to the proper height for any given format.

 

[Arkasha]

Thanks, Rick. Just to confirm - the diffuser can't be used with the 75w lamp? Shame if true, because it would be a really nice, easy way to change from condenser to diffuser and back again.

 

[Rick A]

I never tried it with a standard lamp, give it a go and see what happens. You may just like the results. There are times when I slip a diffusion sheet under the condensors of my D-6 to get the look I need.

 

[mklw1954]

The diffuser is used with the color head which uses a quartz halogen bulb that provides more intense light so I would expect very long exposure times using the diffuser with the 75W bulb used with the condenser.

 

[Ian C]

With the color head installed there are 2 configurations specified by Beseler—condenser or diffusion.

The 35mm mixing chamber is an optional part if you want diffusion with the dichroic color head (whether using the machine for color or B&W printing) for printing 35mm films when the shortest printing times are wanted.

The 35mm diffusion mixing chamber concentrates the light output over a 35mm film for faster printing time. That might be useful in making large prints, but isn’t necessary in most cases.

The larger diffusion mixing chamber is for use with any sized negative (including 35mm) and is required for enlarging films bigger than 35mm.

While the diffusion mixing chamber wasn’t intended for use with the standard 75W photo bulb & its holder, it should be useable when diffusion is wanted. You can expect that the reduced light intensity will give significantly longer printing times.

Here is the manual for the Dual Dichro 23 head.

http://www.jollinger.com/photo/cam-coll/manuals/enlargers/beseler/Beseler_DualDichro23_head.pdf


These might be useful for other 23C questions.

Dead Link Removed

http://www.oresteen.com/bess23c.htm

 

[Arkasha]

Thank you, Ian. Very kind of you.