Beseler 45m Restore

[rlarussa]

Hello Everyone,

I'm restoring a 1950's Beseler 45m and looking for advice on parts, as well as to share some thoughts and photos from the project if anyone is interested.

I picked up the enlarger in a lot of three being sold on Facebook marketplace, one of the worst places to buy camera equipment. It with a 23c III XL and an Omega B-600 that were both mint, and the guy threw a working Palliard C-8 and lens! I don't have a need for three enlargers so I'm hoping to find the Omega a good home soon. Anyways, the 45m was less than stellar. It looked like it had been sitting in a dusty smokey basement for 20 or so years, but it's built like a tank, so everything fired up and worked normally. So I plan to tear it down and fully clean it, strip bad paint and repaint, replace wiring, etc. I want to keep as many of the original parts as possible, only replacing what is necessary.

The first thing I noticed upon tear down was that the spring in the lower crossbar de-tensioned. Looking around on the forums here I see some info suggesting it can be re-tensioned rather easily. The second thing I noticed was that the wiring coming of the motor is very brittle, and a break is forming in the wire. Are replacement motors for this relatively cheap/available? The only one I've been able to find so far is on Ebay for $325. Perhaps it will be easier to have it repaired locally, ideally by a place that can fix the motor up as well. It runs fine but smells really bad, like burning dust, which makes sense considering the outside of the enlarger.

I'm also interested in repairing or replacing the bellows, but I'm unsure how much light leakage is too much. When shinging a powerful flashlight through it in a dark room, you can see little pinholes in the corners. There are no clear breaks, but the pin-holing is consistent throughout. It is much less apparent when using the enlargers actual light. I feel like this should be relatively easy to repair with gaff tape or black cloth. IS there a general consensus on how much light leaking from a bellows is too much?

Cheers

 

[mshchem]

I would keep looking and use this one for parts, these are great enlargers, but people will practically give them away. You can restore that but the wiring and motor is old and not properly grounded. I got a practically new one c 2000 a couple of years ago with a new colorhead for 300 bucks, just like new. Last count I have 2 setup and most of 6 more, 1 like yours given to me and a slightly newer one I bought for 10 bucks.
There's tons of parts on ebay.

 

[darkroommike]

• Beseler motors are actually a stock item but you have to go to a Grainger's or something, if only the wires coming out are the issue you can replace the external wiring under a cover or have it done by a local company that rewinds motors. You can also get motors from Beseler.
• Spring is easily retensioned just be sure to keep a hand on it as you wind it back up, might be a good idea to enlist an assistant to tighten up the screws so you can keep tension on the spring.
• Bellows are probably the easiest thing to change but it might also be possible to tape the bellows.

 

[mgb74]

Pinholes: Usually not a problem unless fairly large and/or shining on the paper, but best to fix. Google "pinhole in bellows repair" and you'll get some options. Easier in an enlarger (vs. camera) as the bellows typically aren't fully compressed. I'm willing to bet that 3 out of 4 Beseler 45s in use now have pinholes if you check carefully.

Motor: Cracks in wiring insulation should be repaired. Motor smell may be dust, bearings, or just the belt. BTW, I believe every outlet in a darkroom should be on a GFCI.

Replacing parts is one thing, but restoring as you described will be a labor of love. Great if you have the time to do it. But, if it's that dusty, you need to clean it anyway so maybe that puts you halfway there.

I can provide many used parts, but I'll be out of town a lot over the next few weeks. Parts list for the most recent versions here.

 

[ced]

For the bellows use black acrylic paint to pant into the holes or even silicone, perhaps some rubber type paint can be found. Tape or gaffer tape is ugly.

 

[rlarussa]

I would keep looking and use this one for parts, these are great enlargers, but people will practically give them away. You can restore that but the wiring and motor is old and not properly grounded. I got a practically new one c 2000 a couple of years ago with a new colorhead for 300 bucks, just like new. Last count I have 2 setup and most of 6 more, 1 like yours given to me and a slightly newer one I bought for 10 bucks.
There's tons of parts on ebay.

I hope to get this in good shape and eventually put a 45s color head on it when I find a good enough deal!

• Beseler motors are actually a stock item but you have to go to a Grainger's or something, if only the wires coming out are the issue you can replace the external wiring under a cover or have it done by a local company that rewinds motors. You can also get motors from Beseler.
• Spring is easily retensioned just be sure to keep a hand on it as you wind it back up, might be a good idea to enlist an assistant to tighten up the screws so you can keep tension on the spring.
• Bellows are probably the easiest thing to change but it might also be possible to tape the bellows.

Good to know that the spring is easy enough. Do you know what exactly I would be looking for on Grainger's? I see a lot of options for AC and DC motors.
I'll likely tape the inside of the bellows just in the corners to keep the exterior look clean.

Pinholes: Usually not a problem unless fairly large and/or shining on the paper, but best to fix. Google "pinhole in bellows repair" and you'll get some options. Easier in an enlarger (vs. camera) as the bellows typically aren't fully compressed. I'm willing to bet that 3 out of 4 Beseler 45s in use now have pinholes if you check carefully.

Motor: Cracks in wiring insulation should be repaired. Motor smell may be dust, bearings, or just the belt. BTW, I believe every outlet in a darkroom should be on a GFCI.

Replacing parts is one thing, but restoring as you described will be a labor of love. Great if you have the time to do it. But, if it's that dusty, you need to clean it anyway so maybe that puts you halfway there.

I can provide many used parts, but I'll be out of town a lot over the next few weeks. Parts list for the most recent versions here.

I'm definitely looking for a labor of love! The 23c iii I got will hold me over for the foreseeable future, so I'm more interested in this for the project and eventual upgrade to a true color head. I'll be rewiring from the motor to the outlet, but I'm unsure about replacing the motor/bellows due to the cost. I only paid $125 for the three enlargers, so I don't want to spend a ton of replacement parts. If you have any used parts you are looking to sell feel free to pm me or email me at rlarussa22@gmail.com.


Finished the teardown today, going to start by cleaning the parts that don't need to be re painted, and stripping paint from the frame for prep. Cheers!

 

[darkroommike]

For the bellows use black acrylic paint to pant into the holes or even silicone, perhaps some rubber type paint can be found. Tape or gaffer tape is ugly.

I don't tape camera bellows but this is an enlarger. But if you must, probably any black acrylic paint would work and I have read that the liquid electrical tape works very well.

 

[darkroommike]

As far as the motor I do not know which one it is but most electrical motors have standard NEMA frames. I do know it's AC not DC, and 110v. is standard in the USA. Replacement motors are also available from Beseler in the US and KHB in Canada but are heart attack expensive. Before you do anything that spendy have an electrician look to the wiring on the motor you have.