Beseler 45mcrx

Hi, I'm new here, so I hope it's acceptable that I start a new thread for this question.

I'm a high school student and I'm taking a traditional photo class for the first time.(took a quick course in middle school but that was 5 years ago and I don't remember any of it). I'm learning quickly and I enjoy my time in and out of the darkroom. Most of the enlargers we have are 23CIIs and 23CIIIs but there's a single 45mcrx in the corner that was donated to the school. I've talked to the teacher and between the two of us, we got the bulb to go on but we can't figure out how to make the motorized chasis work or attach a timer. If anyone could offer some help or advice it would be greatly appreciated. Here are the pictures of the whole set up.

This is the enlarger

This box is plugged into the wall and powers the enlarger

This unit is attached to the horizontal railing and has a metal strip that comes out of it that is attached to the top of the vertical rail. It's not plugged into anything.

These are the timers we have at school


Thanks in advance.

You should install a dummy plug in the lower outlet (marked "Switch"). It sounds dangerous but simply connect the a wire to short the 2 flat prongs together.

PM me with an email address. I have a pdf that another APUG'er sent me which discusses alignment, and various other movements on the 45 MCRX. It doesn't, however, talk about what to do about the mystery box/plug...

Sharon/shmoo

That box hanging on the bottom rail is a transformer for a big color head. The receptacle on top with the odd pin arrangement is for the cord off that head. Since you have a condenser head you don't have to worry about it. Normally the timer would plug into the line voltage stabilizer and the transformer would plug into that, and the color head into the transformer. The drive motor should not be inline from what I remember as it should be just 120v and doesn't need stabilization. If it doesn't work tear it part and fix it or replace it. Since you have a condenser head, just plug it into the timer and the timer into the stabilizer. The stabilizer will probably hum pretty good and that's normal. Btw, the color head would have come with an independent standing air blower slightly bigger then the stabilizer with vacuum cleaner size hoses to the head to cool the bulbs. It really was a monstrosity.

waynecrider said:

That box hanging on the bottom rail is a transformer for a big color head.

Click to expand...

Ah, and the steel tape is a attached to a counter-weight spring in the box.

Even for Beseler that's one heck of a kluge. I second the advice: get rid of the box.

As to the stabilizer: if it hums like the dickens then it is possible to plug the stabilizer between the timer and the lamp, that way it only makes noise when you are exposing. The stabilizer was meant to go with the color head and kluge box: it isn't really needed for black and white printing and you may be better off not using it.

There is a switch shown on top of the stabilizer: where does that switch wire lead? If it goes to a AC flat blade plug then it is meant to plug into the bottom outlet on the motor box. It was meant to control the lamp in the days before timers. With a timer you would just leave the switch in the on position. Don't try plugging it into the power line.

I like to be able to move the head without having to turn on the timer. I have an extension cord from the timer that is tied to the top of the chassis and that the head plugs into. I have the motor directly connected to the AC power. If you do that then you don't need to worry about a shorting plug or switch on the motor box. If you want to keep the voltage controller then unplug the voltage controller from the motor box and plug it directly into an extension cord from the timer, leave the head plugged into the voltage controller. The voltage controller is an anachronism and can be dispensed with if desired.

If you just have the condenser head, you can probably simplify things quite a bit. Like Nicholas says, the motor can be plugged directly into the wall, and use the switch on the right side to raise and lower the head. I believe the box on top of the motor is to control the light intensity of the condenser head. The lamp would be plugged into that box, and that box into the timer. Alternately, you could plug the lamp directly into the timer.

I think I got those directions right...

Okay so first off, thanks everyone for all your help.
I got everything hooked up today. The stabilizer is plugged into a wall and then into the motor unit on the enlarger. There is a switch plugged into the plug labeled switch that is always in the on position. The timer is plugged into the lamp plug and then the condenser is plugged into the timer. The transformer for the color head is disconnected and thrown away.

As of now, the light works, the timer works, and the only problem is that every time you turn on the motor, it smells like an electrical fire and it moves verrrryyyyy slowly. Does this mean that the motor is shot or is there some lock or other feature that I'm not seeing? I don't mind cranking it up by hand but it just takes so long with the dial that's included.

Thanks again!

Hmmm:

I would:

• Plug the motor into the wall;
• Plug the timer into the wall;
• Plug the lamp into the timer;
• Put the stabilizer in storage.

As to the burning - yes, the motor is probably shot. The knob on the motor housing should spin rather freely when raising and lowering the lamphouse - like the tuning knob on an old hi-fi receiver. If it is stiff then the motor may be ok, but the systems needs a cleaning and lubrication.

Beseler sells motor rebuild kits.http://www.beselerphoto.com/

However, at the price of old enlargers these days it may be cheaper to just get another '45 that has a working motor. The latest model Beselers are painted black and have square rather than tapered bellows.