durst bwl 300 light head

[claudius]

help needed.
i have the oportunity to buy a durst 139G with a BWL 300 head.


i cannot find any informations on the BWL300 at all!

anyone out there that can enlighten me ?
i belive that it is for B&W printing only.
is it worth buying and what to look for?

klaus
denmark

 

[claudius]

i belive that this is one of the very rare occations that none of the Apug members has the answer !

as you can see from the rather bad photos, it consist of two parts.
the toppart is the BWL 3oo and the conical part is marked Durst color laborator 138.
hope this helps.
it really would be nice if somone has any knowledge.
maybe this is a special order as no information is available on the internet.
klaus
denmark

 

[MattKing]

There is a tangential reference in one of the results from a Google search (this one: http://www.jollinger.com/photo/cam-coll/manuals/enlargers/durst/Durst_Enlarger_Guide.pdf) to a BWL 200, so you might want to try searching on that.
Other than that, I might consider contacting someone like Glenview

 

[claudius]

finally i got it in house and everything works perfect !
big thing and as stable as it gets.
Matt, thank you, i found your reference, the BWL300 is mentioned just in a few words as an option to CLS colorhead.
i have had contact to Glennwiew, who never heard of it, i am giving him details soon.
i also contacted Durst pro usa.
i was quite surprised to recieve an answer from Mr Jens Jensen in DANISH ! it appears that Durst usa is in fact a Danish company.
shure, he knows the BWL 300. it is made as a soft light head for B&W printing with light boxes up to 5x7". it has 2 x 1000 W halogen tubes and current stabilisator box,
with the additional equipment ( also in the package) it CAN make color prints, using separate color filters, but as I and most of us only do B&W, the BWL must be preferred to color head.
it came with full set for copy work, wich i doubt i ever get in use.

i am just now removing my current Durst 138S out and the 139L into darkroom, i dont have room for both,
the 138S is now retired.

klaus

 

[DREW WILEY]

This head runs VERY hot. Check to see if there are linear curved quartz reflectors behind the halogen bulbs and if the coating on these is still good. Then behind this there might still be actual asbestos pads needing replacement with safer modern mineral "stove board". The condition of the filters might also be an issue. This head was intended for very large mural work. You need a very serious cooling fan exhausting outdoors. Maybe you can identify lower-wattage bulbs that have the correct voltage and fit. Jens does know how to modernize it.But you take your chances dealing with him, which is an understatement.

 

[claudius]

hi drew
thank you for your answer.
yes indeed it runs very, very hot! an the blower is very noisy too,
therefore i have ordered parts for a LED conversion as seen in here:
http://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/showthread.php?125028-cooling-fan-on-Durst-138/page3
by Ruliouosa ,
all parts are working perfectly, bulbs, all mirrors a.s.o.
while waiting for the parts, mainly from China, i change heads with my 138S, wich by the way is converted by led lamps to 8x10
later i might convert the 139 G enlarger to 8x10" too

klaus

 

[DREW WILEY]

Good luck with that project. Alas, I think I am done with my last Durst conversion. Just want to use them from now on. But I have some routine maintenance to do on my big non-Durst 8x10 color enlargr. That kind of chore never ends.