Maintenance of Beseler 23C II XL/23C III XL

[wallacjm]

I work for a public school district and elementary school. I sent an email to our arts depart to see what schools had darkroom and would be willing to donate their equipment to our school. I have 9 Beseler 23C II xl (5)/III xl (4) enlargers in various conditions. I want to get 5 of them in working order, but the need some TLC.

I would greatly appreciate it I could get some answers on repairing the following problems:
1) It is very hard to turn the knobs. It takes a lot of strength. What can I do make them easier to turn?
2) the glue the attached the upper bellows has old and the bellows has detached. What can I use to attach the bellows and make it light proof?
3) In moving the enlargers, I took the condensers out so that they would become damaged (one is damaged). How do I clean the lenses?

The poorest of the enlargers I want to use as parts. How do I dismantle them?

 

[MattKing]

Welcome to Photrio.

 

[reddesert]

I don't know the exact answers to your questions (I have had a 23CII, but it is in storage), but have some suggestions.

- Sometimes people are a little surprised to learn that Beseler still exists and AFAIK supports these enlargers. You can get some information at their website and possibly support from the company. May I recommend the exploded view / parts diagram at https://www.beselerphoto.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/23C-Chassis-Exploded-View-_-Parts-List.pdf

- None of the knobs should be hard to turn, I'm not sure if you mean the elevation crank or the focus and condenser adjustments. Look for things that are binding, like chassis or head out of alignment. I can't recall what friction locks exist on the Beseler, but of course make sure any are disengaged.

- I would use contact cement (like Pliobond or Weldwood) to glue the bellows back to the frame. It doesn't need to be 100% free of pinholes light proof like a camera bellows, but should not let a lot of light spill out; if you have some small leaks you can try painting them with liquid electrical tape.

- The condensers can just be wiped off with lens cleaning fluid and lens wipes or a microfiber (glasses cleaning) cloth. The condensers are not in focus when the lens is focused on the negative, so if you have small imperfections on the condenser surfaces, they shouldn't impact the image.

Good luck with this worthwhile project!

 

[logan2z]

- Sometimes people are a little surprised to learn that Beseler still exists and AFAIK supports these enlargers. You can get some information at their website and possibly support from the company. May I recommend the exploded view / parts diagram at https://www.beselerphoto.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/23C-Chassis-Exploded-View-_-Parts-List.pdf

They are in business and their customer support is excellent, in my experience.

- I would use contact cement (like Pliobond or Weldwood) to glue the bellows back to the frame. It doesn't need to be 100% free of pinholes light proof like a camera bellows, but should not let a lot of light spill out; if you have some small leaks you can try painting them with liquid electrical tape.

I needed to repair the bellows on my 23CII XL and Beseler recommended the following product:

3M Scotch Weld industrial strength adhesive in black, product #4799

Apparently that's what Beseler uses to affix the bellows when they assemble them. It was easy to find online.

 

[Ian C]

This is largely a repeat of the previous answers but worded differently.

Question 1. “It is very hard to turn the knobs. It takes a lot of strength. What can I do make them easier to turn?”

This is not normal. It will be helpful if you examine the figures 1 and 2 in on page 3 of the manual (first link below) to specify which knobs are hard to turn. Use the nomenclature given in the list so that we all know which parts are involved. All knobs should all turn with relative ease.

See page 3 Figure 2 of the manual. It’s imperative that the Elevation Lock #18 in the photo be UNLOCKED before attempting to raise or lower the carriage on the column.

http://www.jollinger.com/photo/cam-coll/manuals/enlargers/beseler/Beseler_23C(newer).pdf

Question 2. “The glue the attached the upper bellows has old and the bellows has detached. What can I use to attach the bellows and make it light proof?”

A photo would help us understand the problem. I think that the glue is probably some type of rubber cement.

Question 3. “In moving the enlargers, I took the condensers out so that they would become damaged (one is damaged). How do I clean the lenses?”

This is a common task with the Beseler 23 C enlargers. Remove the condenser unit from the enlarger. The safest workplace is to sit on a bed so that a condenser lens can’t drop to the floor (bad for the floor, worse for the lens). use the appropriate Phillips screwdriver to remove the screws. Remove the lenses and clean them with Windex or other glass cleaner, reassemble.

Be careful. The screws are tapered sheet metal screws fitting into a shallow cross section of aluminum. Tighten just enough to secure the condenser in position, so as not to strip the cylindrical housing. Be carful to not lose the clips.

Use the manual to refer to the parts you wish to remove. Those that aren’t well covered in the manual can be described to the best of your ability with reference to their position to the named parts. One of us should be able to figure out what you need and how to deal with it.

Many components of these enlargers can be found on eBay if necessary.

The focusing knobs get hard to turn due to excess friction between the plastic lens stage bushings and the two vertical guide rods. What usually happens is that over the span of many years, the rods acquire many little knicks and dents. That slightly increases their OD and generates excess friction.

You can polish the rods with medium or coarse steel wool to remove the high spots on the rods. This can significantly reduce the friction in raising and lowering the focusing stage. Don’t attempt to lubricate the rods.

Focusing requires the friction of the steel wheels on the focus shaft to drive against the guide rods. Lubricant on the rods would defeat the necessary friction. After polishing the rods, use a vacuum cleaner to remove all steel wool strands from around the rods and the bushings. Don't use sandpaper. That would roughen the rods and increase the friction.

Here’s a second version of the manual.

http://www.jollinger.com/photo/cam-coll/manuals/enlargers/beseler/Beseler_23C_II.pdf

 

[wallacjm]

Welcome to Photrio.

Thank you!

 

[Tim Stapp]

If I'm insulting your intelligence, I sincerely apologize. I'm assuming that you are releasing the focus lock? I sometimes forget...it's a bear getting old.