Mystery 8x10 enlarger bulb

[noseoil]

We just acquired an old 8x10 enlarger. There are no markings which are visible on the bed. It has two columns, a larger one to move the whole carriage and a smaller one for focusing. It has a wooden film holder with two glass plates to hold the film. There is a large two piece reflector which houses a rather large bulb which reads GE 115-125 V Enlarger 302 bulb. The base is a conventional screw in type (regular house bulb), but the bulb is longer in the shaft portion and somewhat larger in diameter at the bulb's globe part.

Anyone know about this bulb? Looking to find a replacement or a cross match for spares. I'm sure there are other options, but for now it would be nice to have a spare when this one burns out. Thanks, tim

 

[jd callow]

If you post an image as well as the data you've already supplied I might be able to help.

I do work for a guy who has squirreled away every photo related item that has crossed his path -- including bulbs.

 

[Alex Hawley]

Tim,
I ran into the same problem with a Beseler 45. Go to the B&H website and search around until you find enlarger bulbs. I found one, a generic brand, with the same ratings and bulb number. Bought two of them and they work fine. I think it might even be the same one you are looking for.
Alex

 

[Donald Miller]

It seems that a lot of the older bulbs were OEM. I would suspect that for an 8X10 enlarger that the bulb wattage is a minimum of 500 watts since my Durst 5X7 uses a 500 watt opal lamp. The bulb needs to be a bulb for photographic application since the writing on a typical incadescent bulb will lead to printing difficulties as the writing is known to be projected as differing density onto the image.

If it were me and I couldn't find the original bulb, then I would convert this to a single ended halogen of 500 or 750 watts. Depending on whether your enlarger is a condensor or diffusion you may need to design a diffusion grid since the halogen is more of a point source then the frosted bulb.

 

[MichaelBriggs]

The bulb is probably a PH302. You can verify this by comparing to the detailed info given at http://donsbulbs.com/cgi-bin/r/b.pl/ph302.html. Unfortunately that site states "Bulb is discontinued and I know of no substitutions at this time." A web search showed another place that may have a few in stock -- if so, snap them up: http://www.replacementlightbulbs.com/lampshardtofindmisc.html

 

[noseoil]

Michael, indeed it is a PH302 and looks like I'm going to need to improvise at some point soon.

Donald, there is a diffusion panel with the enlarger, as well as a second panel the owner said he used as it "worked better that way." The writing on this bulb is indeed around the base and not at the end as would be normal with a household type. If I can't find one, I'll look into your suggestion for a decent replacement. I'm sure "Quido" can think up a working solution.

Alex, I'll give B&H a try and see what they have in stock.

mrcallow, the link posted by michael looks to be an exact match. Have any like this one?

Thanks to all. tim

 

[jd callow]

mrcallow, the link posted by michael looks to be an exact match. Have any like this one?

Thanks to all. tim

I'll go in today and check...

 

[jd callow]

tens if not hundreds of bulbs, most are plug-in style for enlargers unknown and none to fit your description. Sorry...

 

[ann]

there is a company that has a large inventory of enlarger bulbs, plus other lighting stuff. i think you can find them a light64, but i will have to double check and get back to you if i am wrong. They have found some really strange bulbs for equipment given to us so ; who knows.........

 

[noseoil]

Follow-up, Life!

We installed the 8x10 enlarger this weekend. It is one funky beast of large proportions. I found a bulb at a photo shop which is going out of business nearby. $5.00 so we have a spare now if necessary. I'm going to call it Frankenstein, as it looks to be of about that vintage and may have been a prop out of the movie the way it looks.

This thing is large, but seems to work well enough. It is on a piece of 1/2" plywood which we fastened to the wall with concrete tapping screws. Printing will be a bit of a bother, as the ceiling heighth in this small apartment-darkroom is low. The easel will be sitting on my 8x10 trunk case, which is about 16" high. We're good to about 20 x 24 if needs be, by using the floor for the easel. Need to find bigger trays if we go over 16 x 20.

Thanks to all for input on bulbs. tim