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New enlarger

grainclouds

Member
Allowing Ads
Joined
Nov 26, 2025
Messages
7
Location
United States
Format
35mm
Hell all! I'm new here, and I was told this is where the old heads hang out. I recently acquired a new photo enlarger, specifically a Beseler Duo Dichro! It hasn't been used in years, needs to be cleaned, and needs to be repaired. From what I can tell upon looking at it, the upper bellows Assembly needs to be replaced. I need to test the power bank, but is there anything else I should be aware of? Just looking for some kind advice. Thank you! Excited to be here!
 

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Welcome to Photrio. If you can post some pictures of it people will be able to help you more. Does it light up?
 

There is a ton of expertise on this forum and many people willing to help, so I'm sure you'll get some great responses. There are two other sources of information that you may want to leverage as well:

1) Beseler. They're still in business and may be of help in getting the enlarger sorted. They may still have some parts too. I've contacted their customer service department in the past and was impressed with their responsiveness and willingness to help. They helped me solve a bellows issue with my 23C II XL and even connected me directly by phone with one of their internal repair people.

Contact Us | Beseler Photographic Equipment

2018 W. Main StreetP.O. Box 431Stroudsburg, PA 18360-0431 Phone: 800.237.3537Fax: 800.966.4515
www.beselerphoto.com

2) Kevin Brown at KHB Photografix. He's something of a guru when it comes to enlargers and is always willing to help.

Welcome to KHB Photografix

KHB Photografix is Canada's leading repair specialist for professional photographic equipment - enlargers, electronic flash, and large format and specialty cameras. We also provide expert sales and service for LPL, Omega, Beseler and DeVere enlargers, and Arkay darkroom equipment.
www.khbphotografix.com

Good luck with your new enlarger!
 
If you need to replace one of the bellows you might need to find a second C23 as parts as new parts are very, very (did I say very} expensive. Freestyle has a few replacement parts, when I checked I did not see a bellows.
 
Hi, and welcome. I have that enlarger, though I haven’t used it in a few decades. From the picture I don’t necessarily see a problem other than it being partially detached where it is glued at the top. I had the same problem- the glue failed. If the rest of the bellows don’t leak light you may only need to reglue them. I had the same issue with another Beseler- simply fused them back in place.
It they are torn there are many ways to fix them at least temporarily if you Google camera bellows repair. If that fails, try eBay. There are a number of vendors that will make new bellows for a reasonable price.
But first you need to make sure it’s going to light up!
 
Paul Howell said:
If you need to replace one of the bellows you might need to find a second C23 as parts as new parts are very, very (did I say very} expensive. Freestyle has a few replacement parts, when I checked I did not see a bellows.
Click to expand...

I found a Canadian website that sells some parts for less than $100 CAD, so I hope that will work. I also hope they can ship to the US, lol.
 

Oh wonderful! What glue would you suggest?
 
The upper bellows aren't important with the Dichro head. Infact they need to be completely collapsed shut. These bellows are used when adjusting the condensers on the condenser lamp house.

I would repair the bellows best you can with a decent duct tape. Black preferred, but not important.
 
Welcome to Photrio!

Enjoy your enlarge and darkroom.
 

Ha! Excellent point. It’s been too long since I had mine in use.
 
Very nice enlarger!

You would totally collapse the upper bellows to use that light source. In that case, a skirt of felt, or other material can quench the light leak until a suitable replacement bellows is obtained.
 
mshchem said:
The upper bellows aren't important with the Dichro head. Infact they need to be completely collapsed shut. These bellows are used when adjusting the condensers on the condenser lamp house.
Click to expand...

You beat me to it. II was going to say the same thing. The bellows is only needed if you use a condenser head, otherwise it's collapsed. You'll still need the check for light leaks, but that's easy to do -- and probably easy to fix with some black Gorilla tape.
 

That's good to know, thank you!
 
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