I failed at ordering this bulb, even though their website says they have them in stock, I was told that they're discontinued. Anybody else have a source or is willing to sell me one or two so that I can compare it to the other bulbs I've got? Thanks.Originally Posted by Larry Gebhardt
OK, adding to this thread, rather than starting a new one for less common Durst enlarger.
I recently purchased a well-used (based upon locking pin wear on the negative mount stage) Durst S-45 Special (aka S45) 4x5 condenser floor stand enlarger. It has a full set of condensers for the formats I use, a NEGA 138 negative carrier, and has a point source lamp (20V) with a 120V:20V transformer and variac (adjustable voltage transformer). I purchased a G40 lamp to use in its place and do have some milk glass if that is a requirement.
I have downloaded and read most of the 138S manuals in the public domain. I also have its much bigger sibling, a Durst L184 with a V184 condenser head, so have some familiarity with the Durst line, and the issue with the availability of the old Thorne bulbs.
The S-45 looks to be built upon the 138S chassis and head design, although I am not certain the amount of parts that are interchangeable, if any.
I have the perspective control baseboard system with the ball head and three supporting point mount (two support arms in front and adjustable screw at back). It has the foot release for the baseboard elevation control and the large locking knob at the front of the baseboard support arm to lock the baseboard elevation.
My questions are related to the baseboard controls:
1. On the baseboard support arm just left of the large knob to lock the baseboard elevation, is a small knob. I do not know the function of that knob. It does tighten to a point where it stops, but uncertain as to what it might be locking in place... What is its function?
2. There is the one point at the back of the baseboard arm to support the baseboard. How does one adjust the height of that or of the two arms when levelling the baseboard. I seem to remember that in one of the manuals it mentioned it was factory set.
Thanks for any insights,
Len
The small knob seems to control front-rear motion on the baseboard. On my 138, if you first loosen the knob under the ball joint that holds the baseboard, the small knob moves the whole baseboard a few cm front and back. I don't understand why you would do this, but my baseboard is not original so I may be missing the point.
All of the arms are threaded, so you can raise or lower them by rotating. There are holes in the arms so you can insert a small screwdriver to do this.
Perhaps to set baseboard front-rear horizontal alignment. That is, as the baseboard moves front-to-back with respect to the arms #15, they become more or less vertical. Raising or lowering the front edge of the baseboard ?
Here is a picture of the mechanism from below:
Jason & IC, that does seem to be the function for the small knob as I checked it this morning and it moved the position of the baseboard ball head screw. The picture was certainly helpful.
Interesting the amount of adjustment on the baseboard, the lateral adjustment at the saddle at the back, and the fore-aft adjustment on the front, presumably to get the rear support pin centred in its saddle.
Jason, I did see the holes in those pieces and that would make sense being there to adjust the height.
Does anyone know whether many of the parts of the 138S and S-45 are interchangeable? They look to be similar, but never had one sitting right next to the other to compare them closely.
I just noticed this thread again. The incremental evolution of the 138 involved interchangeable components. The selection of neg carriers got nicer, along with new
colorheads. The baseboard construction improved, but attaches the same way; but these often have to be changed out anyway if they have warped over time.
The biggest issue is having the right amount of spring tension if you attached a heavier light source. But this came also be done with a supplementary dumbwaiter
pulley instead. It's a well-thought-out line of machinery that invites upgrades.
OK, continuing my efforts on my S-45 Special.
Got the baseboard mounted, thanks to information provided here. Now looking at the upper part of the enlarger...
The NEGA 138 is missing one of the eight (four upper and four lower) little "fingernail" clip ends, and is one that hold the upper glass in place. It has the longer flex arm, but not the riveted-on tip.
What is the preferred solution? Use as-is? Other?
BTW, I purchased a replacement plate that the the NEGA 138 slides onto that was in much better shape than mine. I did measure it up and made a CAD drawing of the outline (i.e. without detail of the guides or countersink on the holes). If someone wants to get one cut (e..g laser, water-jet, etc.), send me a PM and I can send you the CAD drawing or a PDF.
I would use as is if you can, the only other solutions I can think of is to either have something fabricated and fix/replace yourself, or look for another Nega 138 on the used market. L
The tabs are impossible to find, would be difficult to replicate, and most carriers have at least one missing. It takes patience, but complete undamaged NEGA138 carriers do come up for sale from time to time, sometimes very expensively, sometimes for very little.
I have a CLS 2000 head and I want to rewire this to a simple timer for black and white use only , I lost the cord from existing timer to head, anyone done this?
I do not want to buy a $900 cord from Jens.
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