cold light head for durst 8x10

[Herb Cunningham]

As my motto is "nothing in moderation", I happen to have a Beseler 8x10 in storage. I am debating removing the cold light and fitting it to my Durst 184L, which currently has a 2000 watt dichroic head on it, and it heats up the world, not to mention the two fans making a hell of a lot of noise.

The question: anybody done this? Is there a cold light head made by somebody that is especially designed for the Durst?

The Durst gives me the ability to do really huge prints, larger than the Beseler, and I think it is better built. I have a Beseler 4x5, so I am familiar with the breed.

I appreciate your wisdom.

[Gudmundur Ingolfsson]

http://www.aristogrid.com/prod02BB.htm

The VCL 8100 is great and turns the Durst 184 into the ultimate enlarger.

[Tony Lakin]

Hi
I have done the reverse, I was using a Devere 810 with a cold light head which was ok with graded papers then I began to fear the demise of graded papers in favour of multigrade so when a 2kw Devere dichro head appeared on Ebay I bid and won (approx. $250)
I haven't regretted it, the fan attaches to the head by flexible trunking so I mounted it on polystyrene blocks in the attic above my darkroom so avoiding excessive noise, heat and vibration the extra brightness is a real boon allowing short printing exposures with big enlargements both on VC and graded papers, of course I kept the cold light but have no desire to use it again.
Good luck

[Donald Miller]

Other than the heat issue you will probably be unable to determine which is which between a dichroic head and a cold light head (both are diffusion light sources). I went the other way and converted my 5X7 Durst to a point light source. That, I have found, does make a difference in sharpness and micro contrast.

[resummerfield]

I have a Durst L1840 with the 2000w dichro, and I have switched to an Aristo T-12 for the same reasons you state. I would suggest removing the coldlight from your Beseler 810 and trying it on the Durst--it should fit perfectly. If I were buying new, I would get the VCL8100 as Gudmundur suggests.

[Herb Cunningham]

Bless you guys.