Beseler 45 MRCX Light/Resistrol Issue

[Dane G]

Hi, Just bought a Beseler 45 MRCX (blue model). It doesn't appear to be working, and I'm having trouble figuring out what's wrong, as I don't yet have a manual. Here's the problem:

I know that the socket to the lamp works, because when I unplug it from the Resistrol and plug it directly into the wall, the lamp comes on (there's no control, of course, it simply lights up). When it's plugged into the Resistrol, however, it refuses to come on. The cord from the lamp is quite short, so my guess is that it is meant to plug directly into the socket on the side of the Resistrol.

I've tried plugging the wall cord at the bottom of the motorized unit into a timer with the Resistrol cord plugged into the motorized unit, but no go. The motorized unit, does work, going up and down regardless of whether the main cord is plugged directly into the wall or a timer.

Question: is the Resistrol crucial to operating this enlarger? Is there some other way to get it to work? It's just that I've never seen an enlarger with one of these things.

Thanks in advance to anyone who might be able to help!

[ic-racer]

Go from lamp to timer to wall. Bypass the Resistrol. That will get your lamp to work.

In terms of the motor, if it is not working, I think the height can be manually adjusted.

[Dane G]

Thank you, Ic-racer. I'll try the direct approach. I'm at work now, but will take a photo and upload tomorrow morning.

[dsphotog]

Hi Dane,
The motor housing has 2 receptacles, the top one labeled 'lamp' & the bottom one labeled 'switch'. There should be a switch on a very short cord plugged into the 'switch' outlet. If it's not turned on, or missing, the 'lamp' outlet is not energized. Try bypassing the Resistrol & plug the lamphouse directly into the "lamp' outlet. if that doesn't work, you can use an extension cord between the timer & the lamp. The only disadvantage to this is having another cord hanging from the head.
The Resistol is just a dimmer, the idea was to use the optimum lens aperture & adjust the lamp brightness, obviously not crucial.

[Wade D]

I bypassed the Resistrol on mine and just plug the lamp into the timer. The lamp cord is short so an extension cord is needed. It works fine that way.

[Peter Mounier]

Dane
I sent you a PM regarding the manual.

Peter

[Dane G]

Thanks everyone! Much appreciated.

I did as you suggest and plugged the lamp directly into a timer. Worked perfectly. Guess I'll be using an extension cord. The motor, BTW, is working fine.

dsphotog--thank you for the explanation on the various sockets. As it happens, I don't have the extra cord with the switch--what a weird design feature. I'm thinking that answers why the Resistrol doesn't seem to be working, or at least the outlet on the side. I thought the R. was completely dead--the voltmeter doesn't respond at all at this point--but maybe I can find the missing short cord for the bottom "switch" plug on eBay.