Beseler 45MXT with Beseler Universal 45 head

[jonashallgrimsson]

Hi everyone,

I have a Beseler 45MXT enlarger with a Beseler Universial 45 head. I think this is color head as the timer has cyan, magenta and yellow on it (nothing on the head itself, it´s just black with only the words Beseler Universal on it). There is also a small black box and two big and heavy boxes (also black).

I got this for free, with no manual. Im setting up my darkroom and I cant figure out how to connect everything right. I looked at the Beseler website and couldn´t find the head there, only older model (with cyan, magenta and yellow controllers on it).

Is anyone out there who knows how to connect this thing and make it work? So far I havent found anything about this on the internet, but maybe I´m not looking at the right places.

Best regards,

Jonas

[MIke Sherck]

The Beseler folks are very helpful: did you send them an email? I have an ancient Beseler 45 enlarger I got from an auction and inquired of them; they mailed a copy of the manual to me.

Mike

[jonashallgrimsson]

Thanks Mike. Don´t know why I didn´t think of this myself :-)

I sent them an e-mail, hopefully they will send some information.

[tgtaylor]

It sounds like you have a condenser head that is typically used to print B&W but can also print color. Check and see if there is a filter holder above the negative stage. I'm sure that there is. If so, you can place gel filters for B&W printing and color in the holder. For example a #3 filter for a grade 3 B&W print or , say, a 55CC Magenta filter and a 45CC yellow filter for printing a color image.

The MXT also has a below the lens filter holder. However placing a filter below the lens will degrade the image quality whereas placing them above the negative does not.

Hope that helps.

Thomas

[frotog]

No, it's not a condenser head. The universal was Beseler's last color head design. It is a closed-loop head using three bulbs, fixed dichroic filters and computer-controlled rheostats. You should have a power supply, the head and a controller, either for b/w vc printing or color. It sounds like you're missing the controller without which you cannot use this head.

[joselsgil]

Jonas, could you attach a photo of the enlarger? Use one of those trendy digital cameras to take a photo of the enlarger :)

You got a great deal on it. I picked up two Beseler 23C enlarger for $20 just the other weekend.

Good luck with the enlarger.

[jonashallgrimsson]

Thanks everyone for you comment.

I managed to connect everything so it is working fine now. I finally figured out that I had one big box (power supply) too many. Turned out that the person which owned the enlarger gave me also a power supply for another item he owns.

Anyway, it´s all up and running now. What I have is the 45 MXT enlarger, the Beseler Universal 45 head, color controller, a small black box (connected to the head and the color controller), and a power supply.

I think "frotog" is right about this head being Beseler newest colorhead:
"The universal was Beseler's last color head design. It is a closed-loop head using three bulbs, fixed dichroic filters and computer-controlled rheostats".

One thing I need now is more negative carriers. The enlarger came with 6x6 and 6x45, but I use 4x5, 6x7 and 35mm.

I also got a Omega 4x5 Universial enlarger for free. They are now side by side on a table in thedarkroom, looking good. Will take a picture and post it.

Thanks for the help.

Jonas

[frotog]

Jonas,

Beseler discontinued the Universal before they ironed out all the bugs. Of course this happened some time in the mid to late nineties. My Universal, which was new old stock when I got it back in 2005, had difficulty holding consistent color balance. With my colorometer I was able to measure a significant variance in color balance over time. The head guy at Beseler at the time suggested I contact the man who designed the controller - Andy Falco of Easton, Pa. Sure enough, Andy was familiar with the problem and lamented the fact that Beseler dropped out of the game before he could fix it. After his mod. to the controller it performs flawlessly. Well worth the $250 for the upgrade.

[jonashallgrimsson]

Do you happen to have Andy Falco e-mail address? If you have, maybe you send me e-mail.

I am wandering if this is only a problem if I work in color or does it also affects b&w work (I guess it does).

Jonas

[shadow images]

I have the universal head with the B/W controller on my 45vxl and love it. If only they had made one for 8x10.

[frotog]

Do you happen to have Andy Falco e-mail address? If you have, maybe you send me e-mail.

I am wandering if this is only a problem if I work in color or does it also affects b&w work (I guess it does).

Jonas


Jonas,

Do you have some sort of colorometer to check your universal controller? But befor you worry about that, have you noticed any variance between prints at the same setting? Before you call Andy, try this test -

1. Dial in filtration and time for desired contrast and exposure for your print - write this data down.
2. Turn off the power supply.
3. Wait five minutes and turn it back on.
4. Go to analyze mode and run the channels all the way to zero and then back to the settings you wrote down.
5. Make another print making sure that dev. temp. and dev. time is identical to what it was for step one.

If you notice a large enough variance between the two prints and if that bugs you, call Andy. Check out http://photographyrepairs.4t.com/beseler.htm for details.