Dichroic Head for Beseler 45 V-XL

[Doremus Scudder]

I'm with Drew here; a dichroic head is really convenient. I've adapted Chromega heads to both my Beseler 45MXs. The enlarger I use most has the 5x7 Chromega E head (had to cut out the top aluminum plate and eliminate the upper bellows, but it works great!).

I do have the older Beseler (blue-colored) dichroic color head, complete with hoses and separate fan unit in storage somewhere. I'd be willing to part with it for not that much. PM me if you're interested.

Doremus

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I personally love the Beseler 45universal b&w Head followed by the Zone VI VC Head then the Ilford 500

[esearing]

New or Old? If you are young or plan to use it for many years to come, invest in a new head and controllers like the Heiland or Beseler 45SL . The used market has older VC , 45s, and ilford 500 system that are not always reliable and you need to tinker with them quite a bit to keep them running. If you need cheap, find the basic single bulb 45M head and use filters below the lens for split grade or single grade printing. Its easy to get darkroom G.A.S. as it is for cameras and lenses but if you invest in a good system upfront you will enjoy your printing time and likely use it more.

I love my Ilford 500 2 bulb system but I have had to replace the controller with one created by RHDesigns and the power supply seems to need firing up every two weeks to run reliably. I burned out two Dicro 45S units and basically disassembled them for their condensers and fittings. The VC head I had would not adjust the contrast enough to get much more than grade 3 because the interior mechanicals would fail. Cold head worked until it didn't , and finding a new bulb proved difficult. I have used a total of 6 heads in 10 years so could have likely purchased a new system for nearly the same investment.

I also have an old Federal single incandescent bulb enlarger which requires only a simple controller and under lens filters for use when the fancy heads die.

[Duolab123]

Look on Ebay. The Dichro 45S heads (old like 1980s) I would pass, I've fixed the famous opto-isolator #2 if you can find a super clean one might be OK.
Don't touch the D.A.T.A. models. Then there was a new version of the 45S that doesn't have the ancient isos etc. This was made 90's into about 5 years back.
The beautiful Beseler Universal 45 head with VC and color controllers is the greatest head Beseler ever made. Problem is they are prone to being quirky, I have 5 heads and 3 are reliable. No service, period.

So the original condenser head has a drawer for 6x6 inch filters, color or VC. Absolutely foolproof.

I would watch Ebay Zone VI made a really nice VC 2 tube head, THE LATER MODEL, this was made from late 90's until Calumet (last company to own Zone VI) folded around 2004ish

And again the old DG head with the separate blower box, transformer that mounted to the 45mx enlarger is a great head, but these things are 50 years old.

The New LED heads are cool but expensive.

[Duolab123]

Also ANY cold light will require a closed loop compensating timer (Zone VI, Metrolux, RH Designs) to work best.

[Drew Wiley]

I cannot recommend the Beseler Universal head unless all the components are thoroughly tested in advance. When they work, they work great. A number of power supplies even brand new had weak triacs. So if you're not skilled in diagnosing electronics yourself, you'll pay a premium to a specialty instrument service. Beseler themselves dropped the ball on servicing them long ago. I personally cannibalized certain components from several of these units to build even better heads. But in terms of the power supplies and control panels, they're sensitive to voltage fluctuations and EMI (electromagnetic interference). For example, you don't want any electronic lighting ballasts in the vicinity (old-fashioned ballasts are fine). On one unit I had no problems for almost a decade until some unannounced utility line work was going on nearby, changing overhead supply to underground. The sudden voltage jolt confused something inside the control panel. I have spares; but all I needed to do was just shut the unit off, wait a couple of days, and that particular electrical component gradually de-magnetized by itself. Of course, I checked my incoming line voltage first for normal consistency.