Head absorbing glass for 23c II has NO EFFECT :-(

Hi,

I recently shelled out $20 on e-bay for a sheet of heat absorbing
glass for my Beseler 23C II and am VERY disappointed to find that it
does absolutely nothing to resolve my negative popping issue. My
testing procedure is to leave the enlarger on for about 30 seconds and
then focus with a grain focuser. I then shut off the enlarger, wait
about 10 seconds, and observe whether the the negative is still in
focus. I have tried taping both edges of the negative to the negative
carrier (pulling tightly to create lots of tension) and now the heat
absorbing glass, and the result is the same every time: the negative
is no longer in focus, but pops back into focus after about 10-15
seconds. (And I am _still_ taping _with_ the heat absorbing glass.)

WHY WHY WHY??? Where did Beseler go wrong with this model? I paid $75
for this enlarger. Am I now going to have to shell out $130 for an AN
glass carrier to solve this problem (I cannot find one used anywhere).
If I had known this was going to happen I would have bought a
different enlarger.

Is there really NOTHING else I can do to solve this problem?

Thanks for hearing my rant.

--Phil

Phil Glaser wrote:

Hi,

I recently shelled out $20 on e-bay for a sheet of heat absorbing
glass ...

Pheeewww... So your head is still where it belongs. :-)

SCNR,
Ralf

--
Ralf R. Radermacher - DL9KCG - Köln/Cologne, Germany
private homepage: http://www.fotoralf.de
manual cameras and photo galleries - updated April 29, 2004
Contarex - Kiev 60 - Horizon 202 - P6 mount lenses

Phil Glaser wrote:

Hi,

I recently shelled out $20 on e-bay for a sheet of heat absorbing
glass ...

Pheeewww... So your head is still where it belongs. :-)

SCNR,
Ralf

--
Ralf R. Radermacher - DL9KCG - Köln/Cologne, Germany
private homepage: http://www.fotoralf.de
manual cameras and photo galleries - updated April 29, 2004
Contarex - Kiev 60 - Horizon 202 - P6 mount lenses

(Phil Glaser) wrote in message om...
Hi,

I recently shelled out $20 on e-bay for a sheet of heat absorbing
glass for my Beseler 23C II and am VERY disappointed to find that it
does absolutely nothing to resolve my negative popping issue. My
testing procedure is to leave the enlarger on for about 30 seconds and
then focus with a grain focuser. I then shut off the enlarger, wait
about 10 seconds, and observe whether the the negative is still in
focus. I have tried taping both edges of the negative to the negative
carrier (pulling tightly to create lots of tension) and now the heat
absorbing glass, and the result is the same every time: the negative
is no longer in focus, but pops back into focus after about 10-15
seconds. (And I am _still_ taping _with_ the heat absorbing glass.)

WHY WHY WHY??? Where did Beseler go wrong with this model? I paid $75
for this enlarger. Am I now going to have to shell out $130 for an AN
glass carrier to solve this problem (I cannot find one used anywhere).
If I had known this was going to happen I would have bought a
different enlarger.

Is there really NOTHING else I can do to solve this problem?

Thanks for hearing my rant.

--Phil



What format are you using? What carrier?

(Phil Glaser) wrote in message om...
Hi,

I recently shelled out $20 on e-bay for a sheet of heat absorbing
glass for my Beseler 23C II and am VERY disappointed to find that it
does absolutely nothing to resolve my negative popping issue. My
testing procedure is to leave the enlarger on for about 30 seconds and
then focus with a grain focuser. I then shut off the enlarger, wait
about 10 seconds, and observe whether the the negative is still in
focus. I have tried taping both edges of the negative to the negative
carrier (pulling tightly to create lots of tension) and now the heat
absorbing glass, and the result is the same every time: the negative
is no longer in focus, but pops back into focus after about 10-15
seconds. (And I am _still_ taping _with_ the heat absorbing glass.)

WHY WHY WHY??? Where did Beseler go wrong with this model? I paid $75
for this enlarger. Am I now going to have to shell out $130 for an AN
glass carrier to solve this problem (I cannot find one used anywhere).
If I had known this was going to happen I would have bought a
different enlarger.

Is there really NOTHING else I can do to solve this problem?

Thanks for hearing my rant.

--Phil



What format are you using? What carrier?

Phil Glaser wrote:

Hi,

I recently shelled out $20 on e-bay for a sheet of heat absorbing
glass for my Beseler 23C II and am VERY disappointed to find that it
does absolutely nothing to resolve my negative popping issue. My
testing procedure is to leave the enlarger on for about 30 seconds and
then focus with a grain focuser. I then shut off the enlarger, wait
about 10 seconds, and observe whether the the negative is still in
focus. I have tried taping both edges of the negative to the negative
carrier (pulling tightly to create lots of tension) and now the heat
absorbing glass, and the result is the same every time: the negative
is no longer in focus, but pops back into focus after about 10-15
seconds. (And I am _still_ taping _with_ the heat absorbing glass.)

WHY WHY WHY??? Where did Beseler go wrong with this model? I paid $75
for this enlarger. Am I now going to have to shell out $130 for an AN
glass carrier to solve this problem (I cannot find one used anywhere).
If I had known this was going to happen I would have bought a
different enlarger.

Is there really NOTHING else I can do to solve this problem?

Thanks for hearing my rant.

--Phil

Phil, your surname is close to describing what you should do to solve the
problem. Get some picture framing glass and make your own glass
carrier.The fancy metal frame of the 23C is nice but not necessary. Take
two sheets of glass large enough to stick out of the slot for the carrier
and mask them with black tape or construction paper for the size of your
negatives. Put the sandwich in the slot, center it, and close the slot.
This will work, but with added risk of dust particles.

(Phil Glaser) wrote in message om...
Hi,

I recently shelled out $20 on e-bay for a sheet of heat absorbing
glass for my Beseler 23C II and am VERY disappointed to find that it
does absolutely nothing to resolve my negative popping issue. My
testing procedure is to leave the enlarger on for about 30 seconds and
then focus with a grain focuser. I then shut off the enlarger, wait
about 10 seconds, and observe whether the the negative is still in
focus. I have tried taping both edges of the negative to the negative
carrier (pulling tightly to create lots of tension) and now the heat
absorbing glass, and the result is the same every time: the negative
is no longer in focus, but pops back into focus after about 10-15
seconds. (And I am _still_ taping _with_ the heat absorbing glass.)

WHY WHY WHY??? Where did Beseler go wrong with this model? I paid $75
for this enlarger. Am I now going to have to shell out $130 for an AN
glass carrier to solve this problem (I cannot find one used anywhere).
If I had known this was going to happen I would have bought a
different enlarger.

Is there really NOTHING else I can do to solve this problem?

Thanks for hearing my rant.

--Phil

This seems to be a very common problem when using glassless
negative holders. I have the same problem with my Omega D2V. I have
not tried heat absorbing glass but I am not sure it would cure the
popping. I have glass type holders for all formats that I use but the
are a PITA because of having four surfaces to keep clean in addition
to the film. I find popping varies with the weather, probably with the
humidity but very often have to resort ot warming up the negatives
until the pop and become stable and then either turning off the lamp
briefly until I get the paper in, or using a card as a rudementary
shutter to control the exposure. What I do is to warm up the negative,
compose and critically focus. Then I turn off the lamp, put in the
paper and block the lens with a card. Then turn on the lamp for long
enough to pop the negative, then I can either make the exosure with
the card or turn off the lamp for a second, move the card out of the
way, and start the exposure with the timer. The negatives don't seem
to un-pop for a couple of seconds, long enough to do this. Glass
holders really are the best for sharpness but have the dust problem
plus the possibility of creating Newton's rings. Newton's rings are
interference pattern caused by reflections between the glass and the
negative surfaces. There are various ways of dealing with them,
probably an anti-reflection coating on the glass would work best but I
don't know if such exist. I don't think the enlarger is badly
designed, all of them with simple lamphouses have similar problems.

Richard Knoppow
Los Angeles, CA, USA

(Phil Glaser) wrote in message om...
Hi,

I recently shelled out $20 on e-bay for a sheet of heat absorbing
glass for my Beseler 23C II and am VERY disappointed to find that it
does absolutely nothing to resolve my negative popping issue. My
testing procedure is to leave the enlarger on for about 30 seconds and
then focus with a grain focuser. I then shut off the enlarger, wait
about 10 seconds, and observe whether the the negative is still in
focus. I have tried taping both edges of the negative to the negative
carrier (pulling tightly to create lots of tension) and now the heat
absorbing glass, and the result is the same every time: the negative
is no longer in focus, but pops back into focus after about 10-15
seconds. (And I am _still_ taping _with_ the heat absorbing glass.)

WHY WHY WHY??? Where did Beseler go wrong with this model? I paid $75
for this enlarger. Am I now going to have to shell out $130 for an AN
glass carrier to solve this problem (I cannot find one used anywhere).
If I had known this was going to happen I would have bought a
different enlarger.

Is there really NOTHING else I can do to solve this problem?

Thanks for hearing my rant.

--Phil

This seems to be a very common problem when using glassless
negative holders. I have the same problem with my Omega D2V. I have
not tried heat absorbing glass but I am not sure it would cure the
popping. I have glass type holders for all formats that I use but the
are a PITA because of having four surfaces to keep clean in addition
to the film. I find popping varies with the weather, probably with the
humidity but very often have to resort ot warming up the negatives
until the pop and become stable and then either turning off the lamp
briefly until I get the paper in, or using a card as a rudementary
shutter to control the exposure. What I do is to warm up the negative,
compose and critically focus. Then I turn off the lamp, put in the
paper and block the lens with a card. Then turn on the lamp for long
enough to pop the negative, then I can either make the exosure with
the card or turn off the lamp for a second, move the card out of the
way, and start the exposure with the timer. The negatives don't seem
to un-pop for a couple of seconds, long enough to do this. Glass
holders really are the best for sharpness but have the dust problem
plus the possibility of creating Newton's rings. Newton's rings are
interference pattern caused by reflections between the glass and the
negative surfaces. There are various ways of dealing with them,
probably an anti-reflection coating on the glass would work best but I
don't know if such exist. I don't think the enlarger is badly
designed, all of them with simple lamphouses have similar problems.

Richard Knoppow
Los Angeles, CA, USA

(Phil Glaser) wrote in message om...
Hi,

I recently shelled out $20 on e-bay for a sheet of heat absorbing
glass for my Beseler 23C II and am VERY disappointed to find that it
does absolutely nothing to resolve my negative popping issue. My
testing procedure is to leave the enlarger on for about 30 seconds and
then focus with a grain focuser. I then shut off the enlarger, wait
about 10 seconds, and observe whether the the negative is still in
focus. I have tried taping both edges of the negative to the negative
carrier (pulling tightly to create lots of tension) and now the heat
absorbing glass, and the result is the same every time: the negative
is no longer in focus, but pops back into focus after about 10-15
seconds. (And I am _still_ taping _with_ the heat absorbing glass.)

WHY WHY WHY??? Where did Beseler go wrong with this model? I paid $75
for this enlarger. Am I now going to have to shell out $130 for an AN
glass carrier to solve this problem (I cannot find one used anywhere).
If I had known this was going to happen I would have bought a
different enlarger.

Is there really NOTHING else I can do to solve this problem?

Thanks for hearing my rant.

--Phil

This seems to be a very common problem when using glassless
negative holders. I have the same problem with my Omega D2V. I have
not tried heat absorbing glass but I am not sure it would cure the
popping. I have glass type holders for all formats that I use but the
are a PITA because of having four surfaces to keep clean in addition
to the film. I find popping varies with the weather, probably with the
humidity but very often have to resort ot warming up the negatives
until the pop and become stable and then either turning off the lamp
briefly until I get the paper in, or using a card as a rudementary
shutter to control the exposure. What I do is to warm up the negative,
compose and critically focus. Then I turn off the lamp, put in the
paper and block the lens with a card. Then turn on the lamp for long
enough to pop the negative, then I can either make the exosure with
the card or turn off the lamp for a second, move the card out of the
way, and start the exposure with the timer. The negatives don't seem
to un-pop for a couple of seconds, long enough to do this. Glass
holders really are the best for sharpness but have the dust problem
plus the possibility of creating Newton's rings. Newton's rings are
interference pattern caused by reflections between the glass and the
negative surfaces. There are various ways of dealing with them,
probably an anti-reflection coating on the glass would work best but I
don't know if such exist. I don't think the enlarger is badly
designed, all of them with simple lamphouses have similar problems.

Richard Knoppow
Los Angeles, CA, USA

"Phil Glaser" wrote in message
m...

Phil,

You didn't say which head you're using on the 23C-II. I have the older
Dual Dichro (with the external power supply) and it uses a 200W
Quartz-Halogen bulb. I do not have negative popping problems and I do use a
piece of crystal glass (so as not to get the green from normal plate glass)
for heat absorption.

Could you have a problem with heat dissipation? I mean, if you're using
a Dichro color head and the vents are blocked, this could be a source of
your troubles. If you're using the standard head (light bulb), did you up
the wattage from the recommended 75 watts?

FWIW, I moved the fan out of my head for a reduction in vibration. I
used a bathroom fan, the kind that sit in a 4" standard round duct and
connected the wall mounted fan to the head with a dryer hose. Works well.

Anyway, check the air flow in the head to make sure it's not being
obstructed. The heat from the bulb has a long way to travel and an awful
lot of glass to heat before the heat gets to the negative stage. 30 seconds
seems real quick to me.

Jim P