Beseler 45M Wiring

[Ggtz91]

I recently decided to try printing at home and I found a Beseler 45M enlarger for free. It's in great shape despite its age. The one issue is that the original power cord is extremely brittle, frayed, and has exposed wire in multiple spots.

I was thinking about simply replacing the the original 2-prong cord with a new 3-prong cord. Upon opening up the motor housing and removing the original cord, I encountered my issue. I don't know which wire of the original cord is the "hot" and which is the neutral? I checked for continuity and know which wire goes with which prong but since it isn't polarized it is of no use.

Since I'm new to working on enlargers (and anything electrical), all I know is that one of the original cord wires had a spade terminal that was connected to the motor toggle switch and that the other wire was soldered to what I'm calling a "panel" where the three wires from the motor where connected as well as wires to/from the "light socket" and the toggle switch again.

I can't find a wiring diagram anywhere. Any chance someone here knows where the hot and neutral wires go before I give up on this project?

 

[Doremus Scudder]

If the original two-prong plug does not have a wide and a thin blade, i.e., is not polarized, then it doesn't make any difference. The original plug could be plugged in either way. That's the way the motor was designed to run. Ground to the chassis of the enlarger.

Best,

Doremus

 

[Nicholas Lindan]

Usually you would wire the hot wire to the switch so that when the switch is off the motor windings are neutral. But as Doremus has pointed out it doesn't matter much. And either way it would be an improvement over the original ungrounded design.

 

[mshchem]

Need to be cautious. 1970's and back, what looks like an "outlet" on the front of the motor housing is for a switch for the lamp.

If you get a multimeter the ground and the "neutral" will have continuity to the chassis. If this is one of the original black units, 1950's, not grounded units you need a proper 3 wire grounded cord, not hard but should have someone who knows what is going on.

 

[mshchem]

Ollinger's Guide to Photographic Enlargers

A short guide to and description of various photographic enlargers.

www.jollinger.com

 

[Ggtz91]

Thanks to everyone for the information. With your help I was able to get everything wired up and properly grounded and its running like a dream...and a lot safer.