I just bought an Opemus 5 with a Meochrom color head. Upon initial powerup I noticed a very faint yellowish light coming from the head. In fact when mounted on the enlarger I cannot even see the light coming from the lens to the baseboard (in ambient light). I inspected the head and the bulb shattered almost on its own so I guess it explains the dim yellowish light (I now ordered a bulb and waiting for it to test it). However, I also opened the reflecting dome and while the inside of the dome is OK (nice white color) the glass which is at its bottom (where the light comes out of) is completely dark and matte, with some sort of "blisters". On the other side (the "output" side) the glass appears matte white with smaller "blisters" (some photos attached).
Is this how it supposed to look? Or should I take the glass out and run it under soapy water? I mean, is the black stuff soot or something? I don't fully understand the purpose of this glass, I guess it acts as a diffuser. The manual for the enlarger (not the head) even mentions a "heat protection glass" on top of the enlarger (not the glass on the color head), which is strange since I would expect the glass on the head would receive all the heat first (in fact, it appears way thicker).
As a side question, the manual specifies that this "heat protection glass" be removed from the enlarger if you're mounting the color head (attached part of the manual, this glass is "1" in the image). Is this because this glass is made redundant with the color head? Maybe this glass only makes sense with the B&W head which does not have its own glass.
Thanks!
Is this how it supposed to look? Or should I take the glass out and run it under soapy water? I mean, is the black stuff soot or something? I don't fully understand the purpose of this glass, I guess it acts as a diffuser. The manual for the enlarger (not the head) even mentions a "heat protection glass" on top of the enlarger (not the glass on the color head), which is strange since I would expect the glass on the head would receive all the heat first (in fact, it appears way thicker).
As a side question, the manual specifies that this "heat protection glass" be removed from the enlarger if you're mounting the color head (attached part of the manual, this glass is "1" in the image). Is this because this glass is made redundant with the color head? Maybe this glass only makes sense with the B&W head which does not have its own glass.
Thanks!
