Omega Pro-Lab light leak

The Pro-Lab enlarger I recently installed in my darkroom has a light leak where the condenser lands on the neg carrier. What, in your opinion, is the best method for curing this without changing the distance between the condenser lens and the neg surface?

I was thinking of using some type of self adhesive foam (like weather sealing tape) on the outside of the condenser's metal housing, so that when it's lowered onto the neg carrier, the little 'lip' of foam or rubber lays against the carrier and thus contains the light inside, effectively without changing the distance between the carrier and the actual condenser lens. Clear as mud? Think that would work?

Thanks,

- Thomas

everyone I have ever seen leaked there

foam would work if it is causing you problems

paint the area around the enlarge black

lee\c

I'm really pumped about being able to finally print my 4x5 negs larger than contact prints. Thanks for your help, Lee. The dry area of my darkroom is already black. I can't tell if it's giving me any grief or not, since I have nothing to compare to. I just want to make sure that nothing is fogging my paper...

- Thomas

I bought a used one recently where the previous owner had used self adhesive velcro strips to hold a thick blackout material around the head, works well, very easy to use.

Does the head connect flush with the neg carrier -- or is it tilted a bit. If it is tilted, then the head can be adjusted to be flush with the neg carrier. That eliminates most of the light leaks. I maintain 13 (11 condenser, two color heads) of these enlargers in the university's darkroom...man, can our students tweak equipment! But these enlargers are workhorses...but they do fall out of alignment easy when the students drop (with a bang!) the heads down on the negative stage! We also have 8 Beseler 23CII's and a couple Beseler 4x5's.

Vaughn