Does anybody have any old Oldham lamps to sell? Black lead-acid battery, metal battery top and G series incandescent lamp head? I need 12 working ones for a customer! :flowers:

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Have you contacted Phil Brown at Caving Supplies? He still had a load in the back room last time I was in the shop.

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I have an Oldham battery and lead. You can have it for free I have no use for it.

I used the head to make a lamp for my Daughter.

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I had a large quantity of lamps and leads which I sold as a job lot being of no use to me, I use brand new ex RN lamps for my lamp building.
I have a quantity of the black polycarbonate batteries and some leads, but no heads.
Worse news is that the batteries are scrap. Some people may suggest that all recent manufacture Oldham lead acid batteries are scrap.
:lol:

I am not really being of any use but just pre empting the "have you asked Roy"

Caving Supplies may do a reasonable deal on a job lot as they cant be selling any these days. Bernies Cafe may have some as well.

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I know a gentleman in the Forest of D who may have some. Send me a PM if you want a contact.

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I was going to suggest you contact Mole, but I think that's the person PeteJ is thinking of. If not PM me for contact details. 🙂

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Just a warning
There are quantities of ex Royal Navy coming up from time to time, although hardly used the batteries are scrap. Especially the blue MF which is probably NG when new!
I usually buy them up in job lots.

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Hello

We have ten complete with a charging unit which are available. They haven't been used for a long time though. I think we also have spare lamp parts etc as well. Located in Coniston, Cumbria. Let me know if you are interested.

Hi Simon and Roy,
Hope you manage to get your lead acid Oldhams together. I always found that they never seemed to last longer than 4 or 5 years, when their burn time was about 8 hrs and then we discarded them.
So about 9 years ago we turned over completely to Lithium ion.
I am not sure how long the Navy will be selling these either, since we acquired two Oldham Lithium ions recently which came with Navy info.

The last ones i used were the T6, about 24 hours light when new, down to about 8 hours after 18 months. I think all the Oldham stuff of later years is manufactured in South Africa.
Strangely, i still see a few in use.

I recon the best lead acid they ever made was the old T2.

I was in Cwmorthin Sunday with some friends, I was using a Magnumstar and another a Trigon, Oh dear, do times change.

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You could try Wanlockhead mine museum trust I know they dont use theres anymore, they have a charging rack as well.
There phone No is 0165974387. I will leav a message for them to expect a call. JeremyL

Museums are probably the best place for them, maybe best left there.
:lol:

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You will be extremely lucky to find any black Oldhams in good nick.

I was a died in the wool Oldham user for many years, a much loved T3 lasted for eight or nine years of sustained abuse. However by the early 2000s it was becoming increasingly obvious that quality was dropping off.

The theory goes that after the death of British coal mining there wasn't the turnover of stock which meant that "new" batteries were already several years old. I got so p*****d off that I moved on to the (awful) Oldham MF which weighed more than the Oldham T cells with a life of maybe three or four years.

It was something of a relief when Roy's particular band of madness became available

have to admit i still have 2 oldhams at home and still in use both over 10 years old and still good for about 12 hours and im not joking

I would be interested if anyone can shed light on the South African angle re the T6.
Just done some web browsing and yes, the Oldham MF is definately produced by First National Battery of South Africa, its actually the same product as they themselves are selling.

Recently produced headsets are made from either PVC or ABS, as they are solvent weldable, the older ones are a different type plastic, and I hate to say it, probably stronger.

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Recently produced headsets are made from either PVC or ABS, as they are solvent weldable, the older ones are a different type plastic, and I hate to say it, probably stronger.

Bakelite innit? good stuff.--- As regards the OP, do they need to be original Simon?, you will be extremely lucky to find Black (Pre type T) Oldham lead acids that are good for any kind of charging, If it is for appearance of authenticity, look to ripping the innards out of the cell and replacing with modern rechargeables, then equalising voltage to suit bulb requirements, done this many times in the past, although usually replacing with stainless NiFe cells, which might not be available now. If I recall correctly, the ones I have buried under my workbench are the Exide version, i.e. three holes on the refill plug instead of two on the Oldham (original type T didn't have plugs, just vent holes), and a deeper metal battery top, I am pretty sure most have got Oldham headlamps, if you are not in any hurry, it is a mining operation in its own right to retreive them!! 🙂

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We are intrigued Simon - why would anybody want twelve Oldhams in our brave new Li ion powered, LED lit world?

Has the Cree got into the commercial mining world yet?

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We are intrigued Simon - why would anybody want twelve Oldhams in our brave new Li ion powered, LED lit world?

Someone else recently wanted lamps for a school that did caving.
He was looking at some of the Chinese mining lamps.
Things pointed out were that the mains chargers had no Uk certification or CE marking so could cause insurance problems.
They would need PAT testing and marking.
Also what are the risks with Li Ion cells with children? :smartass:

Also what are the risks with Li Ion cells with children?

Well from a safety point of view, no different to any other type. I have converted a large batch of Oldham headsets to my Workstar for an outdoor centre up north.
The only issues have that somehow they manage on occasion to pull the cable out of the battery pack in a few instances. This intrigues me as I cannot do this neither can the gentleman who runs the centre. I think 'childproof' is a term to ponder on.
No chance of a short circuit causing fire as it all just disconnnects inside in the case of a short.

Thing to remember is that all batteries of whatever type are a means of holding an electrical charge, and if shorted can cause fire and injury.
Oldham as well as the Chinese and everyone else for that matter now produce mining lamps with Lithium Ion batteries, Oldham have stopped producing lead acid alltogether.
They pass coal mine safety certification.

EDIT
Interesting snippet of info here as an afterthought
Lithium Ion wont stand the same discharge rate as an equivalent rate lead acid, presumably same will apply in event of a short circuit, cannot see why there should be anything different?
My Magnumstar runs off a 12V 10 AH LiIon pack, so on the face of it you should be able to fit it to your car and save a lot of weight. Car battery is only 16 AH and look at its size and weight.
The LiIon would not stand the hit of the starter motor. They use them on race cars to save weight but these cars are started off jump leads.

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