Hello all, I've been exploring for over 15 years now and mainly used a trusty Sten S7 (the original one), but now it seems really dim compared to the other lads 'cheapo amazon' lamps.
I've been trying to research various new lamps on the net with virtually no real informative information.

I have decided I need a new, brighter lamp and am running into problems (and hope you can help):

I have found the new Oldham Halo H2 lamps - but the website says the charger is unavailable (so useless)

Tried buying a raptor Pro 2, good price and looks very similar to the oldhams, but again - website wont allow online purchase (useless again)

Looking at some of the petzl fixo duo's but they seem a bit behind the times with the tungsten bulb design.

I'd ideally like a belt mounted battery with a good capacity for 10 hours or more, waterproof with a good reliability record (hence would prefer the good old oldham)

Please can anyone advise of a decent website/shop that can sell me both a decent lamp and a charger. (lost faith in the sten as it is now flickering all of the time and is really not bright at all compared to what it once was - it has definitely had some use though!)

Thank you!

I'd ideally like a belt mounted battery with a good capacity for 10 hours or more, waterproof with a good reliability record (hence would prefer the good old oldham)

Please can anyone advise of a decent website/shop that can sell me both a decent lamp and a charger. (lost faith in the sten as it is now flickering all of the time and is really not bright at all compared to what it once was - it has definitely had some use though!)

Thank you!

how about the new Oldham then? or the twin LED DLi lamp (they do a usb charger for that)
[photo]99291[/photo]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-EnerSys-OLDHAM-Mining-LED-Lamp-M263051-Dli-Cordless-Caplamp-Charger-M657001-/191476816420?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2c94e85a24 

Apologies for the situation with the Halo charger. Halos are industrial lamps and the main markets for them are South America, Africa and Australasia.

There is a single charger for them, it's on the web site just to show it exists. But it's nots CE certified so I can't - and don't - sell it in the EU.

Why's it not CE certified? Is there something wrong with it? No. It was just never worth the cost. The 10-type charger is, and that's what UK/EU industrial customers buy.

If you absolutely want a Halo the DULA charger is suitable for it.

http://www.caplamps.co.uk/Product/oldham-halo-h2-led-miners-lamp/ 

http://www.caplamps.co.uk/Product/dula-single-miners-lamp-charger/ 

BUT - from what you've said - I don't think you want a Halo, or an Oldham DLi or any form of Chinese miners lamp.

Your orginal Sten (assuming it was the very original Luxeon III - circa 2007) would have been about 120lm. It'll likely have lost some output since emitters will degrade over time.

All these industrial lamps are around the 100 to 120lm mark and they mostly have very tight beams (Mini Halo and DLi less so).

So if you want something bright - and depending on what you do (how wet/muddy) - you really need to be looking at


- Something cheap and bright off eBay whilst accepting it won't last forever and will output about 1/3 to 1/2 the lumens it claims (1/3 of 4,000lm is still a lot of lm...)

- If you've got deep pockets, a Rude Nora, Flithy Edna or a Scurion

- A Roy Fellows bat cooker

If you want a traditional format caplamp that is very bright I would go for the third option.

But don't buy a lamp intended for industrial use if you want max light output above all else. You will be disappointed.

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As an aside, if you want your Sten upgrading and refurbishing then have a word with Vanoord.

I believe the Americans may have emerged from their two year long coma so may be doing upgrades again. Maybe. Vanoord can probably tell you.

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Cheapo petzel duo offa fleabay and drop in one of Mr Biff's excellent Omni Rat upgrades, loads of bhang for not a lot of buck$!!

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Cheapo petzel duo offa fleabay and drop in one of Mr Biff's excellent Omni Rat upgrades, loads of bhang for not a lot of buck$!!

Good call, otherwise one of Roy's offerings.

I run 2 RF lamps. A trigon and a magnumstar. I use the latter for stripping old doors.

If you want a proper miners lamp style mega lamp which will run all week, you want an RF.

If you are into very gucci lego, the only thing I have come across where I've thought "that's a very nice quality of light" is the scurion. There is something about the crispness of a scurion.

When the time comes, and it will probably be when I eventually make the transition to helmet cells from a belt pack, I will re-assess the market.

The MS is total overkill. The tesco mode is ridiculous.

"I've got blobs in my eyes now" is a common phrase among your fellow trippers

Roy's new Dragon is the one I would get if I had to replace my Scurion.
Today I was underground with the happy owner of the original prototype Dragon and the performance is just what you need.
Unless you need to light up Wembley stadium of course in which case one of Roy's more powerful lights might be the thing.

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http://mineexplorer.org.uk/ledlighting.htm  powered by a Oldham Li Ion battery.

Simon, did they upgrade the Oldham LED Lamp, seem to remember seeing a pic of one. Is it worth upgrading to?

DP

Thanks for that SimonRL, I think that I may once have met a chap in Smallcleugh with one of Roy Fellows lamps as I couldn't help but look at it as it seemed rather odd with diodes and stuff showing behind the lens - I must say that it was very good (bright) and looked trick.
I'm not sure what to do now, my original intention was to definitely go with the Oldham as i've never been let down (apart from the weight of the original lead acid cells) - but now more options...
I am thinking that I may try and get the sten upgraded with a new cell as well (still using the original high capacity one that it shipped with) - but I still have thoughts about the oldham units.
The Roy Fellows ones do look rather good though.... (tempted by one!)

Thank you all for your advise on this.

Oldham conversions are now discontinued bar remaining stock of Eco Stars, so its 2 dragon models or, as of today, 4 Lynx models.

I am about to announce the Lynx X2000 as a replacement for the Trigon at same price £175 all in.

Full description this week. Basically 2 XMLs at up to 2000 lumens combined with a foot light, or 2 XPGs up to about 750 lumens, plus 'Nightrider' battery check on a gravity switch, turn upside down to read.
Looks like an X1000 but two reflectors and 2 floods.

Light output is crisper than the others due to deep reflectors, a bit like a Scurion on steroids.

www.ledcaplamps.com

Update on web with new lamp later this week.

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Roy, I am going through a bit of a change in how I operate. I've invested in some decent SRT equipment. The Trigon (which is my lamp of choice) is great. I do note that the users of Scurions seem to say "I charged mine a week ago" so, it seems they are less like blinking iPhones than I may have thought.

The belt battery is fine, but I seem to find myself snagging the wire occasionally, which is irritating. This points towards going to a helmet mount in due course....and then reconsidering the whole package.

The Scurion seems to crack the nut of "lots of welly" and "battery on my head" very well. I am keen on seeing what happens with this development and whether your lamps could also contend with a bit of dunking.

From what I can see, it appears that "caving" is enjoying a second coming and people are prepared to pay top whack for really good kit. I'm watching this with much interest.

Roy, I am going through a bit of a change in how I operate. I've invested in some decent SRT equipment. The Trigon (which is my lamp of choice) is great. I do note that the users of Scurions seem to say "I charged mine a week ago" so, it seems they are less like blinking iPhones than I may have thought.

The belt battery is fine, but I seem to find myself snagging the wire occasionally, which is irritating. This points towards going to a helmet mount in due course....and then reconsidering the whole package.

The Scurion seems to crack the nut of "lots of welly" and "battery on my head" very well. I am keen on seeing what happens with this development and whether your lamps could also contend with a bit of dunking.

From what I can see, it appears that "caving" is enjoying a second coming and people are prepared to pay top whack for really good kit. I'm watching this with much interest.

Noted
Keep an eye on the new models. I noted what you said about the 'crispness' of the output of the scurion, my new X2000 is a bit like this. Trouble is that a well defined beam works against photography which is what a lot of my uses like. Variety appears to be the answer.

Dunking is OK, but no more than one metre.

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I do note that the users of Scurions seem to say "I charged mine a week ago" so, it seems they are less like blinking iPhones than I may have thought.

As a Scurion user, I do tend to make sure the battery is full each trip but mine is currently showing 4 out of 5 bars on the level gauge after about 10 hours normal use (mostly on walk, occasionally high power for bigger places).
Taking the worst case of it being only just on 4 bars so effectively only 3, that would give me a run time of about 25 hours on my normal Nenthead usage; good for 3 decent (for me at least) length trips. Could probably do a whole weeks worth of digging on one charge as tend to have the light turned right down. 🙂

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The walk mode on all my lamps is about 200 lumens, battery time on this is 14 hrs plus for 4V lamps, 12 hrs plus for 8V lamps, on 2 cell battery packs.

8V lamps use 4 cells and are as efficient as the lower voltage lamps on walk mode giving about 28 hours.

Main issue with my lamps as I see it has been weight, which I have been working on. Dragon is 120 grams, X1000 is 165, and new X2000 is 200 grams.

Problem is that the more powerful lamps need 4 cells, which have to be adequately 'armoured' so the battery pack is a heavy item.

My other experimentation's have indicated that bare emitters on full together with beams on full are of dubious value, so my new 'simpler' lamps give a constant 60 mA feed to to them alongside the beams. Its a nice effect and a safe one, you can clearly see your feet.

Just like everyone else out there, (hopefully) I strive for constant improvement.

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Enersys still make original Oldhams ,don't know if anyone in the UK still stocks them (due to decline of mining) but they are still very much alive

http://www.enersys-hawker.com/english/mining.asp?lang=e 

See other thread
They should try keeping their website updated
I need talk!
:lol:

EDIT
I believe that our own Simon is Oldham UK distributer

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After a lot of looking around the internet I ended up getting a Wisdom KL12M, so far seems quite good with a decent spread of light on main and an easy on the eye low mode. Only been out with it three or four times up until now so time will tell how well it is going to perform.
Had the Sten's battery tested and it still seems good, the problem would appear to be both emitters that they just aren't outputting anything like they should. Will get around to sending it back for a re-fit and having it as a spare.

Thanks for everyone's advise!

You've got a bifold choice for quality lamps.

RF or Scurion IMO.

I was very impressed with the quality of the beam of light a Scurion gives out.....and then I turned my lamp up full and lit everything up like tesco.