Only venturing underground occasionally these days, I don't want to spend a lot of money on one of the ultra-caplamps etc. that people seem to have these days. I have an old Oldham caplamp, the battery died and was lost years ago and was wondering if there was an economic conversion of it to use (lighter!) batteries and a more effective light agent such as LEDs - I like the way it fitted my old helmet, and the elastic fitting type head lights seem to want to leap off the helmet at the slightest provocation. Do people have any reccomendations - or things to avoid ?

(My underground ventures will not be up ropes or into deep water or anything exciting like that.)

Grahami

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There are a number of solutions, you could get another battery same as before second hand if you don't mind the weight. Or make some sort of battery pack up using NiMH or Li-Ion batteries, with suitable charger.

LED wise, you could use one of my Retro2 conversions, see:

http://www.mineexplorer.org.uk/ledlighting.htm 

Or ask Roy Fellows to convert it for you with one of his numerous versions.

Or go for new, buy a Raptor Pro from Miles on Mine Explorer, see:

http://www.caving-gear.co.uk/ 

However saying all that, if you are only using it occasionally, and you want maybe 10 years life from it, that might be questionable with Li-Ion, as they age even if not used, best bet would be a quality NiMH battery pack.

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Look at mine-explorer Miles' "Wonderlamp thread".

Oldham lamp head/lead
Self rescuer can.
Watertight cable gland.
Battery (I use one of those ones with spring terminals, which was a bodge until I got a lead acid job).
About £15 worth of electrical gadgetry inc Cree LED.
30 mins bodging and 10 mins waiting for the glue to dry.

The lamp kicks out A LOT of light 230L which compares to a lot more fancy and expensive kit. Mine has done a few years of pretty hardcore trips and is still right on the button.

There is your solution.....

Look at mine-explorer Miles' "Wonderlamp thread".

Oldham lamp head/lead
Self rescuer can.
Watertight cable gland.
Battery (I use one of those ones with spring terminals, which was a bodge until I got a lead acid job).
About £15 worth of electrical gadgetry inc Cree LED.
30 mins bodging and 10 mins waiting for the glue to dry.

The lamp kicks out A LOT of light 230L which compares to a lot more fancy and expensive kit. Mine has done a few years of pretty hardcore trips and is still right on the button.

There is your solution.....

ive still got fluffy version no1 that miles built me had it now nearly 3 years and no issues cost me £60 at the time but thats cos he built and supplied everything :thumbup:

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I believe there are some S7 (R70) Stenlights currently 'end of line' - http://www.aditnow.co.uk/community/viewtopic.aspx?p=55218#msg55218 

£185 with battery and charger, yes more expensive than the Chinese headlamps, but a lot lighter in both senses (ie weight and lumens).

I've got a couple of comparison shots somewhere, shall post them up this evening...

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I do a "Worklamp" conversion for £50 plus postage as a turnaround on your old Oldham headset and battery lead, just chop it of close to the old battery. It will recharge of your old Oldham charger.

Its a good beam, about 120 to 150L, runs for over 7 hours on main beam. The is also a secondary pilot. see www.ledcaplamps.com

PM DaveL, or give him a ring if you know him, he bought 2.

EDIT
I can do these with helmet or belt mount batteries. Helmet is my favourite. I also do what Stuey calles a "bat roaster" for a oncer. Beats a standard Scurion.
By the way, caveclimb no longer listing these, are they no longer inported?
Anyone know anything?

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Spoilt for choice there Graham :)

Caveclimb look to still be selling the Scurion but possibly not stocking it, i.e. bought to order. I can't say I blame them, there is a finite number of people prepared to pay mega bucks for Scurions and Vipers (good that they are, I'm not suggesting otherwise).

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Anybody seen a Viper yet underground?
I am wondering how good they are.

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No I 😞

I did approach them when the thing was close to being announced but got a very strange response!

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No I 😞

I did approach them when the thing was close to being announced but got a very strange response!

You going to keep us in suspense?

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Caveclimb look to still be selling the Scurion but possibly not stocking it, i.e. bought to order. I can't say I blame them, there is a finite number of people prepared to pay mega bucks for Scurions and Vipers (good that they are, I'm not suggesting otherwise).

Great price at £0.00

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Caveclimb look to still be selling the Scurion but possibly not stocking it, i.e. bought to order. I can't say I blame them, there is a finite number of people prepared to pay mega bucks for Scurions and Vipers (good that they are, I'm not suggesting otherwise).

Great price at £0.00

Jees, I know about the battery boxes but are they that bad they are giving them away?

(Do you think they would swop one for an unused/unactivated original genuine copy of Windows Vista Ultimate)
See ME

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Somewhat off-topic, but Caveclimb have the Petzl Stop at a surprisingly decent £49, around £15-20 cheaper than other suppliers.

Might be of interest to someone :flowers:

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Somewhat off-topic, but Caveclimb have the Petzl Stop at a surprisingly decent £49, around £15-20 cheaper than other suppliers.

Might be of interest to someone :flowers:

Ouch!
I can get them through SCMC ex "shelf life" same as I buy new Oldham lamps for:.........

........

£10

EDIT
They have very likely all gone by now, sorry. But if you join Shropshire Caving and Mining Club, possibly one of the best clubs in the country, you will be in line for any more that come down.
Apart from trips covering not only Shropshire, but Wales and Nenthead, you get 'below', published 4 times a year and covers everything from in depth articles by authors such as the esteemed Dr Ivor Brown to simply diving down holes.

Newcomers, are you reading this?

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I believe there are some S7 (R70) Stenlights currently 'end of line' - http://www.aditnow.co.uk/community/viewtopic.aspx?p=55218#msg55218 

£185 with battery and charger, yes more expensive than the Chinese headlamps, but a lot lighter in both senses (ie weight and lumens).

I've got a couple of comparison shots somewhere, shall post them up this evening...

speaking of which ive got my sten to forward over sometime when i get a new job for an upgrade :thumbup:

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Some pics, as promised.

Original Oldham
🔗Personal-Album-2-Image-45917[linkphoto]Personal-Album-2-Image-45917[/linkphoto][/link]

Raptor Pro
🔗Personal-Album-2-Image-45918[linkphoto]Personal-Album-2-Image-45918[/linkphoto][/link]

Stenlight on High setting
🔗Personal-Album-2-Image-45919[linkphoto]Personal-Album-2-Image-45919[/linkphoto][/link]

Stenlight on Turbo setting
🔗Personal-Album-2-Image-45921[linkphoto]Personal-Album-2-Image-45921[/linkphoto][/link]

Fenix TK11 torch (handheld, not caplamp)
🔗Personal-Album-2-Image-45922[linkphoto]Personal-Album-2-Image-45922[/linkphoto][/link]

No images have been retouched in any way, camera settings were:
- Nikon Coolpix 8400
- 4 seconds exposure
- F2.9
- ISO 100

The Stenlight used for the comparison is the previous generation of the S7+ (Rebel 100) which produces a maximum of 360 lumens if I recall correctly?

The most noticable points:
- the original Olham produces a tiny amount of light compared to modern LEDs
- the Raptor Pro has a very tightly-focussed beam, with not much spill
- the Stenlight produces the best all-round illumination
- the Fenix has a very obvious light cone, with virtually no spill beyond the main beam

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I believe there are some S7 (R70) Stenlights currently 'end of line' - http://www.aditnow.co.uk/community/viewtopic.aspx?p=55218#msg55218 

£185 with battery and charger, yes more expensive than the Chinese headlamps, but a lot lighter in both senses (ie weight and lumens).

I've got a couple of comparison shots somewhere, shall post them up this evening...

speaking of which ive got my sten to forward over sometime when i get a new job for an upgrade :thumbup:

:) We do the upgrades in the UK now, so the turnaround time is way better than it was.

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I do a "Worklamp" conversion ...

As Roy says I've bought two of these and so far I'm happy with them. I would be happier still if they had more endurance but for a lot of the things I do they are a nice compromise between endurance and weight.

Something Roy didn't mention but which is an advantage as far as I'm concerned is that they can be charged though the headpiece by a standard Oldham charger.

Before I got the lights from Roy I was using a Retro 2 (second-hand) conversion of an Oldham headpiece with a standard Oldham lead-acid battery which works excellently (but obviously is just as heavy as a standard Oldham).

Dave

regarding the Raptor Pro, I would agree. I've lost some of my early enthusiasm for mine, the beam is very tight and means that you tend to be dazzled close to while the visibility of objects outside the beam is limited. You get quite a good output, but whether you get best use of that output is a slightly different question.

added in subsequent comments about its waterproofing qualities, and I don't think I'd buy another one. That said, I dare say it will go on doing as much as I need for a good while yet

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Some pics, as promised.

Original Oldham
🔗Personal-Album-2-Image-45917[linkphoto]Personal-Album-2-Image-45917[/linkphoto][/link]

Raptor Pro
🔗Personal-Album-2-Image-45918[linkphoto]Personal-Album-2-Image-45918[/linkphoto][/link]

Stenlight on High setting
🔗Personal-Album-2-Image-45919[linkphoto]Personal-Album-2-Image-45919[/linkphoto][/link]

Stenlight on Turbo setting
🔗Personal-Album-2-Image-45921[linkphoto]Personal-Album-2-Image-45921[/linkphoto][/link]

Fenix TK11 torch (handheld, not caplamp)
🔗Personal-Album-2-Image-45922[linkphoto]Personal-Album-2-Image-45922[/linkphoto][/link]

Roy bat cooker

For the record, I will have a Roy "Bat Cooker" at some point. 🙂