Grab um while you can extremely cheap, bought one myself and use it all the time with a lamp conversion in it.

And I have also seen brand new Oldham Type 2 B.C. chargers going up for sale at not much more than the lamp.

Hope the info is of any use to anyone thinking of buying a new lamp.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/OLDHAM-CAPLAMP-CAP-LAMP-MINING-LAMP-POTHOLING-CAVING-LITHIUM-ION-GL16/331238178950?_trksid=p2045573.c100033.m2042&_trkparms=aid%3D111001%26algo%3DREC.SEED%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D25232%26meid%3D9294c182b37b4616b30f488e914bb4ab%26pid%3D100033%26prg%3D10634%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D4%26sd%3D331238178950 

---

i paid £50 for mine...may have to get another one at that price.
DP

Bought a new L16 battery off hem the other week. £40 delivered
Pretty good deal and very fast service

How do you charge them? I have an old Youle charger that charged my old T battery. Can such a charger be converted or is it a new charger altogether that is needed?

I've got on of these, I've had it for years and always carried it as a back up ..gonna throw a conversion in it soon, think Mr Mike does a 400 odd lumen conversion for the Oldham ..Mr Fellows will confirm.

---

How do you charge them? I have an old Youle charger that charged my old T battery. Can such a charger be converted or is it a new charger altogether that is needed?

Oldhams do a new dedicated single lamp charger Wheldale, there are a few suppliers out there with them in stock. As for converting a charger hopefully Mr Fellows or someone on here has been experimenting as the dedicated one is ruinously expensive...

The charging for any kind of Lithium cell needs to be microprocessor controlled. You would need something to go between your existing charger and the battery.

---

Could someone explain what the problem is with charging Li-ion cells?, I know they are prone to igniting if over charged.

I understand that bog standard chargers depend upon internal battery resistance build up to trigger the trickle charge cycle, does this not happen with Li cells? or is it too small to trigger the charger, or what?

---

Got one of these a while back for £50, I think mine explorer demand is pushing the price up now!

Swapped out for Mr Mike's Retro XP cap lamp insert and it makes a very nice light. I can't remember what ludicrous number of hours it will run for, even on the 400 lumen setting, but the combination makes a beast of a light.

It comes with a chip and instructions for converting older Oldham chargers. I've just been borrowing a friend's cheap Chinese cap lamp li-ion charger and it's been working fine.

Will be getting a charger from ledcaplamps as they look the right spec.

Be careful charging Li Ion batteries, or keep a good fire extinguisher handy. Lead acid chargers are entirely unsuitable and some of the chargers supplied with Chinese Li Ion are not suitable either as the charging electronics are built into the headsets!

If there is a great demand for though the headset dedicated Li Ion chargers I may build a batch, you would be looking at about £20 - £25 a piece. These would be electronically controlled 4.2V output jobs.
Check my website, I do conversions on rack chargers.

---

Doesn't answer my question Roy.

---

I converted my single Oldham charger to Li-ion using the chip in the box. Simple swap of chip and change one of the DIL switches and it worked ok. No fire, no smoke and lamp lasts an eon.

Now before people start poking around in their oldham charger, i can't remember which DIL switch i changed!. I'll try and dig out the info next week. Possibly switch 1...maybe....i think...erm...

DP

Could someone explain what the problem is with charging Li-ion cells?, I know they are prone to igniting if over charged.

I understand that bog standard chargers depend upon internal battery resistance build up to trigger the trickle charge cycle, does this not happen with Li cells? or is it too small to trigger the charger, or what?

Lithium charging is a very different beast, and relies upon reading the voltage of the cell. It uses a CC/CV curve and will modify it's output over he course of a charge. Internal resistance is more important when looking at the discharge characteristics of the cell.

Have a look here for more detailed information on Li-Ion charging, it has a pretty decent explanation of the stages of charging a cell, and how the CC/CV curve works.

http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/charging_lithium_ion_batteries 

It's not just over charging capacity terms. it's over current on a charge. Your absolute maximum charge rate for most (Li-Ion, LiPo is a different story) cells is 1C, where C is the capacity of the cell. Most recommend charging around .5C For example, if you have a 2500mAH cell, you should really charge around 1250mA, but can push it to 2500mA if you really have to.

If you are charging a pack in parallel, you multiply the cell number by the capacity of the individual cells. Another example, My packs are 3s3p (3 2,500maH cells in series (3s), and 3 of those 3S packs in parallel (3p)). 9 cells, with 11.1v nominal voltage, and a 7500mAH capacity, so normal charge rate is 3750mA, and max is 7500mA.

Edit:- corrected figures, I can't type worth toffee it seems.

---

Dave's EEV blog on Li Ion charging, before you ask he always talks in that manner:



Lozz.

Doesn't answer my question Roy.

I am sorry about this, maybe I should have been a politician, missed my vocation in life.
New Stuff has explained it very well.

Different battery types require different charging methodology, get it wrong and your in trouble. Even the common rechargeable AA and AAA which are Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH).
Poor charging will cause them to get hot, when they get hot they expand and can actually burst. This will explain to some people why their batteries will no longer go into their torches or camera or whatever.

Anyone who is really interested in all this and wants answers will find most of them on Wikipedia

The cheap unused Oldham GL16s are coming from Knights Surplus in Plymouth and do look very good value for those who dont mind cables hanging down their backs. He does make a statement about "New ,unused , lithium ion battery and headpiece, but please note does not come with charger."

If you buy one of these please ensure that you get the charging bit right.

---

Forgot to mention as it seems a lot of people want to know how to charge them, has mentioned Lithium battery need to be charge using a chip in between the charger and the battery, The unit above comes with the chip for inserting into an Oldham charger, or at least the one I bought did.

Hope this helps, although I did not need it as I bought the Oldham Type 2 B.C. 1 amp 2 lamp charger from eBay also brand new and I think I paid £50 for it. It was not a one off either as I have seen the same charger popping up on eBay quite often at around the same price.

---

Thanks for the link Newstuff, just what I was looking for:thumbsup:

Lozz, very educational link, thanks, learnt quite a bit, shame about his irritating voice;) --Antipodean?

---

Dave's EEVblog is brilliant if you like electronics, and the Aussie accent isn't that bad. One of the few channels I subscribe to on Youtube.

If you do want to charge packs, I'd look at a "hobby charger", and powering it with a PC Power supply (Which can handily double up for standard Oldham lead acid charging duties). I use an Imax B6, and my old PC PSU can hand out far more amperage on the 12v rail than I will ever need.

---

Yeah..Dave's EEV blog, love him or hate him, I think he's ok, covers a wide range of electronic subjects.

Lozz.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/281296551345 

---