1w LED for Duo... Verdict poor!

simon.moorhouse

New member
After browsing the many pages on the forum re Petzl Duos, I decided to go for a 1w LED to replace the halogen - which is near useless...

Had it on for half an hour, and it broke!  Simply went out (whilst I was belaying my wife on a ladder).  Switched on backup torch, and all was well...

Turned back on and 14 LED cluster was fine - switched to 1w and it worked too - for 20 seconds, then went out again! 

Took it back to Bernie's (I'm normally an Inglesport man) and got some right attitude when I explained the problem and asked for a refund!

Has anyone else had problems?  Might be due to overheating - with it happening consistently when the lamp has been on for more than 30mins...

Si
 

jarvist

New member
Sure it's not just unscrewed itself slightly? Bit of thermal expansion & it'll break the circuit...
Or do you mean your Omni wasn't working either?

We have ~12 of these in our club Duos - they just don't seem to want to remain in the socket, constantly rattling loose even to the point of physically unscrewing and being loose in the headset! Even considering locktite... Though perhaps a bit of sticky grease in the thread or a bit of blue tac would be slightly less permanent.

Quite apart from that, they give a rubbish light. Even seems to just cave off the 14LED omni instead... before buying themselves a Bisun that is!

 

barrabus

New member
I think the 1 watt LED are a distinct improvement on the standard bulb, although they do sometimes seem to unscrew themselves after (usually) an extended period of time.

They are in short supply now so if you want one buy it from your local caving shop soon. The company who supplied them to Petzl have apparently gone bust and Petzl are having trouble finding someone to manufacture a replacement in the small quantities that they need.

Barney
 

jarvist

New member
barrabus said:
They are in short supply now so if you want one buy it from your local caving shop soon. The company who supplied them to Petzl have apparently gone bust and Petzl are having trouble finding someone to manufacture a replacement in the small quantities that they need.

Well, good riddance then. It used a rubbish 1st generation Luxeon from ~2003 (efficiencies have roughly doubled since then). Maybe they'll be a bit more investment & design now.

The bulb itself is just a standard 10mm miniature edison; there's an enormous range of drop-in replacements available elsewhere:

Terralux & Tektite are two such brands from the USA:
http://www.led-replacement.com/screw_base.html

Uk distributor ?9 + ?1.50 P&P:
http://www.thetorchsite.co.uk/TerraLUX_TLE-1S.html

I seem to recall there is some Italian dude out that makes modifications? Though that might be replacing the whole light unit.

Nb: I've only ever physically seen + used the Petzl branded ones.
 

Joe Duxbury

Member
I got a Terralux TLE-1S (1W, edison screw fitting) from the US for $26 (incl. postage).
It works well enough, but it doesn't produce much of a beam. The focussing system of the Duo is designed for a halogen bulb.
 

anfieldman

New member
I purchased the LED replacement bulb when I purchased the DUO and helmet from BAT products. J-Rat recommended it and I must say that it is a big improvement on the standard one. I have never had any problems with it. It is not as good as a lot of other lights now on sale but you get what you pay for. When it does pack in I will upgrade to a Scurion or a similar Mendip light but until then it is more than adequate in my opinion.
 
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