Speleo technic FX lamps advice

[undergroundHP]

Hi all
I have recently acquired two FX lamps ,batteries and charger .Along with a Oldham lamp and charger.
(See photo)
I would love to restore them to working order either retro fit with LED and new batteries or keep the old bulbs .
Any advice welcome.
Or
Do I sell them?
Or
Do I put on the shelf of retro kit.

Thanks

 

[Wayland Smith]

Unless you want to keep the retro look, the battery cells are not worth replacing.
The FX2 battery contains 2 NiCad cells which can be replaced by splitting the plastic case.
The usual method of improving the Oldham was to cut off the battery and replace it with a lithium pack, usually homemade from 18650 cells.
The headsets can be reused by installing LED bulbs with control boards. There are still probably blogs about this floating on the internet.
There used to be someone selling drop in LED bulb replacements for the FX2

 

[cap n chris]

Museum. Display could be titled causes of drowning forty years ago.

 

[wellyjen]

There used to be someone selling drop in LED bulb replacements for the FX2

There still is. http://www.customduo.co.uk/Pitlamp-modules-1/
Maybe not drop in, but modifiable. Mentions Speleotechnics in the same paragraph as Oldham, so it implies they will fit.

 

[wormster]

Mr Biff's caplamp conversion boards are the way to go - it's a relatively easy swap out inside the lamp shell. Battery boxes can also be had from Biff the little monkey box is best as it takes 2 18650 li-on cells perfectly.

Years ago I converted a speliotchnics light as above all for under 150quid!!

 

[mudman]

You can get led direct replacements for the bulbs. I did this with my fx3 some years back. Used it for a bit quite successfully. Try this site: The Torch Site

 

[Addy]

Second vote for Biff's replacement inserts https://www.customduo.co.uk/Pitlamp-2-tone-Module/
A gift at £55.
Add a couple of 18650 cells wired in parallel from a laptop battery, include a 2A Polyfuse and you have a perfectly useable lamp for well under £100.

 

[Pony]

Had an LED bulb replacement for my FX5. Stopped the duration test after five days and still going strong.

 

[alanw]

I've just posted over in free recycling an FX2 with LED insert. There's a photo comparing it with a Rude Nora on setting 3. Quite comparable, though more tightly focussed.

 

[Stuart France]

A drop-in LED bulb replacement is not a solution. The FX2 battery pack contains two batteries: the clue is in the name. These run at 1.25 volts each, so 2.5 for the pair, but the forward voltage of a white LED is typically 3.5 volts, so not much current would flow of its own accord, so it would produce a very dim light beam at best, useless in a caving context. You'd need a switch mode power supply (a booster controller board) sat in between the battery and the white LED(s) as well. They must exist, given there's a raft of Chinese white LED hand torches that run on 1 or 2 alkaline AA/AAA batteries.

But in all honesty, you'd be far better off buying a compact light-weight product from Fenix and have the whole thing on your helmet rather than carry around a brick on your waist belt.

I agree with the comments above, it's a museum piece.

 

[royfellows]

I agree with Stuart, but the question also hangs in the air:
"Why go cheap and nasty on your single most important piece of kit"?