Oldham Lamp & Battery

[ncbnik]

Has anyone got 'keys' to open the Oldham T2 battery and the smaller triangular 'key' to unlock the pin on the lamp housing that they don't want?
Cheers, Nick

[andyexplorer]

Caplamps UK sell them for £9.99p ,that might be your best chance

[ncbnik]

Andy, Thanks - I'll give then a go.

I did but alas they don't have them - only the later 'allen screw' versions.

So, anyone else got a 'triangular' key one they dont need ?

[andyexplorer]

Junior hacksaw the end off the caphead bolt on the bezel (triangular one) the other end to open the battery top is like a two pronged fork , that is available in those little sets of various bits in a plastic case (about £3.50 on Ebay)

[John]

May 15, 2016 12:20:31 GMT -5 andyexplorer said:

Junior hacksaw the end off the caphead bolt on the bezel (triangular one) the other end to open the battery top is like a two pronged fork , that is available in those little sets of various bits in a plastic case (about £3.50 on Ebay)

I'm going to order one of those Chinese made caplamps, LED with a light weight batteries, some are even certified for use in hazardous atmospheres and they have come way down in price. They look like they use the standard "Oldham keys" I still have both, the triangular double ended one and the security two pin one that fit the battery screw.

You can use a thin pair of long nosed pliers to get the triangular screw out the headpiece, takes a little effort, and use long nosed pliars to get the security screw out the battery cover.

[Wheldale]

There's a few LED Cap lamps about, price range from about 30 quid up to 160 quid. They usually come with a charger and as you say some are certified for gaseous conditions. LED and Li-ion batteries are the future now! Oldham lamps look good but expensive plus you need to buy a charger as well.

[ncbnik]

May 16, 2016 16:53:51 GMT -5 Wheldale said:

There's a few LED Cap lamps about, price range from about 30 quid up to 160 quid. They usually come with a charger and as you say some are certified for gaseous conditions. LED and Li-ion batteries are the future now! Oldham lamps look good but expensive plus you need to buy a charger as well.

I know that lamps have progressed but partly it's sentimental I just want to keep these last ones running and in as near fully complete/original order.  For serious use I might convert one of my 'G' heads to LED which, with the NiFe battery, should last ages (even if it does weigh a ton!). And getting into the 'G' head leads me back to the triangular key...
Nick

[John]

May 25, 2016 17:21:45 GMT -5 ncbnik said:

May 16, 2016 16:53:51 GMT -5 Wheldale said:

There's a few LED Cap lamps about, price range from about 30 quid up to 160 quid. They usually come with a charger and as you say some are certified for gaseous conditions. LED and Li-ion batteries are the future now! Oldham lamps look good but expensive plus you need to buy a charger as well.

I know that lamps have progressed but partly it's sentimental I just want to keep these last ones running and in as near fully complete/original order.  For serious use I might convert one of my 'G' heads to LED which, with the NiFe battery, should last ages (even if it does weigh a ton!). And getting into the 'G' head leads me back to the triangular key...
Nick

Give Oldham a call, I'm sure they will sell you one, never know, they may send you one for nothing. I've had perks like that from manufacturers in the past.

[ncbnik]

John, I just never thought of that; I think we get so used to dealing with 'suppliers' these days it had not occured to me.  I think it's probably due to the fact almost all manufacturers of almost everything are 'abroad' these days (usually China); it's fairly suprising we can still make batteries here!
I'll give it a go,
Nick

[John]

May 28, 2016 3:39:34 GMT -5 ncbnik said:

John, I just never thought of that; I think we get so used to dealing with 'suppliers' these days it had not occured to me.  I think it's probably due to the fact almost all manufacturers of almost everything are 'abroad' these days (usually China); it's fairly suprising we can still make batteries here!
I'll give it a go,
Nick

I learned that years ago, I snagged some spanners free from Anderson Boyes when I was in my early 20's, they asked me not to advertise they'd gifted them to me for obvious reasons. Doesn't matter now as AB has long gone. I've had other freebees from other companies over the years, you just have to be cheeky, but always say you'll pay for them and postage too, amazing how generous some companies can be.

[aj1275]

Hi NCBNIK,

Did you manage to get the lamp open?

I'm the product manager for Oldham Caplamps (yes, the business is still going!), so understand what you're looking to do. Unfortunately we moved away from the triangular keys about 20 years ago and I gave my last one away sometime back in 2010! If you can find a narrow screwdriver (2-3mm) that fits inside the triangle, you should be able to turn it (using an off-centre or eccentric circular motion) and open up the headpiece.

For the battery cover, you can simply cut a slot into a standard screwdriver to undo the screw and take the battery cover off.

Once inside, you can change the battery fuse, but you don't need the cover off to top up the battery electrolyte - this is done through the filler holes at the side of the battery. (T1, T2 and T5 batteries had filler/topping-up holes on the side, T3, T4 and T6 were maintenance-free). NEVER add acid, distilled water is all that's needed. And don't store the battery dry (that only works for ni-cad), it needs to be kept wet and refresher-charged every 6 months if not in regular use. A good 12-16 hour charge followed by an 8-hour burn down (or until the main bulb starts to get dim). Repeat as often as you care to, and you'll find the battery capacity recovers in any old/unused lamp that's been sitting around for a while. Perhaps not to the full original levels, but you should get a significant improvement after 10 cycles.

Some of the old lead acid batteries lasted 8-9 years, others as little as 12 months. Occasionally down to production issues, but normally down to user and environment application (they're batteries, not hammers!).

I'll take a rummage in my archive drive to see if I can find the early maintenance manuals, but you can still access the current maintenance manual (admittedly it's now got a lithium-ion battery) on the website: www.oldhamcaplamps.com/ but it's under reconstruction at the moment, so give me a shout if you have any problems finding it!    


Best wishes,

Andrew

[John]

Jun 15, 2016 8:09:46 GMT -5 aj1275 said:

Hi NCBNIK,

Did you manage to get the lamp open?

I'm the product manager for Oldham Caplamps (yes, the business is still going!), so understand what you're looking to do. Unfortunately we moved away from the triangular keys about 20 years ago and I gave my last one away sometime back in 2010! If you can find a narrow screwdriver (2-3mm) that fits inside the triangle, you should be able to turn it (using an off-centre or eccentric circular motion) and open up the headpiece.

For the battery cover, you can simply cut a slot into a standard screwdriver to undo the screw and take the battery cover off.

Once inside, you can change the battery fuse, but you don't need the cover off to top up the battery electrolyte - this is done through the filler holes at the side of the battery. (T1, T2 and T5 batteries had filler/topping-up holes on the side, T3, T4 and T6 were maintenance-free). NEVER add acid, distilled water is all that's needed. And don't store the battery dry (that only works for ni-cad), it needs to be kept wet and refresher-charged every 6 months if not in regular use. A good 12-16 hour charge followed by an 8-hour burn down (or until the main bulb starts to get dim). Repeat as often as you care to, and you'll find the battery capacity recovers in any old/unused lamp that's been sitting around for a while. Perhaps not to the full original levels, but you should get a significant improvement after 10 cycles.

Some of the old lead acid batteries lasted 8-9 years, others as little as 12 months. Occasionally down to production issues, but normally down to user and environment application (they're batteries, not hammers!).

I'll take a rummage in my archive drive to see if I can find the early maintenance manuals, but you can still access the current maintenance manual (admittedly it's now got a lithium-ion battery) on the website: www.oldhamcaplamps.com/ but it's under reconstruction at the moment, so give me a shout if you have any problems finding it!    


Best wishes,

Andrew

I've an old Oldham manual that dates back over 40 years now, I'll scan it and put it in my photobucket account to post it here.

In practice I don't think I had a battery last more than two years, lucky to get one last one year on low faces, one of the biggest problems we found was debris from the "plates" shorting out the battery, but then mining was hard on everything.

Do you have knowledge of the old polished chrome reflectors used in the late 50's to 60's??? Mostly used in Officials, Engineers and Elecs and fitters lamps?? They were superseded by "specular" reflectors, starting with a metal reflector and ending with a plastic reflector. Officials had the 1 amp bulbs.
Those were some of the best lights around, they could be focused into a "pin beam". I had occasion to take one U/G as a "spare lamp" due to mine blowing a bulb at the start of the shift. Boy!! did it give me a headache, beams that "tight" are useless for general work.
Best lights were the pre focused Quartz bulb/reflector combination, bright white light, good beam, not too "tight" but gave good peripheral light.

[ncbnik]

Jun 15, 2016 8:09:46 GMT -5 aj1275 said:

Hi NCBNIK,

Did you manage to get the lamp open?

I'm the product manager for Oldham Caplamps (yes, the business is still going!), so understand what you're looking to do. Unfortunately we moved away from the triangular keys about 20 years ago and I gave my last one away sometime back in 2010! If you can find a narrow screwdriver (2-3mm) that fits inside the triangle, you should be able to turn it (using an off-centre or eccentric circular motion) and open up the headpiece.

For the battery cover, you can simply cut a slot into a standard screwdriver to undo the screw and take the battery cover off.

Once inside, you can change the battery fuse, but you don't need the cover off to top up the battery electrolyte - this is done through the filler holes at the side of the battery. (T1, T2 and T5 batteries had filler/topping-up holes on the side, T3, T4 and T6 were maintenance-free). NEVER add acid, distilled water is all that's needed. And don't store the battery dry (that only works for ni-cad), it needs to be kept wet and refresher-charged every 6 months if not in regular use. A good 12-16 hour charge followed by an 8-hour burn down (or until the main bulb starts to get dim). Repeat as often as you care to, and you'll find the battery capacity recovers in any old/unused lamp that's been sitting around for a while. Perhaps not to the full original levels, but you should get a significant improvement after 10 cycles.

Some of the old lead acid batteries lasted 8-9 years, others as little as 12 months. Occasionally down to production issues, but normally down to user and environment application (they're batteries, not hammers!).

I'll take a rummage in my archive drive to see if I can find the early maintenance manuals, but you can still access the current maintenance manual (admittedly it's now got a lithium-ion battery) on the website: www.oldhamcaplamps.com/ but it's under reconstruction at the moment, so give me a shout if you have any problems finding it!    


Best wishes,

Andrew

The battery opening, charging & topping up I'm OK with but I've not opened up the lamp housing yet.  I don't want to bodge/damage the originality of the lamp housing if I can help it, and because both bulbs and the reflector are OK at the moment I've left it.  I'm still looking for an original tool though. In desperation I've had the offer of the correct key on loan if I pay for recorded delivery postage there and back.  Both my batteries are near the end of their tether though one is a T2 - more or less a 'gonner' and the other a T - hanging on by the skin of its teeth.  I've got a new, never filled old stock T to put into service though.
Thanks for your advice and, if you ever do find a key kicking about, don't forget where I am!

[ncbnik]

Jun 15, 2016 10:20:01 GMT -5 John said:

Jun 15, 2016 8:09:46 GMT -5 aj1275 said:

I've an old Oldham manual that dates back over 40 years now, I'll scan it and put it in my photobucket account to post it here.

In practice I don't think I had a battery last more than two years, lucky to get one last one year on low faces, one of the biggest problems we found was debris from the "plates" shorting out the battery, but then mining was hard on everything.

Do you have knowledge of the old polished chrome reflectors used in the late 50's to 60's??? Mostly used in Officials, Engineers and Elecs and fitters lamps?? They were superseded by "specular" reflectors, starting with a metal reflector and ending with a plastic reflector. Officials had the 1 amp bulbs.
Those were some of the best lights around, they could be focused into a "pin beam". I had occasion to take one U/G as a "spare lamp" due to mine blowing a bulb at the start of the shift. Boy!! did it give me a headache, beams that "tight" are useless for general work.
Best lights were the pre focused Quartz bulb/reflector combination, bright white light, good beam, not too "tight" but gave good peripheral light.

Always good to have the official documentation. There's more on lamps & batteries on this site also dmm.org.uk/colleng/5110-01.htm

[John]

Oldham caplamp manual, now remember this is about 50 years old!

[John]

I haven't forgotten, just taking forever to upload to Photobucket, it's not usually this slooooooowwwwww!! I cancelled the inside cover yesterday, it's been uploading now for two hours!!!

[merlin]

everybody  wanted a spot lamp you had to have ask the undermanger or bribe the lamproom attendant

[John]

Jeeze, you've reminded me, I haven't finished uploading the Oldham manual, I'll make a note to remind myself when I have some time.