El Speleo Light

[gindling]

exactly my issues Scott. Ive got the first generation battery holder done and I hope to have the tilt bracket done today and post photos. First thing I did was to cut those screws off and file them flat. I did take some photos of the beam but I havent learned all the settings on my camera yet so they leave a bit to be desired. And damn these black lava tubes suck up light.

[JHCAVER]

I checked this light out...but after seeing the Nora in action I'm convinced the Nora is the light for me! John's products are excellent quality without a doubt!

[gindling]

Here are the photos of the modifications I made to the El Speleo. All screws were replaced with stainless steel and the nuts were replaced with stainless nylon locking nuts. The battery pack is held on with 2" wide industrial velcro which attaches to a curved aluminum holder. The two side bolts were also replaced with stainless threaded rod with neoprene washers on both sides. A fixed stainless nylon locking nut is on the left side while an aluminum nylon locking wingnut on the right connects the light to the curved aluminum bracket. Loosening is no longer such a problem and you can always increase the friction even with a gloved hand by using the wingnut. Most of the problems with the old bracket were metal on metal contact points that rubbed when you tilted the light and therefore would gradually loosen. Helmet and light together weigh 2lbs 4-5/8oz or for the rest of the world 1kg 37g. All photos taken with the TG-1 ihs Olympus Tough Camera.

[ian1210]

Brian, I really like the battery holder your designed. Did you just take a small piece of aluminum, bend it, and attach velcro?

[gindling]

Pretty much. I had to use a seperating disc on my flexshaft to take off the screws on the battery case. then I made sure to degrease it before adding the velcro which has a glue on it that sets up after 24hrs. I made jigs for the aluminum bending out of hardwood for now, but ive got some modifications to make to the next generation bracket in the works already. Maybe at the next joint meeting of the Asparagus Cavers you can check it out. Hows the new battery packs on your side going?

[ian1210]

I think I've got them figured out. I can make 3 7200-mah battery packs for a total cost of about $100, including the heat gun, shrink wrap, tool dip, basically everything. The first one that I made is working really well. I was considering mounting them in a metal case like the ones that come with the El Speleo, but I'm also considering just covering them in a coating of rubber like the Sten. I'm wondering if that will provide them with enough protection, as mine will be 3 cell batteries and therefore bigger than the Sten's two cell batteries. I love your idea of using velcro the mount them, I think it will work much better than my original plan, to try and mimic the factory mounting system. Perhaps we could trade a velcro mount for a battery? Also, if you have any questions building batteries and would like to know what I'm using I'd be happy to email you a parts list. There's a couple parts that need to be ordered from Hong Kong and take almost a month to arrive.

[jtml]

I checked it out at Mayacon last week in WV, and indeed the battery box is a slight concern to me, in that it must be unbolted inside the helmet to be replaced. Some sort of simple (tool free) fasteners would be helpful. Also, the entire setup is about 18 oz I think, which is a lot of mass hanging on a helmet. However, for a light this bright, it's acceptable.

I find the need for > 150 lumens to be rare in the caving I do, but useful for checking very large chambers, and photo assists. My personal favorite light was built using an early Lumileds Star/O LED with about 50 L of brightness at 350 mA. It has a completely analog dimmer knob and is very lightweight, built in a Myo-5 shell. The main LED was narrow beam, about 10 deg, so I used the 5 Nichia LEDs on the Myo for wide flood lighting. I described the design of the circuitry and modifications in Speleonics #25, 7 years ago. That same light has been my trusty main light for in-cave camping for many expeditions without problems.m It will run a full day before needing a change of two tiny CR123 cells. But I have been longing for a brighter light, to try to keep up with my Sten-loving comrades. The El-Speleo does better, really blasts them in the face... Its mucho macho.

I am replacing my Lumiled Star/O LED in the old Myo5 with an exact fit CREE module with columinator, that I found in Canada. With that, my old light can run 120 L at 350 mA, with a lower forward voltage, increasing burn time substantially.
jtml

[gindling]

thats why I cut those bolts off and attached the battery with the Velcro, and if it ever gets close to being ripped off you can hear it for sure! It would be great to have a battery workshop at the next AGM meeting Ian, and if you want ive got all the gear here to make another setup if you want to make me a battery. I would think that a few layers of tool dip would do well for the batteries if they had a liitle support beneath.

[Jeff Bartlett]

http://dougwarner.wordpress.com/2012/01/21/el-speleo-1600-cave-light/
Looks like a nice light. Price ~$250 seems nice, too. I would like to see more details on the battery pack construction. And, the switch, just looking at the pics, looks like it might be awkward.

Two significant updates since this thread was originally posted:

1. That link is now dead, as El Speleo has its own site. The proper link for the El Speleo is: http://elspeleo.com
2. That beckoning $250 price tag is long gone. As of this writing, light kits at the link above are listed at $400.

[gindling]

Not sure why your link didn't work but the light can be found at www.elspeleo.com

[nekid]

Mine treasure from speleoled@net.hr

This light is brighter than Rude Nora and Sten.

[Jeff Bartlett]

This light is brighter than Rude Nora and Sten.

And only three times the size of the latter! :)

[Carl Amundson]

My concern with any of these euro lignts is repair.
One of the guys on the project that I work on has a Rude Nora.
It went out on him a couple of weeks ago. He has looked into sending it back for repair, that will take 2 to 3 months.
The hold up is that the light has to go thru Customs each way.

I'm waiting for the next Sten upgrade.

[VRcaver]

Carl/junkman -

I have shipped lights back and forth to Europe and don't experience that long of a delay for customs. DHL, for example, ships door to door in about a week, USPS is only slightly longer. The big issue is the Li-ion batteries are classified as hazardous and cost more, and in fact the USPS won't even ship those batteries. If you can ship without batteries I bet it would be cheaper and faster. The remainder of the time is just the length of time it takes to do the actual repair (or rather to get around to doing the repair) and not clearing customs. I suspect that the only time difference with repairing the "euro lights" is this 2 weeks of round trip shipping.

I am researching shipping options for the whole set (light + batteries) to the UK today. I will have more specific information on shipping times after a few packages clear there.

[Extremeophile]

Carl/junkman -

I have shipped lights back and forth to Europe and don't experience that long of a delay for customs. DHL, for example, ships door to door in about a week, USPS is only slightly longer. The big issue is the Li-ion batteries are classified as hazardous and cost more, and in fact the USPS won't even ship those batteries. If you can ship without batteries I bet it would be cheaper and faster. The remainder of the time is just the length of time it takes to do the actual repair (or rather to get around to doing the repair) and not clearing customs. I suspect that the only time difference with repairing the "euro lights" is this 2 weeks of round trip shipping.

I am researching shipping options for the whole set (light + batteries) to the UK today. I will have more specific information on shipping times after a few packages clear there.

That's consistent with my experience with the Scurion. It took about a week to ship each way when they had to repair a manufacturing defect in the switch mechanism. It still took about 6 weeks for me to get the light back due to service time, and I missed using it on several important trips. I also had to pay shipping and customs to get it over to Switzerland even though it was a manufacturing problem. There are advantages to buying domestic. For my purposes I did not have to ship the batteries.