Current-generation Stenlight S7 specs

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Current-generation Stenlight S7 specs

Postby Jeff Bartlett » Aug 14, 2012 7:22 pm

As it's long been obvious that the specs on Sten's own website are woefully out-of-date, I thought some details I received in an email today (from http://www.stenlight-caving.co.uk) would be of general interest. In addition to the actual specifications, there is also some anecdotal information about why Stenlight continues to stick with Luxeon, how many lamps are in circulation, etc:

Simon Lowe wrote:New, much tougher, round-section cable (replacing the cable remains a 60 second DIY job). Uprated emitters: Luxeon Rebel ES. Sten have stuck with Luxeon (Philips Lumileds) because of their extremely good reliability and consistency. We’re not trying to compete with the brightest lamps on the market.

Peak output is 500 lumens on Turbo (measured – not a theoretical maximum based on driving the emitters at 100% with no thermal or optical loss) with a run-time of 3 hours on Turbo. In practice, with thermal limiting kicking it should average around 400 lumens continuous and 4.5 hours run time on Turbo. I won’t go into full specifications here because it’s a lot to read and they are on the web site if you want them.

The revised lamp head is fully compatible with old batteries, old chargers and all the accessories. [....]

And the lamp itself will continue to evolve. Whilst it might look like not much has changed we’ve gone through 5 revisions with output increasing from around 120lm to 500lm. There are about 3,500 Stens in circulation and I rather like the fact that the oldest ‘Rev C’ (first production batch) can be upgraded to very nearly the same specification as the latest lamps and that every generation of lamp, battery and charger is completely compatible.


The specifications themselves are on the http://www.stenlight-caving.co.uk site:

http://www.stenlight-caving.co.uk wrote:OUTPUT:
Low mode 5 lumens
Medium mode 45 lumens
High mode 157 lumens
Turbo mode 500 lumens
Turbo mode (thermal limiting) 300 lumens

RUNTIMES (based on new 2.5 aH battery, not existing 2.3 aH battery, so these will be slightly off if using the LG723):
Over 28 days at the lowest setting
54 hours at medium
14 hours at high
4 hours or more at Turbo


Anyway, people are always asking for these specifications and the specs on the Stenlight site are from 2005 (!) ...so here they are. Thanks to Simon Lowe for providing this information; without his UK Stenlight site, we wouldn't have access to these figures at all.
"Although it pains me to say it, in this case Jeff is right. Plan accordingly." --Andy Armstrong
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Re: Current-generation Stenlight S7 specs

Postby Carl Amundson » Aug 14, 2012 9:38 pm

Thanks for the information Jeff.
Do you know if the new batteries (LG825) are are available in the US?
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Re: Current-generation Stenlight S7 specs

Postby Jeff Bartlett » Aug 15, 2012 7:05 am

Not sure -- you'd have to try contacting Stenlight directly if none of the speleo-vendors have them.
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Re: Current-generation Stenlight S7 specs

Postby trogman » Aug 15, 2012 9:16 am

I have had my Sten for about 3 years, and bought it shortly after (what I believe was) the first upgrade. Do you know if the lumens ratings you list above are applicable to mine, or have they improved significantly since then?

Trogman :helmet:
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Re: Current-generation Stenlight S7 specs

Postby submassabielle » Aug 15, 2012 1:30 pm

trogman wrote:I have had my Sten for about 3 years, and bought it shortly after (what I believe was) the first upgrade. Do you know if the lumens ratings you list above are applicable to mine, or have they improved significantly since then?

Trogman :helmet:


As the post said, it sounds like they have done 5 upgrades. I think that the letter in the serial number is one way of guessing how upgraded your light is. I just got mine about 6 months ago, and my serial number had a "G" in it. I received a reply that mine was probably close to the current ones (but maybe slightly behind). I was told that the current ones are running 400-450 lumens on Turbo if kept cool. It was also pointed out that it is somewhat less for the S7 standard than for the S7+ (premium). These numbers are almost certainly for the premium.

They offer upgrades, so I am sure if you send them an email and tell them how old your light is (letter in serial number) that they would be able to suggest whether an upgrade would be worth it or not.
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Re: Current-generation Stenlight S7 specs

Postby Jeff Bartlett » Aug 15, 2012 2:49 pm

As the post said, it sounds like they have done 5 upgrades. I think that the letter in the serial number is one way of guessing how upgraded your light is. I just got mine about 6 months ago, and my serial number had a "G" in it.

This is correct. The original 2005 Stenlights were revision C -- if you open up the light, you'll see a serial number beginning with that letter. My light, from late 2007, was the first "premium" Stenlight with the original Rebel emitters, and my serial number is E0645. I believe the F revision followed shortly thereafter, meaning there aren't many E-revision S7+ Premium lights out there. My wife's Stenlight, purchased in 2009, is an F revision. Since then, apparently there has been an upgrade to G.

Basically, the newer your Stenlight is, the more efficient (and/or brighter) it is. It's a major misconception that, since the outside hasn't changed much for all these years, the inside hasn't changed either.
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Re: Current-generation Stenlight S7 specs

Postby Jon » Aug 24, 2012 11:41 am

Yes they are available although may not yet be on suppliers web sites, call and ask and you can buy one for $60.....for comparison photos with old small battery go to the Thread elsewhere on this page "What Happened to The Sten" they are on page 3 of that
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Re: Current-generation Stenlight S7 specs

Postby firemedic1015 » Nov 17, 2013 1:05 pm

Does anyone kow how to tell if a Sten is a premium? I looked at the tag on the board and it says S7G 2460. I bought it new a few years ago and the package clearly stated that it was a premium. I thought there would be some notation in the serial number or on the board.

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Re: Current-generation Stenlight S7 specs

Postby Chief943 » Nov 18, 2013 6:25 am

Zeb,
My S7 premium has a number on the light: S7GP3633. I assume the P stands for premium. Now I bought it only a couple of months ago so maybe the way they tag the lights has changed.

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