UKC

Friends out for a star-studded hill walk had three newish LED head torches go phut. I don't know what makes they were though one was a Petzl. I just wonder whether they were careless over new batteries or whether there is a problem. Fortunately someone had brought two spare hand torches...

In reply to potted shrimp:

If it was a star studded walk, surely the moon would have given enough light to see?

Last Thursday evening in the Lakes there was enough light to walk back into Keswick after an evening meal 4 miles away.

In reply to TMW:

I think you are missing the point.

To the OP: My 9 month old Alpkit headhorch has now broken, looks like dodgy wiring/battery connection. Have an older petzl tikka plus which seems reliable but is is not as bright as the alpkit. Have heard a lot of complaints about reliablity of LED headtorches, maybe most are poorly made to keep the price down?

In reply to potted shrimp:

I have a Petzl Myo3, which is a conventional bulb plus 3 LEDs. Never had a problem with either the bulb or the LEDS. When you say 'go phut', do you mean a sudden failure? LEDs tend to get slowly dimmer at the end of the battery life.

In reply to potted shrimp:

you have to remember that batteries produce current by chemical reaction.

In very cold conditions battery output (even if good) is reduced. If battery is already lowerin charge output could be less than needed

LEDs have a critical turn on voltage like all semiconductors so I suppose it could have been temperature related

something to remember for the walkie talkie brigade as well

Troops in arctoic warfare often have to keep radio batteries warm inside clothing to keep them working - battery extension leads are issued for this purpose

In reply to Anonymous: yes, I take all these points and haven't had any problems with LEDs personally but these people were all highly experienced, two of the LEDs were as new and they experienced these failures. I simply wondered if there had been any similar problems and it's obvious there aren't! Personally I keep all equipment with a battery in trouser or inner jacket pockets..vital as anon points out.

In reply to potted shrimp: were there ufos in the area?

In reply to potted shrimp:
...three newish LED head torches go phut.

What was their failure mode...
Sudden failure whilst the torch was on?
Failing to illuminate initially?
Illuminating and gradually dimming?
Illuminating and quickly extinguishing?

Were the batteries in a discharged condition after the failure?

Point me in the right direction!
Graham.

In reply to potted shrimp: There is sometimes an issue with torches where the lead goes into the battery case - this can end up being wiggled quite a bit and the wire inside breaking.

Had that happen to me in France when I was trying to fix snow chains by the side of the motorway - not good. I reinforce that point now with tape, though I don't know whether it will make much difference.

In reply to potted shrimp:My Mayo 3 developed a lose connection inside the light housing,because it's just a wire pressed into a couple of gaps a cm appart,and the gap sides are metal and touch the inner of the wire so there's a connection,and one of them had wiggled loose,i don't think i'm buying a Petzl head torch again. It looks like they've gone for speed in making them so they can compete with other head torch makers,i guess it'd cost more to have people sit and solder the wiring in place. None of the wires inside the light housing are soldederd in place on my Mayo 3,appart from on the circuit board which has the LEDs on,but the whole thing stopped working properly when the loose connection happened. I feel like i'm getting boring because i always pop up and post about my Mayo 3 when head torche threads are started.()

Cheers
Tim

In reply to Timmd:
I've had problems with my Black Diamond LED torch cutting out too, so it's not just Petzl or Alpkit.

In reply to Timmd: Do you mean Myo Tim?

In reply to g taylor:Yes Myo,it's the one where you turn the light with the bulb in to switch beteewn LEDs or a bulb.

In reply to Stac Pollaidh:

I've had a few friends with BD headtorches, more than half of whom have had the wire break. I personally like the idea of a torch without wires going down the side (particularly the Petzl Tikka XP)
Also, whilst the cold affects the batteries, it also makes the wires more brittle and prone to failure.
I could be wrong, but I think someone sent theirs back to BD and they fixed it.

Tim

In reply to potted shrimp: I bought three of the black diamond LED headtorches and they all broke inside of six months..anoyingly the never quite break, they just become unrelaible... better hopes for my new petzel!

In reply to ceri: yes, two of our friends and two ufos...total party of four. The ufos had the Petzls...so

In reply to Graham Ad: sorry, I hadn't realised my idiomatic English was not up to technical queries...by "go phut" I meant sudden failure when light was on..

In reply to Team Zissou: crumbs! well, it certainly makes you think. I used to have an old French flat pack battery torch called a Pile Wonder. Eventually I tried to dump it to replace it with a modern upgrade but it kept turning up in a drawer. So I stood on it, thinking destruction was the only cure. It failed to disintegrate and went on working with a nice bright light. Come back PW all is forgiven..