UKH

The bulbs in my Petzl Tikkina2 have suddenly (in less than a day) started running very dim. I've tried all sorts of battery replacements and no luck.I've taken it apart all is well, but I was wondering how easy a bulb change would be?

They're LEDs soldered in to a simple board, and conveniently I have some spare bulbs, but I haven't soldered in about 15 years. I only use this headtorch as a backup or in the garage so no great loss if it's not repairable, I just hate to throw working kit away. The Petzl website says they can't be replaced.

If all the bulbs all started going dim at the same time then it would be unlikely to be the bulbs that are the problem. More likely a chip on the circuit board that is failing but I have no idea where to start with problem solving that

LEDs aren't "bulbs".  Interesting that you have spares, as the LEDs in each torch will quite specific.  Stuff like that is meant to be disposable.  You would only try to fix it if you were dead keen on some kind of reverse engineering hack, trying to learn a few things and try to come up with some kind of Hybrid result.  And were prepared for failure.

Climber David also has a very good point.

A more modern replacement would be a lot more brighter and efficient as LEDs leap and bound.

But good luck if you want to play about.

My old 1987 Petzl Zoom works wonderfully with home made replacements for bulbs - 1W warm LEDs mounted in hollowed out bulbs holding the resistors.  All the durability and weatherproofing of my old friend in adventure but a level and quality of light I couldn't have dreamed of plus batteries that last forever (I have a large stock of alkaline 4.5v packs to use up which I got for almost nothing).  They are out of date but the shelf life can be hugely extended by a little reforming at low current.

I didn't think they would focus as well as the original bulbs as the element faces only forwards but in fact the home made bulb replacements are much much better than the originals!

I have a tikka I found on the beach, it has a corroded switch which means about 50% of the time the bulbs are dim. Turning it off and on a few times scrapes away the corrosion and it works a lot better.

After an earlier thread on here, I bought an LED bulb off fleebay for about a tenner.

Just a direct replacement so no need for diy.

It works really well in old zooms and micros , just don't look directly at it ( or somebody else ) as its so bright .

yes, I'm sure they do work very well.  However, I had all the parts apart from the LEDs and tools to hand and was curious to see. how it worked. IIRC the LEDs cost less than £2 for about 15 of them and I'd already used the technique on a couple of old hand lanterns with some of the non screw type 6v bulbs and they were so successful (everlasting battery and far more light) that it seemed worth the small effort.  TBH the most time consuming part was cleaning out the old bulb base.

I agree that to someone unused to soldering and electronics the effort would be much greater and only worth it for the sake of satisfaction.

I'm really curious as to why someone would dislike my post unless they think I should have just thrown my old friends and the memories of everwhere they have been away.  possibly it is the bulk and weight of the older zooms?

They have already proved themselves in use and bad weather.  Perhaps it is the idea of extending shelf life on a stock of alkaline batteries being disbelieved (I'm not talking about recharging them, just restoring the terminal voltage (before it has fallen much) to that when they were factory fresh to delay chemical breakdown, using a constant low-current source)

I've been doing this for years and it really works.

I would like to admit to being your phantom disliker!

You say your improvements have made your petzl zoom better than when it was new - I'm not surprised.

Although revolutionary in 1981, they are in fact crap by modern standards - I bet I could make something better too from off the shelf parts, and I can barely change a lightbulb.

The best response to anyone with a problem with a 7+ year old headtorch is to buy something modern.

Tesco do one for a fiver that is better than the original tikka/tikkina - buy  four, and you'll have a lighter, less bulky and more redundant system than a zoom.

If you want a good light, buy a modern petzl - bomproof, compact and bright.

Anyway, that's why I disliked your post (now removed). Because it was poor advice for 95% of people.

I do actually admire your skill and tenacity in keeping it going. And I hate letting fixable stuff die, but beyond a certain level it's a hobby, and not practical or economical in terms of time.

I have a BD modern head torch and I love its small size and versatility with red reading light etc but I find it more fragile and prone to trouble when changing batteries plus probably limited in durability compared to the Zoom.  The Zoom never let me down in any weather except for a case of double battery and bulb failure in fog one New Year's Eve in the Lakes but I can't blame the torch for a newly bought battery failing after 10 minutes!   I can't dispute the lighter weight and convenience of newer lamps but durability and weather proofing count too plus I accidentally acquired a large stock of batteries.  I'm a make/mend/convert kind of tinkerer so it was fun and kept a friend going! 

Not so kind to fellow sleepers if I want to read though, somewhat bright!

This conversion of old Zooms is I believe popular with night anglers because of their weather proof design and cheap availability.

yes but no it’s what you want for putting a tent to in the rain on the campsite by the car 

https://www.torchupgrades.com/gb/petzl/23-petzl-led-upgrade-conversion-bulb...

looks as if it might be nearly as good as the ones I made at a greater order of magnitude of cost!

and also for changing car wheels in the dark and rain!