Would you be interested in a fluorescent yellow powder coated Convoy S2+ / C8? Updated

Possible, but it’s not the powder itsself that glows, it’s a pigment you add to clear/white coat.

So you would get a speckle effect. Obviously the more powder you use the less noticeable it is. But if I use too much the original powder won’t cure (the glow powder doesn’t ‘melt’ but bonds and glues with the melted powder coat, then cures)

Basically it won’t be a solid block of GITD light, but it can be done if anyone wants to order that option!

Just FYI: Powder coating is an effective thermal insulator when applied to metal (even at the typical 60-80 micron thickness). So not a desirable material to be used to coat an aluminum LED flashlight… which generates heat and requires a thermal path to the ambient air to cool the emitter. Even worse is the possibility of overheating the battery due to the trapped thermal load.

IMO - although the colors can be vivid and pleasing, Id avoid this one.

Sorry, 3Tronics.

That’s your personal opinion

As I have said a few times, powder coating is not for high powered (Hot) lights mainly because I haven’t tested them yet.

For single emitter lights running 2-3A there is no problem (Most EDC lights)

I have been making / using powder coated lights for about a year with no problems at all with thermal/overheating problems

There is definitely pros and cons as with anything or any light.

Pros are mainly durability and vivid flourescent/candy colours that you can’t get with anodising

Cons is diffusion path reduction

There is fully plastic lights after all…. which fully insulate the battery/led

And it can’t be all bad if car makers use it on high performance brake callipers

If you want a flourescent yellow light, you can’t run an XHP50 in it. That’s personal choice. You have to use a lower power led.

To put your mind at rest I’ll make one with an XML2/XPL HI running at 6A until the battery dies, to test it.

A cigar shaped light like an S2+ will get very hot with 3 Amperes too.
For ‘normal people’ (lol) i would recommend not using more than 5x 7135 (1.75 Amperes) in a S2+ (or equivalent).
Even with 3x 7135 (1.05 Amperes) it will get hotter than you would want when it’s in high mode for 15 minutes.
This all depends of course on the surrounding environment too (wind and temperature).
Sure, powder coating will make things a little worse.
The heat will probably spread further towards the tail.

Yes that’s for ‘us’ if I make a light for a ‘normal person’ I don’t usually go above 2A.

The powder coat still does have thermal properties, just not as good as aluminium. It’s not a complete insulator

If i make a powder coated light for someone I don’t go above 3A (less with resistances) or 2A for ‘normal people’ (less with resistances)

I will probably offer the flourescent ones as hosts to BLF, to save cost. Although I can make full lights if needed. I would just advise not to go above 2-3A. And use single die emitters only. i.e. No XHP50 or triples (unless the triples are lower powered)

I’m assuming some people will run them higher but that’s there choice, just like we take leds that are rated for 3A and run them at 6A

I would’ve prefered a Solarforce host, like the L2T, instead of the S2. Not a huge fan of tube lights, but that’s me.

It can be done on any light, S2+ is just a common EDC shape light (tube light) that’s cheap and quality

Also the bigger the light the more powerful, (usually)

The P60 isn’t that good with heat already so adding an insulating layer may not be the best.

But your welcome send me a light if you want it coated.

Sounding good. Just checked your instagram, nice pics!

Cool thanks!

Your assumptions are false and inaccurate. Ive already been down this road with several manufacturers trying to profit on this bad/potentially dangerous marketing idea. So I’ll copy/paste & mod my reply here:

I was a production manager for a precision high tech/high volume metal finishing company (where daily production volume is measured in tons of finished material and in thousands of pcs). FACT: powder coating aluminum, even down to the minimum acceptable thickness spec, will at least double the thermal retention capacity. This isnt false conjecture, and I have nothing to gain or lose by stating fact.

Background: In proving with aerospace engineering teams while powder coating aluminum material on a constant speed precision industrial automated line, several processes required a precision calibrated cool-down cycle before proceeding to the next reheat station in the production process. The line speed was automatically adjusted to maintain a precision target temp. From the data recorded (which is necessary to maintain and prove the production standard), bare aluminum cools at least twice as quickly as powder coated aluminum. This is also true (to a lesser degree) of black electrostatic applied paint and various wet coatings applied at only 35-40 microns (super thin). Dark colors typically radiate heat more quickly than lighter colors of the same formulation. We also experimented with custom formulations containing “micro iron balls” to help disperse heat, ala SR-71 finish type coatings.

So why is powder coating a problem with the lights your intend to coat and at the power levels you just stated? A typical C8 flashlight driven at 3A will get hot enough to burn your hand if left on in high mode. If it doesnt, it lacks a sufficient thermal path from the emitter to the host. Once heated, removal of the battery at that point will also quickly tell you the battery is VERY HOT to the touch… which greatly increases the chances of a cell explosion.

As a re-seller of flashlights, especially the Convoy C8 flashlights and similar (latest version with integrated shelf and 3A 8 x 7135 driver, XML2). If left on in high mode, several have failed in the field, because the heat build up is so great that it desolders the emitter from the MCPCB!… which requires a tear-down and reflowing the emitter back to the board). Sometimes it only melts the solder from the wires, but this isnt as common. This happens to roughly 1 in 11 flashlights. None of these lights are shelf queens and are heavily used by those who purchase. Tube style lights have far less surface area to dissipate heat, which is far more of a problem because they will conduct even more heat to the cell. A tube light driven at 2A will run far hotter than a C8 driven at 3A.

As has been proven dozens of times in just this forum alone, driving an emitter (even at moderate levels within MFGR specs) without a proper thermal path, severely decreases lumen output (which is also the case with plastic lights that have been tested here). The only good thing about plastic lights is that they do not transfer heat to the cells, which lessens the chances of an exploding lithium cell. Heat also kills lumen maintenance (mfgr. rated life of the emitter as measured in hours)., not good.

This has nothing whatsoever to do with the subject, but since you mentioned it: SOME brake calipers engineered for street applications are finished in electrostatic powder or wet finished “paint” (which I have processed several thousands for major OEM’s). It is for aesthetics and ease of cleaning, not performance. Non powder coated alloy calipers dissipate heat far more quickly than powder coated ones, which is why purpose built racing applications are typically never powder coated.

With this in mind, intentionally doubling the thermal load of a cell potentially jeopardizes the safety of your customers. Regardless of how appealing the color might be to the user, overheating the cell can be very dangerous and should be avoided at all costs. I hope you’ll put aside the thought of your grossly inflated asking price for a moment, and reconsider the potential consequences of what you are attempting. Is it worth increasing the chances of your customers turning their (already hot running) stock flashlights into potential aluminum fragmentation bombs? This is exactly what you are accomplishing here. I havent even mentioned potential litigation from such an outcome, should a cell rupture.

- Please dont build and operate a small flashlight and allow it to run @6A until cell depletion, even while using a bare aluminum flashlight host. You will overheat the cell.

- Please be responsible and operate your cells no higher than the max allowable temps specified by the cell manufacturer in their data sheet. Less temp is far better for safety and the service life of the cell.

Good day.

Ooh… That bad huh?
Thank you for that important information.

So, actually many many lights out there would actually need some kind of overheating protection, even a black C8 with 8x 7135.

Wouldnt that be nice? Thermal throttling has already been implemented in many drivers as well as in some factory flashlights to help prevent such mishaps. Thermal control circuits also exist in most approved lithium powered consumer electronics, so its not a stretch to demand or expect it.
Also depends on whether or not you could successfully sue the manufacturer in the even of an injury, which would be nearly impossible with chinese manufactured flashlights & gadgets. Their outright lies, rampant counterfeiting and lack of moral trade ethics also remains mostly unenforceable.

How’bout glass bead retroreflective powder? :smiley:

That would be tres suave…

You could then leave out the battery…

Aauugh, you beat me to it…

…and how about those crazy people who demand 1000 Lumens or more from a 18650 cigar…?? :innocent:

I’m powder coating so people can have some nice coloured lights there’s not much profit in it for me, the profit is in building full lights. (Even then not much)

Doing a run of fluorescent lights for BLF is at the minimum cost I can get it for host/powder/equipment/shipping. So for £16-20 it’s not worth my time. But I was willing to sacrifice that.

So It’s an insult that you say “Grossly inflated asking price”

(£7/8 for the host, £3.95 shipping UK - £8.20 International, Powder, Consumables, acid to strip anodising)

That’s £16.20 to get it shipped internationally, before you even start, leaving £3.80 for materials listed above (for £20)

Maybe the USA is different but the UK is one expensive place to do things.

There is still issues running high power drivers in non coated small lights, 6A with an XPLHI etc. In a S2+ there’s still a chance of overheating. But people choose to ignore the risks to have a powerful light because most of the time it’s perfectly fine.

Last night I took a powder coated S2+ I had (only running 1.4A) and ran it with a Panasonic 3400mAh for 45 minutes on a table top in a 22C Temperature room, the cell was warm when I took it out. As expected, but no way near hot.
The light was hot but not uncomfortably so.
(I don’t advise doing this, but it had to be tested)

I say 2-3A because that is what I would run it at. But I see that may be high. Maybe I should drop that to 1A or below as the max operating Amps.

But Obviously you think people won’t be sensible and avoid running for long periods or at stupid temperatures. So the offers off the table

No more powder coating

James

I don’t know about anyone else here, but I tend to treat all modes over ~300 lm as turbo or burst modes (or, in small lights, all modes over ~30 lm). About the only thing I use three digits worth of lumens for (for longer than a minute or two) is biking, and I generally set that on a 200-lm mode with 2000-lm stutter pulses.

But I really enjoy having super-bright turbo/burst modes. :slight_smile:

An upshot of this (aside from the obvious ones of safety and long runtime) is that it rarely matters what material the lights are made of, since they’re typically running well below the power levels where heat is an issue. But when I give lights to other people, it’s generally only items which don’t have a self-destruct feature.

I don’t know if I want a bright yellow host, considering I still have a blue and a green I haven’t built, but it is at least compatible with how I use lights. It could be fun.

what does it mean exactly powder coated ?