New Convoy C8 – Clearly better

Speaking of built in charging, I have a prototype BD02 running Biscotti and man is that one sweet light! Didn’t expect to like it so much. Throwy little sucker! Like a C8 but with built in charging and a little more aesthetically pleasing and of course the oh-so-elegant stainless side switch. :money_mouth_face:

Just got my C8 from Gearbest. The 12 modes works fine and I can select any of them with ease. I just cannot disable or turn off memory. After 10+ taps then 1 blink then 1 buzz then 2 blinks then 1 buzz—- I click and nothing happens (memory still on). If I repeat the procedure then tap (instead of click)— same result (memory still on).

Can anyone please help. Thank you!

amf click is turning off

Oh J-Dub74 it just doesn’t stop :wink:

Click or tap = same result. Memory still ON.

J-Dub74, will these be available to purchase sometime? Sounds sweet!

What an excellent light!
out of the box ver impressive throw!
set it up to three modes (mode 5) with memory, nice UI TK
Thanks once more!

So I finally get the replacement driver from Simon fixed, spring bypassed while they’re at it.

Wow! Marked improvements indeed! Lights didn’t get uncomfortably hot even at prolonged usage. Makes me tempted to get more upgrades for it.

Hi, you asked me for drivers to improve them.
You did not respond to the PM I sent you, maybe its the forum bug you dont get a message notifying you.

If you still want those drivers please respond to me until wednesday or other BLF members are already there to take em.

One thing to check is whether it still behaves that way without the tailcap on. Like, if you put a wire or something between the rear end of the battery and a non-anodized* part of the host (rear edge of the tube), is it able to forget the mode? If you leave it alone for a full minute, can it forget? In either case, it may be that the driver is discharging too slowly.

Also, you probably know this, but tap during the “buzz”.

Maybe I can get this 8x7135 driver tested today. It has two capacitors for some reason, and I suspect it might discharge slowly, which would make the button press window longer and make no-mem mode take longer to “forget”. (would be nice if the driver hardware would stop changing in unexpected ways)

* The “clear” hosts are actually anodized; they just have silver dye to make them look bare.

It’s really a matter of personal preference. Do you want it more throwy or more floody? I usually get a floody configuration and put DC-Fix on the lens to make it even more floody.

At a guess, the XP-L HI + SMO probably doubles the throw compared to XM-L2 + OP.

*goes off to test*

Okay, I’m getting 5432 cd on a 4x7135 driver with a NCR18650PF at 3.67V. I expect this light would probably get about 11,000 cd on a full battery with 8x7135 driver, or even more with a FET driver.

For comparison…

  • 4 kcd: Convoy S3 XM-L U2 @ 2.8A
  • 5.3 kcd: Convoy S2+ XP-L HI SMO @ 1.4A
  • 8 kcd: BLF A6 @ 5-6A
  • ~11 kcd: Convoy S2+ XP-L HI SMO @ 2.8A
  • ~24 kcd: Dale’s best throw-optimized BLF A6
  • 34.5 kcd: XinTD C8 V4 XM-L2 @ 3.04A
  • ~50 kcd: BLF X6v2 XP-L HI @ 5-6A
  • ~135 kcd: Tom E’s best C8 w/ de-domed XP-G2 @ 6A

So it occupies a solid middle ground between a traditional tube light and a C8. It gets 2-3X as much throw as a normal floody tube light, but moving up to a C8 will likely get you another 2X or 3X improvement.

Throw can be higher in a 18650 tube light, as Dale found, but it’s not easy. He had things totally maxed out with a custom optic. And a C8 can be pimped out quite a bit, but it requires very precise mods and turns into a pencil-thin beam.

So the question is… do you want 4-5 kcd or 11 kcd in your S2+? I think Simon will probably make it available both ways. Bigger numbers here aren’t necessarily better.

[quote=ToyKeeper]

Thanks for pointing out the silver dye. Unfortunately, I easily measure continuity both inside and outside the body, which usually indicates a lack of anodization. (On both Clear C8 and L6)

Well, that’s interesting. I have a clear C8 and clear S2+, and they both act the same as regular anodized lights… easy tailcap lockout by unscrewing a quarter turn, no current through the outer surface, etc. They’re also much harder to scratch than bare aluminum, and have a texture layer like very fine television static.

Click to embignify for great justice:



I used to work earlier on some CNC machine. Those marks are machining marks from the tool running through material.
Like on this picture:

Edit: After machining it can be remove by sandblast the product but this is another step in manufacturing which raise the cost a bit. But on blach convoys it is really hard to find those marks. So maybe only the clear ones skipped at sand blasting.

Exterior finishes all look the same between 1 original Clear L6 (that I gifted at Christmas) 2 new (this month) Clear L6’s, and 2 new Clear C8’s. Obviously some kind of finish. Just getting randon continuity on them. I thought I had lock out at tail cap, until I turned it a little more.

Your post made me wonder about what the ‘silver dye’ is made of.

I recognize the machining marks, but there’s a layer on top of that which acts like anodizing and gives it a sparkly satin texture. It’s not thick enough to completely hide the machine marks, so I’m guessing it’s probably type-II anodizing with a silver-colored dye. I’m not getting any continuity anywhere, except on the parts which normally wouldn’t have ano.

Truly bare aluminum has a different look and feel:

Aaah. Hmm.I need to buy a clear S2+ when available and examine it at work with microscope. Maybe scratch it at a not very visible point.

Maybe Convoy’s clear anodization is electrically conductive?

I don’t think there is a rule that states anodization has to be electrically insulated.

Maybe most are insulated and we just got used to it being that way.

Whatever it is, it doesn’t seem like a PVD coating. That stuff usually seems extremely smooth, like a mirror finish. Here’s my rainbow PVD Olight S-mini after months of EDC: