What did you mod today?

I used a lightmeter app on my phone.
utorch ut02 xhp 35 got 120k candela
convoy c8 xpl hi fet got 69k candela
convoy c8 flat white got 169k candela. Its at around 3amp so a little heigh meisurment i guess.

Since this is my very first 'essential' post here, I'll shortly indtroduce myself...

I've been AF (Anonymous Flashoholic) since the middle 2017. At least this is the date I've started to read BLF and even worse - started to buy ... THEM !
Yes..., I know I should not, but... I buy THEM because they are cheap, sexy and ... available . Someone, please help me to stop this...

Looks like, I'm especially in love with Convoys S2+ (well... basically it means - whenever price drops below 9$ I buy them, sometimes I manage not to do so). For this price man can buy only 'basic' 6x7135 XML2 Grays... and it's ok for an addict like myself (guilty me, once a month you have to take your dope)
Of course, last year it happened to buy some other stuff as well (2 Convoy's C8s and 1 C8 from Sofirn when they droped below 15$, and 2 SP33's lately on Christmas for the less then 20$ each) but you know what they say - the first love is the biggest one and for forever...

OK, now to the point - this about my first mod.
Let's call it "Quick and dirty 2S (2x18650) mod to 2S+ "

The background...
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1) To many 'grey' S2+ on my shelf. To many to take everyone and each of them for a walk from time to time
2) Plenty of 18650's (many of them not so modern high drain models)
3) The curiosity - what the XHP family (or the other high output 6v Leds) can do inside my little beloved one ...

The obstacles...
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1) Mainly there is one.
Why the heck they don't produce and sell extension tubes in a most common size (18650) for a most common flashlight (S2+) on the planet ?
You can easilly find them for L4's, C8's and many others but not for S2's !!!

The decision...
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One of my sweethearts must die... to give the birth to something bigger...

The result...
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Remove everything form inside the head of S2+ and cut it exactly in half (I did it with a dremel tool)

Now, you have a muff wich will hold and connect two original body tubes of S2+'s. The thread must be milled out 3-4mm deep from one side of new muff (one where was a cut made) for the best matching with the original tubes. Do a final polish to the sharp edge with some sand paper, and we are done with hard metal tooling...

About the LED...
I've choosen XHP50 (it has good output, it is efficient in low current, it has high Vf value which should ease a load on my 7135's and it was ridiculously cheep to get.

About the driver...
I've decided to keep the one what I have had form inside a donor light (costless solution).
I had no suitable electronical components for a 'Zaner mod' modification, so in my case the original Convoy's 6x7135 dirver board was used as a simple 'one mode' linear 2.1A current regulator.

To make it work:
1) Remove D1 from original driver board (the same element which you remove to place 200Ohm resistor in classic Zener Mod) - this will disconnect excessive (+8V) power voltage from the MCU (we may need it in the future...)
2) Connect VDD leg of any AMC7135 (one of them is enough because all AMC's are in parallel) to +Vin - this will open a full throttle of all 7135's (6x350mA)

For my current needs it suits good enough to have one "high" mode only. Latter (e.g.when I get a proper Zener diode) I may consider to restore MCU functions for this driver.
Since basic Zener mod destroys the proper low battery protection then you may try to restore it by modifing the board (cut of the trace with the original R1/R2 voltage divider and build a new one which would be powered by +Vin). An example was given - e.g.look for "The IMR Enhanced Zener Mod to run the MT-G2".

So how does it looks like ?

Pros:
1) Twice as much 'floody' lumens comparing to original design (for 2.1A XHP50 gets 1560 lumens vs 800 lumens for XML2). You can really see the difference in the dark.
2) Does not need expensive high drain accus (like when you power up XHP from a single 18650 cell) or some fancy low capacity and high price 2x18350. It comfortably sucks 2.1A from every low cost 18650 I have in my drawer.
3) It gives similar running time to original S2+ with more light
4) It is still very convenient in every day use. It's size is just 43mm (1.7inch) more then C8. Fits well your pocket since it is as thick as an orignal design. And feels good in your hand.
5) It was planned to be "zero" cost mod. And in fact it is (almost). I had to "sacrifice" one of my Grey's (cut off the head) but it was worth it. I bought XHP50 on a 17mm copper mcb some months ago for 2.5$ on AliExp (4.5$ including delivery! minus 2$ coupon)
6) And it's still "my precious..." S2++

Cons:
1) Of course, it is not so cute and handy as a original S2+ beauty, but still close to my liking.
2) Get's a bit more heat in 'high' mode.
This should not be a big issue since the original design has some redundancy and is pretty safe with 8x7135 and XML2 pill (power used by XML2: 2.8Ax3.4V=9.5W plus power lost on 7135 regulators 2.8Ax(4.3V-3.4V)=2.5W makes 12W loss in total) and mine has 6x7135 and XHP50 LED (power used by XHP50: 2.1Ax6.3V=13W plus power lost on 7135 regulators 2.1Ax(8.4V-6.3V)=4.4W makes 17.4W loss in total).
Not a big difference (5W more), but the body of moded S2 is now longer so the heat dissipation should be also a little bit better.


This post has been written by a beginner (myself) and for beginners, so all experts and advanced users please be gentle or just skip it...

Cheers to all BLF flashoholics...

That is a very clever mod btbw!, and welcome to BLF. Since I do not know electronics very well I can not judge what you did to the driver, but it works so you did the right thing :slight_smile: , am I correct that the voltage on the 7135 chips is outside the specs? (but who cares if it works?).

Great start on BLF :slight_smile:

That would go well with my convoy lantern :slight_smile:

Yes that’s correct. He could minimize the risk by adding a 1000ohm/900ohm voltage divider in the input pin to drop VIN to 4v (well within spec). They’d still be regulating out of spec but the input signal would be below their max. Should prolong their life a bit.

Nice s2+ mod. we need a xhp35 magic wand s2+ with custom harry potter scar on it;)

I thought the same. I wanna see a giant XHP35, just cause.

Today I built this absolute masterpiece.

This old EA41 has hosted my pukelight a while now but it’s not actually very useful as a flashlight. Not wanting to take it apart and bulld the host into a more serviceable flashlight I just let it sit on the shelf for the last 4 years. Sentimental reasons I guess, it’s the first one I built and I went through all the heatsink I had machined so I couldn’t ever make another…

Well I scribbled out a circuit drawing last night that I thought might work and sure enough it did! I now have 2 triple channel drivers and their very different from each other UI’s working together! I got it to work by using the PL drivers 6x7135 channel for white as the Nx7135 channel on the TA driver, diodes keep the output signals from each MCU from reaching the other MCU pin and from conflicting should they accidentally get switched on at the same time. Conveniently PL can be controlled from a single button (it was originally 2 button since the EA41 has 2 buttons) so switch could be available for each driver and the anduril driver got control of the switch LED.

Even though it was a working light with a working driver I still built a fresh one because reasons.

Darn I forgot to take pictures of the cross-talk prevention diode placement, talk about surgery!

I’m scared to ask… “pukelight”?

“Pukelight” was a multi colored strobe / flashlight I built and marketed to LEO & security companies (they sold pretty well) back when I was doing flashlights professionally.

The concept is legit, randomized color and flash patterns of light help disorient. The military uses it, its so effective travel companies sometimes even use them for customers to find out if they get seasick before booking a cruise. It’s not actually designed to make you vomit or anything like that, just disorient.

As a handheld unit it’s pretty much outdated tech now cause pocket size flashlights with 3000+ lumens exist and with that much shear power white light is just as effective at disorienting…

I think running on AA’s was it’s best selling point, I would include a couple sets of L91’s and I know a lot of guys were already running NiMH too so they didn’t have to deal with Li cells.
Note it is now my second NiMH powered anduril light!

Now I know what a pukelight is!

I just thought it was a flashlight with a yellowish-green tint.

Yeah, my mind first went to Cree’s newer flip chip LEDs, but the flashlight predates those… :confounded:

Not sure where your conjure up the black magic from Ck but loving your work. :laughing:

Added a GITD o-ring and LED surround to the CRX Rotary.

Really like the luxury look of that one CRX, nicely done! The copper bezels just really ooze elegance. :smiley:

Thanks. Yeah, over a hundred hours work went into that one :slight_smile:

It shows, nicely done! You can send it to Texas for evaluation… :wink:

:wink:

We have a friend over there in Moffat that hasn’t been to visit in a while, maybe I could convince her to come and she could bring it with her. She might even be persuaded to bring some of that fantastic candy from the Moffat Toffee Shoppe. :smiley:

That’s only about 50mi from me, the toffee shop’s on the way too :smiley: