I’ve wanted to do this for a very long time but it only became practical after converting to the 1-series. Thanks for paving the way!
I didn’t think about that, nice suggestion. I’d prefer only replacing the optics because the current quad MCPCB is fitted with two screws, which is something I like, but if I bum out on replacement optics I have something to try. I have a spare S42 laying around somewhere, I can at least check the fit before taking this one apart again.
I swapped out the single Nichia 219C 4000K LED in my Convoy S2 to a triple Nichia 219B 4500K. The 219C was not a good choice for me in the S2. It had good throw, but I didn’t use it much since I have a triple JAXMAN E2L with the same LEDs. My 17 year old daughter wanted her own flashlight and she liked the tint of the 219C vs my other flashlights, so that was the perfect opportunity to modify the S2. We’ll be putting the LED into her purple S2+ host, along with a protected Samsung INR18650-35E battery.
I shaved the 219B LEDs using a razor blade and a washer. I wasn’t planning on doing that, but when I reflowed the LEDs, 1 of the domes got damaged. It actually worked out for the better since I now have a little more throw through the 10511 Carclo lens. I really like the tint and the S2 will certainly now get a lot more use!
Looks like a great light, NF. Triple 219B 4500K, MtnE driver, illuminated tailcap…
I really need to try some 4500K emitters soon. 5000K has been my go-to but sometimes it’s just too cool. I usually find that 4000K is a touch too warm. Goldilocks complex I guess.
Since I couldn’t pull the tube and driver (mine’s epoxied?) I had quite a dificult time manuvering the noctigon mcpcb in through the bezel. With the short, unruly, wires tucked one way or another the mcpcb’s reliefs were barely enough to rotate it in. I had planned on needing to remove some material from the mcpcb but that wasn’t required It is possible though tight to fit and I had no issues with centering after ensuring my mcpcb was properly seated.
only thing I would do different next time would be to use a proper torx driver
I had a 5700K Luminus SBT-90.2 from Neal that I did an output test on and it needed a host. Of course a big head thrower is the obvious way to go but I have a FT03 with this same led coming in the mail (some day it arrives) so that is already taken care of. So I went with the best 18650 host on the market (thanks to TheOnlyDocc who worked together with LuckySun, Lexel and BLF to make this finetuned version), the Wildtrail D80-V2. DBCustom beat me putting this led in a small host (he used a X6), but I think it is more than worth the trouble.
The challenge was to fit the led in the reflector that was never made for this fat led, and get it focused. I hoped that when the reflector hole was reamed so that it fitted flush around the black frame on the led that holds the glass window, so sitting on the led base, that the focus was ok too. And luckily that was quite right. With that hole size a thin edge of the reflector base remained and that was all that was needed to make it work. I slightly sanded that edge and then put a layer of Kapton tape on the edge, and also a layer of Kapton tape around the black frame on the led. This was needed because there are a couple of conducting dots in the corners on the led.
After this, this mod only needed two spring bypasses (18AWG at the tail, 20AWG at the driver) and the light was good to go. The stock 20mm Lexel driver is a fine FET+5+1 type, and the stock switch is a nice fat Omten one.
It took me 2 hours to do this mod (but the led was already reflowed). I’m not good with dust as you can see in the pics, dust does not affect performance but I should do a better job cleaning the reflector from the metal shavings that were formed when reaming the hole.
The performance is just great. With a fresh VTC6 and a clamp meter on the tail I measured 19 A. The output at startup is 4300 lumen (corrected to maukka calibration), at 30 seconds the output is 3950 lumen (just 8% drop) and the throw 118 kcd. After 2 minutes the head becomes really hot and a stepdown is desired.
It is refreshing to have a compact light with so much output that is not a flooder but a potent thrower . Only the SBT-90.2 could make this possible
The Wildtrail D80-V2 has a flintrock-bistro driver that can be set to precisely the 6x7135 engaged. I did some measurements on the SBT-90.2 mod: 2.16A, 808 lumen. The led at 2.16A measures 2.76V. So when the battery at a current of 2.16A delivers 2.76V (ignoring resistances in the flashlight, at 2.16A the voltage drop will be very low) the flashlight efficiency is 136 lm/W. Really high. Unfortunately in the entire range from full to completely empty, a VTC6 at 2.16A has more voltage than that. i.e when full it runs at 4V, the efficiency is thus 94 lm/W, which is still pretty good. So at low currents the SBT-90 has good efficiency.
I left the driver in place, these are the stock wires, I think 20 AWG. If the current had been low-ish that was a next job, but 19A on a full battery (prob. slightly lower with tail in place) was fine.
I recently got the L21A with XHP35, which is single cell as well.
On turbo i measured more than 9 Amps! according Convoy.AE it should do 2,3A to the LED
So it roughly makes an efficiency of around 75%
. Only the SBT-90.2 could make this possible
