Mini Review - New Convoy M2 (Pic Heavy)

I won this light from TinyDeal in a giveaway. I don't see a BLF review on it. So here is some info on it.

Pro's:

  • Compact size with nice heat sink fins.
  • Great general purpose beam pattern.
    • Good balance of flood and throw
  • Nice thick aluminum reflector and isolation ring.
    • Subtle OP texture
  • Integrated emitter shelf for better thermal path
  • Nice stainless steel bezel
  • Nice stainless steel clip
  • Anodized square-cut threads on battery tube
    • Well lubed
  • Threaded retaining rings for driver and tail switch
  • Finish is consistent and seems durable (untested)
  • MCPCB is secured by 2 screws
  • Two Mode Groups (L,M,H) or (L,M,H,Strobe,SOS)
  • Last-Mode memory

Con's:

  • Accidental Mode Group change is common and irritating.
    • Occurs in Low mode and at about the time I usually turn off light.
  • Finish is a bit shiny and slick.
  • Switch is fine for stock, but might be a little light for DD mods.

Arrived in bubble-wrap lined paper envelope with box and bubble-wrap bag. This is better that the thin plastic envelops.

Retaining rings and anodized square-cut threads. Check out chamfer on back side of driver ring.

Reflector:

Isolation ring, secured MCPCB, and integrated shelf:

Nanjg 105C type driver with 6 AMC7135's:

Tail switch assembly:

Size comparison to generic M1:

Beamshots:

Atmospheric conditions for beam shots have been lousy here for quite some time now. It's been raining off and on for a long time. When I try to take a beam shot, here is what results:

Conclusion:

Really nice general purpose light. I'll be carrying it a lot after a few simple mods as follows:

  • DTP copper emitter base.
  • DD+7135 with ToyKeeper FW
  • Spring by-pass resistance reduction
  • Replace switch if it fries

Ah, chamfer. Not moth repellent.

Dagnabbit, I was resisting this flashlight….

^

Thank you. I'll fix that.

Honestly? It looks like a fake to me, or maybe an old version (though I thought the old one had a brass pill). I have one straight from Simon, and the finish is the most matte I have ever seen (more matte than I like) and the cooling fins are deeper.

^

Possibly. I'm not a Convoy expert. The fins are deeper in real life than the pictures portray. I don't know why. I would say it's a pretty good copy if it is. Probably a mute point though. I see TinyDeal is sold out of these.

Those green surfaces can only be found in really budget lights (<$9).

Thanks for the review ImA4Wheelr! Can you comment on the thickness of the emitter shelf? It looks very thin in your pic.

While this might be a knockoff, its nice to see ano on square cut threads. Do they bind in any way or do they seem well machined and properly matched m/f?

I’ve bought a few of these as hosts from RMM as well as the M1. This one looks exactly the same as the ones RMM sells. Even down to the white box and bubble wrapping. He lists them as the new model. I say it’s the real deal. They are awesome with an fet driver and dedomed XML 2. This one has a little smaller reflector than the M1 but the beam is always tighter than the M1 when dedomed. They’re both really good at shedding heat. I really want to put a MTG2 in the M1 to keep for myself.

The latest version of M2 from Simon has “TM” printed on the top right conner, above the Convoy logo.

The ones I put together from RMM all had good threads. Could probably stand to be a little closer tolerance fit but there really good for the price. The M2 has the shiny satin ano finish and the M1 is matte ano like an armytek. The matte is my favorite and it seems like the better higher quality finish.

I don’t have anymore M2 ’s but I have a M1 from RMM and it does not have the “TM” mark.

Interesting. My M2 does have “TM” and is very matte

Yeap, now I’m wanting a matte M2 with the “TM” mark… 8)

Thanks for the review ImA4Wheelr.

Simon does produce great flashlights but the L-M-H and L-M-H-Strobe-SOS groups (with 2-8 7135? chips) is getting a bit long in the tooth :stuck_out_tongue: Need to get an updated/upgraded driver!

FlashPilot wrote:

Thanks for the review ImA4Wheelr! Can you comment on the thickness of the emitter shelf? It looks very thin in your pic.

While this might be a knockoff, its nice to see ano on square cut threads. Do they bind in any way or do they seem well machined and properly matched m/f?

Hey FP. I'll check on those things and get back to you tonight.

Thank you 4wheelr!

Great review, I may have to pick one up in a while once I recover from group buy-itis…

I thought I saw where you could jumper two of the attiny legs together to just make these three mode lights. I can’t find where i saw that though, or even I it was this type of driver. I am starting to really dislike the mode group changes though…

FlashPilot wrote:

Thanks for the review ImA4Wheelr! Can you comment on the thickness of the emitter shelf? It looks very thin in your pic.

While this might be a knockoff, its nice to see ano on square cut threads. Do they bind in any way or do they seem well machined and properly matched m/f?

Shelf is .048" thick. I don't have a tool to measure the shelf diameter. A 20mm copper star covers the whole shelf with a small gap to the wall around the shelf. So l lets say the shelf's circumference is 66mm (2*3.14*10.5mm) or about 2.6". I'm don't know how much heat .1248 square inches (2.6"*.048") of aluminum can move. I agree with you. It does seem a tad thin. There is a little room under the shelf to press a disk in as the driver bay is .32" deep. Or, one could line the wall around the top of the shelf with thin copper sheet (.021 or .035") and then lightly press in a 20mm Noctigon (.065" thick). That would surely provide adequate thermal path.

The threads don't bind at all and are smooth, but there is a lot of slop if the O-rings are removed. The slop doesn't seem big enough to be problematic, but it on the verge of seeming that way.

Hope that helps. Now that the light is completely tore down, it's time to mod it.

Thanks for taking the time to provide such a meticulous inspection. If it were mine, Id probably limit it to 3A and be happy with the results. The square cut ano threads seem like a much welcome addition for anyone who would use this light often enough to swap the cells frequently, even if there is a bit of slop in the fit. As many of the lights age that I’ve sold to others, the primary complaint has been that the bare aluminum tail threads have worn out in spite of keeping the threads lubed. Many of my customers use their lights every day for extended periods of time, so they are recharging on a daily basis. The constant removal of the tail cap can be hard on threads.

As an aside, the current Convoy C8 also has a very high quality ano tail thread and should hopefully last many times longer than the bare threads of a lesser host.

Im looking forward to your mods, should you decide to move forward with them.