+1 DOWN WITH GIRLY FINS!!!
Dear Mr. FlashPilot,
I’m certainly not going to discount such a heap of well thought out suggestions. I don’t have the time to respond to every detail right now but I’ll do my best. Here are my thoughts on your thoughts…
…huge thermal bottlenecks in the head …prevent heat from traveling from the floor plate through the entire head to disperse the heat into the air… trapped heat at the base of the head, which also heats the batteries
I can’t argue with any of that. I see what Simon was going for with more reflector/head contact area where the reflector but you’re right. Because it’s not at the bottom which is the only place I see it as beneficial, it’s a bottleneck/heat trap.
Bolster the wall thickness inside the head to closely follow the contours of the reflector. Keep the walls as thick as possible. There should be very little space anywhere between the reflector and the inside of the head (less than 2mm). All that dead air we now see between the reflector and head should be solid aluminum!
I agree to about following the contours but thickness needs to be kept within reason for both build cost and shipping cost otherwise this becomes a $100 light.
Trim all that wasted aluminum from the fat mid portion of the reflector so the head can be built thicker to help conduct heat.
Agreed but again within reason for cost effectiveness.
Make ALL the cooling fins the same diameter as the bezel to add surface area to exchange heat with the air. While we have grown used to seeing lights with useless small tapered cooling fins, they are ineffective and only there for aesthetics. The highest concentration of heat is generated at the floor plate where the largest/deepest cooling fins are needed to conduct heat… not those silly worthless little girly fins! Sick Its time to get serious and offer a light that works as good as it looks!
I cannot agree with you 100% here. Simon has always been about building good looking lights so aesthetic value will always matter to him. My influence is just that. He makes the calls, but he has always listened to reason whenever I’ve presented it. The examples I’ve seen of lights with perfect cooling are on the ugly side IMHO. I think most things in life come down to finding the proper balance and this is no exception. Perfect cooling means an UGLY light. Perfect looks means poor cooling. Find the balance is my thinking. That said I agree that more can be done to better cool the L6.
Something like a scaled up C12 (only much better)
U-G-L-Y it aint got no alibi it’s UGLY!
Much better would be 3 × 32650…
Not a very common cell and you’re adding almost the cost of the light in batteries to power it. I for one just can’t afford that.
How about 100-120mm reflector?
No disrespect but dude that’s a satellite dish 
extension tubes for 4 cell mod configurations…
He’s not going to make it if he’s going to sell it to 50 people worldwide. Once the light is released maybe we could do a poll on who would buy a 4 cell tube
Copper DTP MCPCB…
Fairly certain that was addressed at the outset but I’ve asked Simon to verify.
Quality dual sided AR lens… absolutely mandatory.
Absolutely agreed. Simon is working on creating a high quality lens, AR coated on both sides.
offer as a host kit with the ability to purchase all the parts…
Host will be offered. All the parts individually is a lofty goal but a good one.
With different battery tube, reflector finish and driver options, this could be a modular system offered from 2 – 4 cell configurations to handle the XHP-50, XHP-70 and XHP-35 while properly dispensing with the enormous amount of heat these emitters generate. A modular system would also keep manufacturing costs down while offering several different configurations… rather than just one mediocre, hot running, inefficient flashlight.
Agreed
The one guy that could pull this off while maintaining a quality product is Simon.
Agreed 
Well… that took a long time to respond to but thank you for such well thought feedback. Respect. 
I'm fine with girly fins. :P
C12 is one ugly little light. Definitely would not buy a larger version of it.
I'd be interested to see how much benefit large fins are versus small fins. I would guess it wouldn't make much difference unless there is a lot of air movement.
I like the external dimensions just as they are. I would like to have a much smaller light over the Acebeam K60. More internal mass in the head yes, huge external fins no. Lets look at battery extensions and 32650 tubes for future up grades. 65mm reflector even with light OP on this LED at 3500 lumens is going to throw further than what the great unwashed masses need.
For myself a 50mm reflector running on 2-32650’s up to 7 amps with a magnetic ring selector would be tops. Until then please keep this on close to the picture.
Does anyone know 32650’s that can deliver the amperage we like? All the “D” size Li-Ion’s I’ve found are weak.
Protected trustfire does about 7 amps. Test of TrustFire TF32650 6000mAh (Black-red)
Others;
Feilong Li-Ion 32650 cells TESTED! | Candle Power Flashlight Forum!
http://lygte-info.dk/review/batteries2012/Feilong%2032650%206000mAh%20(Gray)%20UK.html
I’d want at least 12A, even 15-20A if possible. HKJ says the Feilong can’t handle over 10A and everything else doesn’t even come close to that. Capacity is good on the Feilong though, can’t argue that, but what do they cost? $24 each? The new Efest Purple 26650’s fare much better at a more reasonable price.
The King Kong 26700 is a good cell if it’ll fit, paired up in series it’s an even bigger problem.
You can Gold Plate the trustfire’s and I still wouldn’t take em, free.
Often wondered why you just couldn’t machine the inside of the head with the profile of a reflector and just polish and mirror/vapor coat it? Get rid of the reflector, get rid of the air gaps? With super fine (more threads per inch/mm) precision threads mate the pill to it just above the emitter shelf. Make all mating surfaces inside and out mate perfectly for heat transfer, even the fins. Make the outside from the bezel finned all the way down to the battery tube? If the fins are mated (make full contact) where they join at or just below the emitter line, would it work? Would it suffice? Maybe have to be lapped together? I really like the idea’s Dale and FP have presented, real food for thought! I know it won’t happen with the L6, but maybe in the future?? A Convoy Super L-? As far as optimal power supply, battery configuration, maybe 2S3P, I don’t know much about it yet :_(
Interesting!! What driver will Simon use for this one? If it’s a decent driver there would be no need to buy as a host, under $60 is really a steal!
Interesting concept if you’re going for a thrower since I can’t see how to properly machine an OP reflector. :bigsmile:
I’m typically going to argue that aesthetics are taken into consideration. That said, would I buy an ugly light that was phenominally functional? If the price was right you bet I would. Any way you look at it I love the ideas that are tossed around here.
be interested but for me in a xhp50 to try and get a
little more throw, I have one xhp70 an acebeam x60,and as much as I love it ,it virtually has not visible hot spot ut just throws a huge wall but that is just my opinion on what I would do on a host not what I want Simon to do.I think this a great idea because we’ll all know convoys are qaulitu budget lights that are in most people’s price range so to that I say thank you for doing this for us budget minded people!
It’s a driver I haven’t heard of but maybe others have… or maybe it’s new? Anyway the driver name FX-30. As indicated by the name it is a 30mm driver. Other than that and the stated 4.5-5A Simon told me it would pump out all I have is a picture.
This is it.
Why not make a big Uni-body finned design kind of like the ZebraLight where the whole body is the heatsink? The only pieces you have are a crown to tighten down the reflector (Crenelated and stainless), a tailcap and a metal ring to fasten down the driver.
And please make a bigger deeper reflector I’m thinking like the Lum 5-90 but deeper (75mm+) that will make this a formidable thrower.
Respect to you as well. Sorry for the short replies, and thank you for taking the time to consider some options. I underlined my comments in answer to your replies below. Thank you for your thoughts.
I have purchased in large bulk several times from Simon and will email him my thoughts as things develop. Being in this game for several years, I believe the market is ripe to sell several thousand units worldwide if all the innovations come to fruition. No disrespect intended, but several of your comments seem to show a lack of knowledge and experience in what Convoy has offered and what has been offered recently in other XHP-70 flashlights or other large flashlights of recent past. (Which is fine. We all start somewhere). The many variations of the light I propose would offer many different modular versions, each being a unique twist on a successful theme. Looking back at the history of Convoy, Simon already provides this with many of his lights and has ever since Convoy was created.
IMO, the market is ripe for something that hasnt been done a dozen times before while remaining cost effective.
Pluses - price, modular system for a myriad of factory flashlight or mod configuration choices, lack of skilled labor to assemble, close to the same number of machining operations, low cost of materials and lack of complexity would be an easy stretch over the proposed light.
At 4-5 amps, the current L6 will be another light that overheats very quickly in high mode while providing far less lumens and throw than its larger competitors (which also suck in a big way, IMO). It will also have short run times if it attempts to deliver 4-5 sustained amps in regulation on only 2 x 26650’s, even with the very best 26650 cells we can buy @$25 each. The TF32650’s run around $12 each and nothing has yet to beat them.
The only reason Ive put this amount of effort into this is because its a culmination of what our most talented modders have attempted to build (with varying degrees of success) while using unlimited amounts of time, money and knowledge. Of all the manufacturers I have dealt with, Simon would be the first Id approach to build the proposed light at a reasonable cost… and it would completely decimate all of its competition in this category of lighting while setting a very high water mark. The TrustFire TR-J20 already showed us what is possible, and it would have cost a great deal more to manufacture than the light I have proposed. If not Simon, Trustfire would be the next to approach, and they will be very capable of delivering. But Id much rather it be a Convoy than a Trustfire, and it will cost less.
Id really love to see Simon kick some major ass on this one and put all the expensive large flashlight big name lights to embarrassing shame… and it can be done.
Everything always takes more time than a simple emitter reflow! 
My take on this light is that it’s a small practical XHP-70 that puts out ?–3500 lumens. I would use it mostly in the 50-2000 lumen range with 3500 lumen turbo sparingly. It could be made larger such 2-3 32650’s but those batteries are too rare limiting the appeal of the light. 4-6 18650’s for better run time and less voltage sag but that makes it bigger. I personally have far too many lights and it’s always the small ones I gravitate back too. As is on the design board this is the largest light I could see myself carrying around. Small it will cook quickly if run on max, large and it gets left at home or in the car. The larger sizes have already been covered three or four times with the Acebeam K60, Lumintop SD75, Thrunite TN36, etc. This is the smaller practical light I want. Larger designs are probably to follow.
I can inquire how the stipple is done, I have an “IN” at FlexinGate Automotive Lighting, but I think it is sprayed on, they do a lot of plastic injection molding of reflectors for automotive head lights. I was told they could re-coat my TK61 and Tk75’s reflectors? As far as how the light looks outside it could be made to look ugly or pretty? Huge or tiny? Like AlexGT said uni-body uni-head or integral head construction!! Yeah that’s the ticket!
Driver has been out for awhile. It is about $5-6/pc.
Mode and rated output: High(4.5A) > Medium(2.7A) > Low(125mA) > Lowest(1mA)
Mode spacing sounds pretty good to me.
Flashpilot,
Okay so it took a day to recover from that pummeling… I don’t have time to respond to all that but I will try to address a few of the main arguments. I’m a rookie who unintentionally stepped into the ring with a heavyweight.
Keep in mind I am coming from a different perspective. I can’t build lights like you can. I have a huge amount of respect for you and those like you who can but I’m not there, so I want to buy the best stock hotrod within my budget.
FlashPilot: …several of your comments seem to show a lack of knowledge and experience in what Convoy has offered and what has been offered recently in other XHP-70 flashlights or other large flashlights of recent past.
Me: This is true. If you’ve read my posts you know I don’t claim otherwise. I in fact am completely new to XHP70 lights. I don’t even have proper soldering skills. I do love this hobby though and I’m learning all I can about design along the way. I’ve managed to form a good working relationship with Simon that I saw was missing from BLF and I’m happy to say that has resulted in some new lights and rebirth of ideas that had been shelved.
FlashPilot: At 4-5 amps, the current L6 will be another light that overheats very quickly in high mode while providing far less lumens and throw than its larger competitors.
Me: Maybe, but most of the larger competitors you mentioned (that share the same problems) are 3-5 times the cost of this light which puts them way out of my league. I think there are others that will also want this light because of its budget friendliness. Those that could not afford a XHP70 light will now be able to and look darn good doing it!
FlashPilot: The TrustFire TR-J20 already showed us what is possible, and it would have cost a great deal more to manufacture than the light I have proposed. If not Simon, Trustfire would be the next to approach, and they will be very capable of delivering. But Id much rather it be a Convoy than a Trustfire, and it will cost less.
Me: I like some of what Trustfire does too but in my opinion the TR-J20 is hideous. I can respect it for raw power but dang it’s ugly.
FlashPilot: Its in the same ballpark as other large lights. The X60 is close to 110mm. BTU Shocker and TK70 come in at around 100mm. Pick any and they are large. Besides, the large reflector is what is required to maximize the potential of the XHP-70. The 32650 is the same diameter as a D cell so its quite comfortable to carry and balances the light in longer configurations. Anyone who has handled a TK70 will know the huge benefits when carrying it single handed, especially for any length of time. Far easier and more comfortable than fat battery tube lights with a battery carrier. I personally dont find much difference between handling large 26650 lights versus large 32650 lights, so the choice is far more than obvious from a performance and cost perspective
Me: I can’t afford any of the lights you mentioned there. I’m not arguing that a huge head diameter would better make use of the XHP70s potential but that is considerably larger than anything I want to carry and if Trustfire is my only battery option I’m out. They make some half decent cells but I’m not unwrapping a cell and removing protection circuits to try to see a performance increase. For many that would be just plain dangerous.
FlashPilot: With different battery tube, reflector finish and driver options, this could be a modular system offered from 2 – 4 cell configurations to handle the XHP-50, XHP-70 and XHP-35 while properly dispensing with the enormous amount of heat these emitters generate. A modular system would also keep manufacturing costs down while offering several different configurations… rather than just one mediocre, hot running, inefficient flashlight.
Me: I love that idea and I hope you pursue it.
All that said, my opinions are just that. You know way more about this than I do. I certainly was not/am not trying to challenge you on a knowledge basis. It just seems you are coming from the point of view of a highly advanced builder/modder which excludes some of us, myself included. I am not in your league in that regard and at this point I don’t have the budget or desire to be so some of what appeals to you does not to me. I do however have great respect for the amazing things I’ve seen you build. I’ve read page after page in awe. If you can convince Simon to build the massive modular system you are describing and help him through the design that would be amazing. I hope you do.
I’m still fairly certain I’m going to be happy with the L6 and I can’t wait to get mine.
If you crave high Amps and long staying power then triple 18650 would be far better option than one 32650 in both power, price and convenience.
J-Dub74
Actually, a 2S3P 18650 input looks like a very interesting choice for a powerful XHP70 flashlight. Three commonplace 2600mAh Sanyo or Samsung cells are both cheaper and offer more juice than a relatively rare single 5200mAh 26650 cell. The whole setup takes more weight and space, but I don’t think it’s too significant for a flashlight as large as Convoy L6.
And if you wish for even more runtime with high power, then this would be a very starting point for mods running XHP in 12V mode on a boost driver with those high capacity cells which can be discharged down to 2.5V.
So a battery tube for 3x2 18650 cells should be a nice possible option, offering higher power for less price in batteries (especially considering that 18650 are also used in power banks and other countless flashlights, unlike 26650, and that in dire need you can use only two cells at all for mid to low power), for somewhat thicker grip.
But I’m not sure if manufacturing it instead of 2x26650 is commercially viable.