Hi. So I’ve got a large supply of Eneloops so I’d been reluctant to get into 18650 flashlights. Sadly, finding warm high-CRI flashlights with the right modes has been a pain. Now I’m looking at the Convoy S2+. There are so many options!
I see they have an SST20 at 2700K. Would I be right in guessing that will be a pretty warm light?
So what would be the right level of current? The choices are:
7135*3 output current 1050mA
7135*4 output current 1400mA
7135*6 output current 2100mA
7135*8 output current 2800mA
I’ve been pretty happy with AA-based flashlights. Balancing light and run times over the different modes, how would the 3x and 4x 7135 compare? I’m guessing the 6x and 8x would be more than I’d need. Do the different current levels affect tint?
4 is bright enough for me and has a long runtime with good efficiency. It also allows to run the highest level continously without overheating the light. 6 might work as well, but 8 will get too hot.
I’ve got a few S2+’s and the 2700k is definitely my favorite. 8x. More power Scotty. I trust myself to turn it down after many minutes. If you don’t trust yourself or others you can program it where 50% is maximum brightness.
I mean, if you want runtime over everything else, I find 2x7135 or 1x7135 are fantastic. I really don’t use the high mode on even my 3x7135 all that often.
I recently got the same 2700k in the 4x7135 for the same reasons. I didn’t need a super bright light as I already have a couple of fw3a lights. The 4x to me seemed a good balance. I mainly use it in lower modes anyway, but warm light and high cri were just as expected. I did get the op reflector and have added some DC fix to smooth out the hot spot. Great light for the price.
Get the biscotti for sure, and to my eye I can’t tell much difference in tint from top to bottom on mine.
Whichever driver you get, the best advice I can give is to get a nice 20mm TIR lens to replace the reflector. That way you won’t have to worry about a fried-egg beam.
Thanks, everybody. Having multiple mode options at these different current levels is awesome but makes the choice a little daunting. I’m not worried about overheating. Even if I got one over 2000mA, I’d only use high sporadically. I use the high on my regular 1xAA EDC (L11C) sparingly and that’s only like 120 lumens. The S2+ at any current level should be a big step up. Speaking of, how long does high typically last at these different current levels?
I’m looking for a good balance of light and run times. Less green would be a good thing. Based on what I’m seeing here in the discussion, I might go with a 4x.
I’m going to second this one. The only thing I’d add is that you want to get a TIR with the LED holder so it doesn’t put pressure on the dome. Make sure it fits though. I forgot if 21mm will fit in an S2+.
Dunno every type of TIR lens out there, but take the nekkid lens and let it sit on the LED itself. There should be no pressure on the dome at all. The only issue for using the shoe is that it’d act as a spacer and lift the lens off the LED a coupla mm.
What I did was drop the lens down the hole and screw down the pill ‘til it just touched. Turn it on (no tailcap, shorting battery to case) and see the beam. (Umm, aimed down, or course.) Back off a coupla turns to simulate the lens sitting a few mm above the LED and reexamine the beam. See if it makes a difference, and if so, which is better and by how much. A plain ol’ spacer with square cutout could do the same.
For me, it didn’t make much difference, so I opted for no spacer.
Nb: with the shoe, you’ll only be able to go to about 60°. Wider-angle like 90° and 120° lenses are more bowl-shaped (vs pointy) and won’t fit in the shoe. Besides, the wider-angled ones I tried were a bit ringy. So 60° is about as floody as practical. Or go for 5°/8°/10° for throwier.
Okay. I got a little excited. I ordered the S2+ with SST20, 4x at 2700K. I also ordered a C8+ with Nichia 219C, 6x at 4000K.
Being new to the world of 18650, which batteries should I get for these guys? I’m guessing that 3400-3600mAh would be ideal. Should I get the kind with a charging port or just buy a charger?
That light’s not too high-strung, so even an old panny-B or even a laptop pull would work fine. I burn off laptop pulls in headlamps and the like, as well as my low-stress lights (<2A).
So, go for capacity vs drain, that’s fine. It ain’t critical.
I got so many crapcells (not really, but I call ’em that) sitting in headlamps, etc., that it doesn’t make a diff what’s in the light.
As for charging, you can get a 1-bay Liitokala charger (LK101B or whatever; someone’ll correct me), or snap-on like a Folomov A1, etc. I got a come-with charger from a Sofirn light that charges right to 4.20V on the money. And in a pinch, I got lights with built-in chargers that I use (eg, to top off a cell at work).
Hell, I’ve charged a 14500 cell in my MH20 with a small ball of Al-foil, and a 26650 in a PB2S with the door open. Whatever works and doesn’t catch fire…
I prefer max brightness as an option since I can always switch to lower mode and the inefficiencies of running the chips at lesser output doesn’t affect my use times. My normal use is either 40% or 10% but sometimes I need the 100% (~680 lumens) so it’s nice to have.
I have a S2+ SST-20 with the 8x7135 board. Highest mode is very bright and throws quite well even with the OP reflector. Moon mode is also…. quite bright. Max current of 2800ma on the 8x gives a moon of 2.8ma and Low of 28ma which doesn’t sound like much but that moonlight feels like something well over 1 lumen.
Haven’t run it on high for a long time yet, but it does warm up. I wonder if the air flow would be sufficient to use as a bicycle headlight on high? Does anybody have output graphs for the SST-20 at these various amps?
My only S2+ has a 219C and either 3 or 4x7135 (not sure what Simon sent me). I love that it has an actual moonlight at 0.1% mode. It has a smooth reflector so the beam is very balanced, with a decent hotspot.
