New Convoy C8 – Clearly better

Surely y’all jest! I’ve used the purple Efest 18350’s for years, made a great many monster lights with em, albeit small in stature. :wink:

We were talking about the 26350 batteries.

Oops! Missed that. Carry on… :wink: ( I guess the statement about purple 26350’s that included Aspire 18350’s confused me, especially since this is the C8 thread and the C8 takes an 18650)

The little light lavender colored 26350’s run my L2 XHP-35 pretty well.

Would be great if some of you could help me. I’m pretty new in the flashlight world but got hooked last year after buying some cheap chinese ones from gearbest. After reading a bit around a bought a BLF A6 and the clear convoy C8. After some time i installed a BLF A6 driver i bought at banggood and also tried to bypass both springs (failed but there is just some bits of solder left on the springs and they are not extremely stiff. The light worked fine for some months - until it started to bug around and flicker on off and changing modes. Often it would just light up at the lowest mode and halfclicks would just bring it to the lowest mode again until it suddenly decided to switch modes just to fall back to the lowest mode over and over again. It was also extremely dependent how far i screwed the head and tail on the light.

I thought it was a driver issue and ordered a new driver which i installed tonight. Before that i tried to switch the tailcaps with the A6, but the light wouldn’t turn on at all.
Right now the light works fine but i can only lock it out by completely removing the tailcap. As soon as the tail touches the body somewhere, the light turns on. Is this normal? On every other light i got (gifted my dead the Eagle Eye X2R), half a turn or a full turn locks the light out.

You may have a short on the switch spring that is bypassing the switch, causing the light to come on as soon as your tail cap touches the tube. Look closer at your bypass to see if it’s loose and touching the outer ring somewhere. Flickering and inconsistent operation is, many times, associated with a loose ground, so make sure your retaining rings are tight and the bypasses are good.
Pictures are worth 1000 words. :wink:

Thanks for your help!

Here are some pictures:

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Just for clarification:
I can turn off the light with the switch.

The only way the light should come on as you put the tail cap on is if the switch is in the on position. If the switch is off, it shouldn’t engage the light.

I don’t see a problem anywhere in the pics, the shot that shows the switch assembly out of the light seems to have some solder paste loose on the masked part of the board, that could be causing some issue, try cleaning it off with some alcohol.

That spots are factory glue/resin not solder. But shouldn’t it als turn off if i turn it on and unscrew the tail? It just never looses contact. If i turn my Blf A6 for half a turn i can’t switch it on anymore.

Could the battery tube be inverted? Usually the end of the tube that screws into the head is non-anodized, the end that takes the tail cap has anodized threads so that it can indeed lock out. If the tube fits inverted, the tail cap would be in constant contact, unable to lock out.

I noticed Banggood and Aliexpress are selling the clear Convy C8 with the new firmware for about the same price but Banggood says 900 lumens and Convoy Store at Aliexpress says 1000 lumens and 7135x8. Are they exactly the same or is there a difference as I know sometimes the specs are not correct sometimes.

I’m measuring almost exactly 2.8A for the Convoy C8 with XP-L Hi V2-1A (cool-white) and U6-3A (neutral-whte) — both with new Biscotti firmware, 7135x8.
Would that be 900 lumens or 1000 lumens?

For the older Convoy C8 with XM-L2 and old 5/3-modes group, 7135x8, I measured 3.0A tailcap current.

(I think the Convoy C8 new firmware XP-L Hi uses “35A” or 350mA per chip so 8x chip = 2.80A
whereas the Convoy C8 old firmware XM-L2 uses “38A” or 380mA per chip so 8x chip = 3.04A)

I measure 800 lumens from my Convoy C8 clear with the new firmware (bought from Banggood last summer). It’s a 3A tint with 8x7135 chips. There’s probably some variability in output, so maybe mine is a little low (or my measurements are off), but I don’t think you’ll get 1000 lumens, except perhaps from the cool white version.

To get higher, I think you’ll need a version of C8 that uses a different driver than the 7135 chips.

@DB Custom Thx for the tip. I tried it both ways (both fit) and have to same problem on each side. Could the coating just completely scratched off? Since its clear, i can’t actually see it. Would still be strange since even the slightest contact turns on the light (if the switch is on).
Do you know where i could order a new switch? Don’t really want/like the LED one which is sold on banggood.

Could i just try to spraypaint the threads to get rid of the problem?

Wasn’t Simons clear anodizing electrically conductive? I remember someone testing it with a multimeter.

Most anodized finishes are insulators, but not all.

Hmmm. So i might have just fixed the flickering/not able to switch mode issue and lockout is just not possible? Sadly i can’t really remember if it ever was possible.

Lockout is really about an e-switch light anyway, just don’t need to lock one out with a tail clicky most of the time. If it’s critical, remove the cell or place a bit of tape or paper over the end and replace the tail cap.

Don’t have to get a new driver to hit 1000 lumens, stack an extra chip (or 2 or 6 or….) There are 350mA chips and 380mA chips, 8 of the 350’s net 2.8A while 8 of the 380’s net 3.04A. Add a chip. Problem solved.

Can you really see the difference between 800 and 1000? I’d bet no. Certainly not in a stand alone scenario. Possibly a side by side comparison you could detect that 200 lumen difference but not likely you’d see it just grabbing a light and heading out into the night. Keeping the 2.8A draw is good for run time, if you need more you need more but there’s that balance to find…

My clear C8 can lock out if I unscrew the tail cap slightly. However, if I leave the switch on and continue to unscrew the cap, it will flicker and stay on in certain portions. Unscrewing the head does not affect connectivity until it is all the way out. This does seem to indicate that the tail threads are anodized and is not supposed to be conductive, but mine is fairly new and very lightly used, so the anodizing on the tail threads haven’t worn through yet.

KuoH

Ok, thx for clarification!

Also, the Convoy C8 doesn’t really get that hot on maximum. The 8x7135 is a pretty-good balance for those that want maximum output for long periods of time. It might get hot enough to melt plastic fabric, but probably doesn’t pose a fire hazard even if it comes on in a back-pack or something.

I’m only concerned about lights that over-drive the LED, such as those with FET drivers. Great output, but you do have to be careful about heat. Also, small lights can get hot even if they don’t overdrive the LED, but the C8 is not a small light.