What did you mod today?

zumlin · October 1, 2021, 5:33am

Hi there, my first post in BLF and my first major build ever. I present to you a Convoy S2+ UV mule

I was a member in candlepowerforums a long time ago. I took about a 17 year break from flashlights and recently became an enthusiast again.

emitters: LG LEUVA33W70RL00 x 4
driver: P4000 5A 20mm buck driver from Kaidomain
lens: ZWB2 filter from Convoy
tailor made copper spacer between mcpcb and pill
3D printed PLA ring between mcpcb and lens (I know PLA is not the best choice, but I am a newbie in 3D printing and literally got my 3D printer less than a month ago, I will probably print one in PETG when I get more familiar)
It runs on 2 x 18350 in series with a Convoy pcb board
Unfortunately it’s a tight fit even with the spring from the driver removed so the 2 18350 batteries have been dented slightly

CNCman · September 30, 2021, 8:50pm

Welcome to BLF ‘zumlin’
Nice mod, I love the color.

JaredM · September 30, 2021, 9:36pm

I second the appreciation for that ano color. Which this deep violet would be more common.

Welcome and nice mod!

Correllux · October 1, 2021, 12:42am

Nice. I love the violet host for UV…wish Simon would sell them already made up that way. Sounds like a smart build going for series/buck. Can you nip a coil from the tail spring and gain any room?

Great photo, btw!

ArtieT59 · October 1, 2021, 3:34am

zumlin:

Hi there, my first post in BLF and my first major build ever. I present to you a Convoy S2+ UV mule I was a member in candlepowerforums a long time ago. I took about a 17 year break from flashlights and recently became an enthusiast again. emitters: LG LEUVA33W70RL00 x 4 driver: P4000 5A 20mm buck driver from Kaidomain lens: ZWB2 filter from Convoy tailor made copper spacer between mcpcb and pill 3D printed PLA ring between mcpcb and lens (I know PLA is not the best choice, but I am a newbie in 3D printing and literally got my 3D printed less than a month ago, I will probably print one in PETG when I get more familiar) It runs on 2 x 18350 in series with a “Convoy pcb board”:2.45€ |18mm PCB board für serie verbindung. Verbinden zwei flache kopf 18650 batterien in serie. Erhöhen die länge zu füllen die lücke|Tragbare Beleuchtung Zubehör| - AliExpress Unfortunately it’s a tight fit even with the spring from the driver removed so the 2 18350 batteries have been dented slightly !https://i.imgur.com/4G9LsSU.jpeg!

wow that light is beautiful! welcome!

raccoon · October 1, 2021, 5:02am

Have a pleasant time at this friendly forum, zumlin!

Nice shade of violet!

zumlin · October 1, 2021, 5:32am

It won’t help unfortunately. It is actually the retaining ring of the switch that is pushing against the battery.

rio_immagina · October 1, 2021, 9:18am

Firelight2:

rio immagina:

I thought the D25a was not moddable, since no bezel. Can the pill be popped out?

There are actually 2 versions of the Eagletac D25a Ti, one with pill and one without. Both can be modded.

The early version D25a Ti has a bezel and no pill and is easier to mod

The battery tube screws into the head.

It is entirely made of Titanium.

The bezel is not glued and unscrews so emitter swaps are easy. There is room for a standard Noctigon star with the edges filed down slightly.

The one downside is the driver wires are thin and have PVC insulation which tends to melt when soldering the leads to the star.

The aluminum version D25a also followed this same construction, except the head was aluminum and the bezel was blackened steel.

The revised version of the D25a Ti has a brass pill

The head (with glued in pill) screws into the battery tube.

This revision was done to eliminate the gritty feeling users complained of when swapping mode groups in the first version (which required slightly unscrewing the head). Instead of Ti-on-Ti it is now Brass-on-Ti.

The revised version contains a brass pill. The top half of the pill’s threads screw into the titanium head. The bottom half screws into the battery tube when changing batteries. Both sides have o-rings to provide waterproofing.

The head is secured to the brass pill with a small amount of red threadlocker. I believe this was done to eliminate the chance the user might accidentally unscrew the head when they wanted to change the battery.

It is possible to mod the revised version D25a by forcefully unscrewing the head from the pill to break the threadlocker.

To break the threadlocker I used 3M safety walk tape on the head coupled with pliers on the brass threads of the pill. The pliers left a few minor scratches in the pill, but this isn’t an issue since it does not affect operation and they are not visible when the battery tube is screwed on.

Once the threadlocker is broken, changing emitters is easy. Just unscrew the head from the pill. The star sits exposed on the top of the pill.

The light comes with a thin aluminum star. Unfortunately, it is not practical to use a thicker copper star as that would cause the head to not screw in all the way. And if it doesn’t screw in all the way it won’t cover its o-ring. Without the o-ring covered, the head won’t tighten onto the pill. Without that, when you change the battery the head will come apart rather than the battery tube coming off. I recommend using the stock star and reflowing your choice of XPG footprint emitter onto it.

It is not necessary to replace the threadlocker after modding. Just screw the head really tightly onto the pill and don’t tighten the battery tube as tightly.

The revised D25a has the same issue of PVC insulated wires. Mine were good for probably 5 or 6 emitter swaps before I had issues and replaced them with Silicone wires. The driver is press-fit and can be levered out with the edge of a knife.

I believe these revisions were also done to the D25c. And all current model similar Eagletacs such as the D3A and D3C also use the same design.

Thank you Firelight2, this is very informative!

So, maybe I could build a D3A around that 15mm driver from copper and current.

Cheers!

JaredM · October 1, 2021, 1:12pm

You could also try filing down the front-most few threads on the pill so that it screws in further

jon_slider · October 6, 2021, 3:26pm

Jetbeam TCR-1 mod to sw45k

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Pacolux · October 13, 2021, 6:57am

I plan to put together a l6 convoy with a luminus sft70. Do you know of a 30mm driver for this 6V led? I need a strong one because surely this led will last more than 10A

Rayoui · October 13, 2021, 10:21am

It may not be 10A, but can’t you just use the XHP70.2 driver that is made for the L6?

Scallywag · October 13, 2021, 2:25pm

Should work fine. There’s a notable lack of enthusiast drivers (particularly, anything using Anduril) for 2S input

Firelight2 · October 14, 2021, 2:42am

Got my second shipment of FD2 bin SST20s last night.

Immediately installed half of them into my DQG Tiny IV triple and my modded Emisar D4 with lighted metal switch.

I love this emitter! Blows away all other SST-20s I’ve seen. Creamy rosy tint even at low power settings. Makes even the SST-20s that came with my FWAA look like crap. Much rosier than even XPL HI 5D.

I think I should order more.

Haukkeli · October 13, 2021, 8:03pm

I built Convoy M21C with Xhp35.2 6500K 80cri from Kaidomain. I used Convoys 12V 2,5A boost driver with it.

Hotspot had weird yellowish center with tiny blue dot in it. Around that yellow area beam was about 6500K as it should.

After some use emitter had donut hole symptoms and I checked the reason. Whole emitting surface was charred black. I cleaned it and underneath the black stuff the led was perfect. After that I tried it again. No more yellow area and no more charring.

Seems to handle 2,5A well. I don’t know the reason for charring. I cleaned the led with q-tip and electric cleaner just before closing the bezel. After the charring I cleaned it with same method and it seems to work just fine.

Maybe I burned and cleaned extra CRI values away.

Edit: corrected typo

Pacolux · October 14, 2021, 8:55pm

only 5A? I think it would be wasting a sft70

Scallywag · October 14, 2021, 9:38pm

There’s 30mm FET driver for 2S input (suitable for L6 with XHP70.2). Would that work?

Pacolux · October 14, 2021, 10:25pm

that might be too much. can you show a link anyway?

Sidney_Stratton · October 15, 2021, 1:54am

There was a 5 A driver but I can’t find it at Convoys.
Would this GT FC40 Driver and switch for Convoy L6 be adequate? How much current?

Scallywag · October 15, 2021, 2:48am

30mm FET from Mtnelectronics. I’m on mobile or I’d link it directly. Suitable for 6v emitters with 2s input.

GtFc40 is 12 emitter