Haukkeli's entry to 9th OldLumens challenge -modded S2+

I have been active in this forum for six months now. Few months ago there was some discussion about Convoy S2 and S2+ differences. There were some pictures that inspired me to try this build, which is building S2+ triple with 18500 tube using 18650 battery. So here it starts.

First I ordered 18500 tube from Jaxmans Aliexpress store and host from Convoy Flashlight Store. Then I waited for a month.

When parts arrived they were not compatible. Jaxman uses older style threads and Convoy has square cut ones.

After asking from Simon, if he has older gray hosts (he doesn’t) I found that Kaidomain’s hosts are with metal button. So they have to be older ones.

Another month went by and parts arrived. I tried to put them together and Bingo! Threads were compatible.

Here can start the real build.

First I filed half of the threads away from the pill. I also filed top of the pill flat so that I can use 20mm mcpcb.

This allowed me to screw the pill deeper and as a bonus I didn’t need spacer that you usually need with triple builds.

Next I drilled Center hole to the pill and filed it to get rid of the burring.

I used H17Fx driver from Mountain Electronics. Here’s the first installation.

I decided to use Samsung LH351D 5000K 90cri leds and dedome them. I have heard that dedoming makes them really nice.

First is the reflow process. I used some regular solder and sticky flux. Heating is achieved with soldering iron with copper plate on top of it.

Here they are ready

And after that dedoming with sharp blade and thin centering gasket

Next I assembled the pill for the first time. I have found it easier to apply thermal paste after the soldering if you have separate pill.

Then I put Carclo’s narrow spot tir (10507?) on top of the mcpcb and 1mm thick AR coated lens from Kaidomain on top of the tir. It’s 0,6 mm thinner than the regular one for space savings. Next screwed it in the host. It goes quite deep.

No need for spacer

Good luck with your mod!

I tried something similar 5+ years ago. I concluded there wasn’t enough space for an 18650, though I was able to make an 18500 fit with the 18350 tube. For an 18650 version, I used the stock tube and tailcap, but shortened the head.

After trying to assemble the light I found that the battery was still about 1mm too long. I dismantled everything and went to my workplace where I have acces to lathe. I turned the driver shelf so that the driver sits few millimetres deeper in the pill. I also added little solder blob on drivers brass pole, so that using flat top is easier. Here it is again in the host.

With this latest modification battery is flush with battery tube.

Next I shortened the spring in the tailcap and added bypass. I used silver coated spring from Kaidomain.

After assembling the tailcap the flashlight is finished and works as it intented. Here it is next to regular sized S2+

Notice how different the colouring is even though both are gray.

And of course mine has metal button that you can’t get from Simon anymore. :smiley:

If someone else wants to try this build I recommend ordering regular S2 pill from Kaidomain along with S2+ host. They Lego and S2’s pill is much shorter than S2+’s. So it is easier that way, I think.

Looking forward to it. Something like this?

Flashlight is finished. After receiving parts it took about 5 hours. Couldn’t have made it without turning the driver shelf deeper in the pill. It was a millimetre game.

Edit: after taking a look to the link you posted it was definately the same method I used. Only difference that I found is I wanted to add a lens on top of tir.

That was the 1mm too much that forced me to my workplace on my spare day to have access to a lathe. :smiley:

That was a lot of file work. :slight_smile:

Good work :wink:
I did a similar stuff a while ago (What did you mod today? - #9723 by MascaratumB) but using a shorter pill, which makes the job easier to fit!
In any case you have a nice flashlight there :wink:

Seems like my idea wasn’t so unique. :slight_smile:

Ideas don’t have to be unique: making them happen has :wink:
And you did it :+1:

I knew it! Your thread was the one I remembered, but the link above is all I found when I searched. I just assumed I’d been mistaken.

I would like to do a triple osram on a convoy for my dad, but thought the bezel would overlap the optic too much. You could potentially turn it out a little bigger in a lathe, but you would lose the anodizing there. Does the overlap from the bezel affect the beam much?

I love the convoy lights for anybody who isn’t an enthusiast. Simple UI, no parasitic drain, and dependable. My dad uses a blf a6 all the time. A similar light with triple osrams would be great for him.

I don’t think it affects much. You could go the easy way and buy triple from Jaxman. That’s basically S2+ triple. Even parts are interchangeable. Then just swap emitters to your liking.

That’s a good idea, I don’t have any jaxman lights so I never even gave that a thought.