Review: Four-way Convoy S2/S3 mini-review

i heard about that too, hence i am hoping someone has tried to it positive effect

I got my Convoy S2 (XML U2-1B, 2100mAh model). I’ve not tried out if the stars work or not (or perhaps I’ll just flash it with a better software). I find the blink tolerable but I sometimes seem to change mode groups by accident which is very annoying.

Other thoughs:
-Very floody. A narrower optic would help a lot. I tried 10 degree and 15 degree optics and I liked the beam more that way.
Unfortunately for example Fasttech XML optics (like the 10 degree optic) are too short to fit there without some kind of spacer in front. The pill does not screw forward enough and at the extreme tha battery contact is lost. (A 5-pack of extra glass plates should probably do just fine as a spacer :slight_smile: See FT site for measures of the reflector to be replaced.
–2100mAh was hitting 50C on the outer shell in 5 minutes. (Lamp horizontally on the floor at room temperature). Anything more than that is not safe for longer use I think. Even at that current I’m thinking if I should remove 1-2 7135s.
-The shell is pretty thin which makes me wonder if it conducts heat away good enough. The hot end of the tube at battery end location stayed at around 40C or so.
-Could be smaller for EDC use.
-mode spacing is not perfect and it requires two presses to switch mode after the memory has been stored.

I just gave it a try. First I had to drill bigger dimples into the pill with my dremel so my circlip pliers could get a grip to extract it. I bridged star #3 to the outer ring. Reassembled and because of the better grip, screwed the pill down until tight. Then when I replaced the lens, it had lots of space to rattle around, so had to adjust the pill again, now it is loose and probably will not retain it’s present position so will have to seal the pill threads by the looks of it. Tried the switch again, and unfortunately shorting the star had no effect, still get the programming blink after 5 seconds on low mode, and it will still reset the modes. Probably will need some of those extra glass lenses to space the bezel gap now as mentioned previously.

Has anyone noticed if they turn the light on low and use the tailcap a quarter turn to turn it on and off several times rapidly you can find a mode thats low but strobes approximately once per second?

That’s the low battery protection thing kicking in on the drivers; you’ll get the same thing if you suddenly impact the light (Not that I’m recommending this) or switch modes too fast in some cases.

It should enter this mode automatically when the battery is low (Step down from high/medium, but maybe not from low) however I wouldn’t rely on it.

interesting, i can only induce this with screwing and unscrewing the tailcap, but not with the switch

I get similar on the light I modded. Because my modded light isn’t exactly perfect the battery can move and if I shake the light while it’s on the battery looses contact with the driver for a moment and then low voltage kicks in. So basically by doing what you’re doing you’re simulating low battery voltage.

interesting, so the driver kicks in when it thinks the voltage is low, but doesn’t realize if voltage goes back up to normal unless i power cycle it

I get the same effect with my sample as well. I guess unscrewing the back makes bad contact and the driver detects it as a dropped voltage.

One of mine had a faulty switch and would go into low-voltage mode entirely on its own. When changing modes, it was pretty much random if it would rotate by 0, 1, or 2 modes or go into low-voltage or just give a dim flicker. But I contacted Intl-Outdoor about it and they sent me a free replacement switch. Works great now. :slight_smile:

I had a couple of DIY Hosts that gave me the same behaviour, in the end it was due twice to bad grounding of the pill to the driver, and once bad grounding of the switch.

Need to get the S3.
The emitter and tint choices are a bit confusing.
If I want the S3 with the floodiest beam w neutral tint, which configuration should I choose?
( T5-5C?)

My Convoy S3 just arrived with a faulty tailcap, take 10 clicks to turn on. I have metered it and confirmed the cap is faulty. I would like to get a new cap rather than return this half way around the world for refund/repair. Can you tell me which ones will fit? Cheers

It's likely just the tailcap switch inside the tailcap that needs fixed. Have you removed the retaining ring to get the switch out to see what's wrong (perhaps a bad solder joint)? I can't help you locate a switch, but at least you can stop pursuing an entire tailcap (which you likely won't find).

-Garry

I have disassembled the tail cap and it’s definitely the switch. It is mounted on a 20mm PCB

One of my S3 units had a faulty switch. Intl-Outdoor sent me a new switch for free, since that’s where I got the S3 from, but it took a while.

You might have better luck simply re-melting the solder in your switch, since that can often solve this type of issue. However, I-O and some other stores sell extra switches if you’d prefer to just buy a part.

Just got my Convoy S3 today. It actually gets hot quite quick and feel hotter than my Zebralight SC62w, maybe because of a lack of heatsink?

No, getting hot quickly is a good thing. It means the heat is getting transferred out to the air like you want. If it didn't get hot it would mean the heat is trapped at/near the emitter and could potentially overheat and/or damage the emitter.

-Garry

Your Zebralight has a temperature sensor and dials down the power to keep it under 60Celcius. Your convoy doesn’t have this feature and let’s the heat rise until you decide to turn it down. Your convoy will naturally get hotter than the ZL after a few minutes. .

There is also a caveat to that too…getting hot fast means it’s pumping out ALOT of heat…if there isn’t enough surface area or thermal mass to the light…the heat has nowhere to go fast enough and only heats up the entire unit

This is why lower modes is a good thing…if it’s getting too hot too fast, throttle it back and allow the heat to distribute and convect away…then if you want you can bump up higher for a little bit…this is why I like the STAR firmwares auto throttle function :slight_smile: