Thanks for the review f42. Your pictures are fantastic. I’m glad you like the light. SS certainly looks good.
Good job .
Post as many pictures as you want F42, they are fantastic!
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So, does this light have a heat problem or not? Or, rather, how bad is it?
I have a Convoy S7 (2100mA) and two Convoy S3s (2800mA, 1400mA). I normally use them on medium, while biking. The S7 gets pretty warm during use (2100mA * ~40), while both S3s feel much cooler (even 2800mA * ~40). The 1400mA one can even tailstand indoors on medium without the body getting too warm.
So, the S7 head gets pretty warm… which means it’s pulling heat away from the emitter, right? Or does it mean that the aluminum S3 body is merely distributing and dumping the heat better? Since the S3 body stays cooler, could that instead mean it’s insulating instead of conducting heat?
I don’t have a way to measure the emitter temperature, only a vague feel of how warm the body is after biking with it for a while.
I’m just trying to figure out which model actually deals with heat better, so I can gift a couple and not worry about them burning themselves out.
Also, other thoughts on Convoy S7 vs S3…
The S7 has a rather deep reflector, which makes its spill beam quite a bit narrower. However, it also seems to have a more diffuse hotspot. So, the S7 fades somewhat smoothly and evenly from the center to the edge, with the spot and spill blending into each other reasonably well. In contrast, the S3 has a fairly distinct spot+spill pattern, with a bright center surrounded by a flat, wide spill.
I haven’t decided which one is better for biking… I like the S7’s smooth transition but would also like to have the S3’s wider overall spill.
The S3 accepts longer cells, while the S7 is strictly 65mm unprotected cells.
Personally, I prefer the look and feel of the stainless steel S7, but the S3 costs less and may be functionally more suited to my purposes.
The S7 is just narrow enough that a L2P clip doesn’t quite fit right. It goes on, and it works, but there is a tiny gap on one side between the inside of the clip’s ring and the outside of the S7 body. The S3, OTOH, fits the L2P clip much better (assuming you jam a paperclip into the tailcap to assure contact).
I guess I’m still searching for the perfect budget bike light.
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Oh, by “2100mA * 40” I meant it has 6x AMC7135 for a max current of 2100mA, but the medium mode is driven at ~40 (or ~840mA). It seems like about the right level for biking. Low mode for indoor use, medium mode for biking, high mode for short bursts when more light is needed.
I got it mostly because I liked the stainless steel body, but was hoping it would also make a nice bike light. Looks like I should probably stick to aluminum lights though, and should order a S3 as a gift instead of another S7. I just have to decide between 1400mA or 2100mA, assuming the recipient won’t go above medium (~180lm or 270lm) for extended use.
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Thanks a lot for the review! Frontpage’d and Sticky’d.
Can anyone say how the beam pattern compares to the Xeno e03?
If you guys think that Stainless steel is a poor conductor take a look at Titanium alloys in the Wikipedia list linked to above. It has about 25% to 35% of the thermal conductivity of stainless steel. I have machined and drilled 6Al4V Titanium alloy for making body jewelry and you have to go slow to keep from cooking drill bits and cutters because Ti is such a poor heat conductor. Very easy to cook cutters and drill bits.
From a thermal conductivity standpoint pure copper or silver heat sinks, including sterling silver, would be the way to go with pure aluminum next. Unfortunately the list does not include aluminum alloys but I presume they are generally worse than brass as brass seems to be used in many higher end lights. That might be due more to it’s easy machinability though rather than thermal characteristics. Pure aluminum and copper are a pain to machine due to their being soft and kind of gummy when trying to lathe or mill them. Hard to get a good finish with either. Choice of heat sink materials for lights is a compromise between thermal and ease of manufacturing characteristics.
Looking down the Wikipedia list actually diamond would be the ideal heat sink but I am afraid few could afford lights with diamond heat sinks until man made diamond manufacturing technology improves a lot. Another possible choice could be sapphire as silicon on sapphire has been used for some integrated circuits which required the best cooling of the die material. The Wikipedia article does not list it however.
Oh, I forgot to mention it, but I improved my S7. I like it a lot better now.
I still need to modify the firmware though, since 100% / 50% / 5% isn’t a very good mode spacing and it still has two groups (3-mode/5-mode) and an annoying blink on low to switch groups.
Also, I think I may need to do something to let the emitter stick a little farther into the reflector, since my modded S7 has significantly lower output than my modded HD2011 with the same emitter and almost the same power level. I think some of the light may be getting lost underneath the reflector. Regardless, it’s still one of my favorite lights now.
Dang I wish I would have read this before I just ordered mine, oh well might make a good hand warmer this winter. Will the pill fit any other convoy light?
Beachlogger;
If you intend to carry as a EDC light in a pocket with other stuff then the SS has advantages from a wear and long term appearance standpoint. Anodized aluminum lights, even hard anodized, show wear a lot worse and if carried with keys and coins it is amazing how worn they can look in a year or so. To me SS and Ti are fine for a light that is used occasionally for relatively short periods and carried a lot, typical EDC duty for most people. Aluminum is the way to go for larger lights and ones that will be on for extended periods such as S&R, dog walking, emergency lighting & etc.
It was intended as an edc and was a compulsive buy, and had the driver bumped up to *8 thinking more is better, now I’m thinking of getting yet another less expensive convoy, one with a *3 and swapping drivers if they are compatible.
Edit to add … pill not driver
It’s easy to remove extra 7135 chips if you got too many. To reduce it to 4x7135, you don’t even need to take the driver out of the pill.
In any case, I really like my S7, especially after making some simple mods to it. It’s pretty and has a great beam and tint, and it’s practically bulletproof. Great for biking or EDC use, though a bit on the heavy side for its size.
The weight goes with the material choice. Basically SS is about 3 times the weight of aluminum per volume and Titanium is 2/3 the weight of stainless steel or double the weight of Aluminum. You make your choice based on a combination of price, appearance, weight and heat dissipation characteristics if you are aware of all the factors. I ordered the Customlites SS single 18650 light just based on the 4 mode UI which I preferred to the S7. More money but I also prefer the looks.
Maybe easy for you to remove extra chips but the last time I got near a driver with a soldering iron I messed up a driver , kinda expensive one too, and since then my wife said to only buy lights that are already put together . LOL
Ah, okay. I removed some 7135 chips as my very first mod, when I didn’t really even know how to solder… basically just put on a wide tip, hold it across the three legs on one side of the chip, and gently lift the chip with tweezers. It should come right off.
So, I say it’s easy since I managed to do it with no prior experience. I’m still mostly a noob, but I’ve since done some slightly more difficult mods.
The next part is what I’m really excited about… making new firmware for the attiny13a chip, so I can make the common nanjg/qlite driver do whatever I want. 