Triple XP-L Convoy S2 MTN Edition BLF17DD Review

Comfy—never thought of polishing—I’m gonna try modding a 507 though from the underside—maybe light bead blast or blacken in—I like the hot spot but hate those outer effects from the internal reflections

I’ve yet to run it full steam for very long.

It does get warm quick, but I think it’s not as bad as originally reported, as it’s sitting on hundreds of grams of pure copper.

These lights are the best EDC I can imagine. I’ve been building them for a few months now playing around with different hosts to see which I like the best. I haven’t stuck a BLF17DD driver in one yet though. Might need to give that a shot. I’ve been running mine at 3-4A with a 60 or 120 sec turbo timer. They do get fairly hot even at 3A in 120 sec - though not nearly too hot to hold. But yeah. They are seriously awesome.

That sounds like a crazy man`s flashlight!

Hmm... I still want something like that.... in that format....

I propose naming this the Mtn Electronics triple STD. It'll literally create a burning sensation in your pants.

+1!

I have the Cypreus EDC 18350 as well, with Richards copper heat sink/spacer in an all copper light using triple XP-L’s with the BLF17DD driver. 2960 lumens OTF from a single Efest Purple cell. Start amperage ~9.37A. Insane stuff.

Yesterday I crammed an MT-G2 into an Eagle Eye X6. How about 7.17A at the tail cap for 3485 OTF lumens from a single emitter? :bigsmile:

2 of the Efest Purple 18350’s have to be massaged into this small light. Spent most of the afternoon on it.

Both of the above pics were taken with the Canon G1X at ISO1600, f/5.6, 1/2 second exposure in Manual with manual focus and 2 second timer. Same settings, same spot, different days.

Gonna have to take another beamshot of the Cypreus Triple XP-L, that looks way to different, maybe I didn’t have it in Turbo or something. (been feeling bad for a while now) A lot of my lights have 5 levels, I put 7 in the Cypreus to maximize it’s usefulness. Perhaps I went to 5 and took the shot, with a migraine like headache from a previous concussion that’s probably what I did.

Glad it turned out well! The original one I built was in an S3 and it got too hot for me to comfortably touch in about 30 seconds, pulling over 12A from a 20R. The S2/S6 with the massive copper spacer obviously buys you a bit more time before it heat soaks, but it is still going to be getting hot in a hurry.

Be careful! It may be improbable, but I would hate to see what would happen if a lead desoldered itself and a 20R created a dead short inside the light...when I've shorted them usually a trace or something else has popped like a fuse, but if it didn't it could be crazy.

Also, these little triples have so much light coming out the front that up close they burn things like a magnifying glass focusing the sun! The light coming out the front will burn stuff, like paper, clothes, and skin.

I will probably offer these at around 6A, but I won't be building them with an FET driver. What you build for yourself is your business, but I think these are just a little too much for most people to use safely.

How hard was it to get the xp-ls to fit in the optic?

Dedomed no work is necessary. Domed doesn't fit without modifying the optics, which are difficult to open up without destroying the clarity or uniformity of the lens opening.

I wonder if it might be prudent in lights such as this to Arctic Alumina Thermal Adhesive the wires into place after all is established and working well? Just in case one does desolder from heat, it won’t shift and cause that short problem. Cheap enough insurance anyway.

It’s funny how you say be careful watch out for desolder problems—I added a brass spacer to my tail spring in my P60 version of this light—seems like it desoldered and moved—I don’t remember it being that crooked on the spring—might have been a cold joint- I know one thing the battery is quite hot as well

The problem with AA is that at temperatures hot enough to desolder a lead the bond actually gets quite weak, although it may provide some insulation to the top of the wire to keep it from contacting.

JB Weld will tolerate much much higher temps.

I thought I read somewhere that with dedomed xp-l’s you have to sand down the legs of the optic… Is that not the case?

The substrate & die are the same thickness as the XPG2 the optics were made for, so no. I have tried adjusting the optics up and down from stock, and it either makes no change or makes it worse. Nothing to be gained there.

There is a very very slight gap between the base of the optic and the substrate of the die, but to lower the optics would require a precise lowering of the shelf on the leg where the optics are supported. The leg positions the optics by being in the hole in the star, it’d be far easier to mess it up than to help it.

If you want to experiment anyway, the thing to do is to drill a countersink in the 3XP board, don't try messing with the TIR. They're too fragile and too hard to cut the step on the legs to exactly the same height. It's much easier to get them all the same by drilling the holes deeper (which is still not all that easy, you need some fairly precise machinery).

I think I’ll just stick with the way it is. Thanks for the replies!