Hello,
I have a Convoy S2+ with cool tint, and a C8 with warm tint. (purchased both as a newbie without knowledge of tint preferene)
I think it would be better the other way around.
What is the difficulty level of an emitter swap?
I am a beginner to flashlight modding (or any type of modding in general). So far I have swapped an S2+ driver for a new one, which I found relatively straightforward.
I have seen people do emitter reflowing on a hotplate… can I do it on a gas hob?
Thanks
What size MCPCB does the S2+ have? I don’t remember. If it’s the same 20mm that the C8 uses, then you don’t have to ‘swap’ the LEDs at all. You can just ‘swap’ the MCPCBs which is easier.
16mm MCPCB for a Convoy S2+…
You’ll have to reflow both of your emmitters
Yes, that’s what im asking about. I have seen videos where they put the star on a hotplate and once the solder melts they just lift the emitter off.
Is it easy to do? Is there some precautions or steps for newbies to be aware of?
It is very easy to do with some practice. You must be sure that both leds are the same footprint. In other words, both need to be XM or XP sized emitters. XM use a footprint called 5050 and XP use a footprint called 3535.
Do not get them to hot, once the solder flows… pull the led quickly and remove the star from the heat. When you put them back together, watch the polarity dot and make sure you put them back the same way they came off. Once again, not to much heat and do not heat any longer than needed. The leds will settle in the solder, they appear to suck down to the board when they reflow. This is the point to remove them from the heat.
I really should make a video of this process… I think there are a couple floating around out there.
Matt
I use a butane torch lighter to make my swaps, once you’ve done it it’s a game changer !
I tried once with a frying pan… I fried my emitter :person_facepalming:
I think you can see an emitter swap on my personnal Youtube channel (see my signature)
LOL, that’s not what I wanted to hear 
I was planning to try with frying pan and gas hob. I thought if I used a large pan it would heat up slowly.
I reflowed genuine XML2 NW LEDs on the stock SRK board that had LatticeBlue LEDs. Used the gas stove but that was a big board
I found it easier then soldering the wires to it 
You don’t necessarily have to do the LED reflow by yourself. You can just go to buy one of those ready-to-go XM-L2 on Noctigon (you can still choose your preferable tint and bin) and just do the soldering works, although this may cost you slightly more bucks but it will save you some time and efforts as well.
I think the key is to have your hot surface up to temperature, place the star with led already in place, let if reflow and remove from heat as soon as it is done. Bringing it slowly up to temp while the parts warm up will subject the parts to more heat before it all melts and reflows.
You can buy it for example on Kaidomain for 1-2$ more already pre-mounted on mcpcb if you dont want to take the risk.
http://www.kaidomain.com/c/227.DIY-Flashlight-LED-Stars
What I am trying to get a handle on is how much of a risk? If a beginner tries this, what is chance he damages LED or mcpcb? 20% ? 50% ?
If I can understand how difficult it is, I can better make a decision about whether to try it or just buy a pre-mounted one.
I killed 1 of my first 3… Dropped it on the hotplate. Go for it, best way to learn. Next weekend at my shop, I will see if I have a couple of pulls to send you to practice with. It really just takes practice and good tweezers.
Are you in the US? Add a rough location in your profile, please.
not sure if it’s recommended, but I used my soldering iron to heat up the mcpcb. I lightly tap the emitter with my tweezers until I know i can pull it off. Doesn’t take long for it to heat up to temp.
Flux grease is a must for a good reflow though.
That’s how i usually do it too.
For me, it’s pretty easy, and most stuff isn’t. I took a small piece of copper pipe, split one side, and flattened it into a square. I use that as my hot plate. I clip it into my helping hands and put the MCPCB on top. Then I heat it from below with a lowly cigarette lighter until the LED is loose. I have an old aluminum heat sink that I use for cooling the MCPCB when I’m finished with the re-flow. I just pick up the MCPCB from the copper hot plate using my pliers and drop it place it gently onto the heat sink. :+1:
No, I am in Europe. Thanks for the offer though.
I always thought it was hard its straightforward watch old lumens video on it. I did 2 nichia 219c I used a pair of pliers slightly opened to rest the mcpcb on and used my iron underneath it. I used solder paste once it melted I slightly pressed down to remove excess solder and its done. It will center itself like the videos show. It sucks into place