Convoy S2/S2+ Triple vs Single Emitter Advice?

Bear with me, I’m still researching my Convoy S2/S2+ build. I feel like this should be the first thing to figure out.

I want a useable, daily purpose light, to supplement my Lumintop Tool AAA for when I need something more powerful. I love my Nichia high CRI emitters, I hear they run hotter.

Is there any real world use benefit to building a triple over a single? Or will it just end up burning myself while dicking around outside in the middle of the night?

From what I’ve read so far, it seems most people build super high powered triples in these bodies with powerful drivers for the cool factor. I’m not in it for the cool factor.

Can a reasonable light be built with a triple in an S2/S2+ body? At that point would it have just been easier to achieve similar results with a single?

I understand custom firmwares can basically limit output to what I consider a “reasonable” level, but at that point why even bother with the triple?

What advantages if any would running a triple at lower power have over a single at higher power? Or vice versa?

Or am I completely missing something here and we have finally figured out a way to run triple emitter in S2 sized lights at super high powers without setting ourselves on fire?

Depends on if you want more throw or flood. Me, I generally find a floodier beam more useful, and if I want/need throw, I’ll go for a dedicated thrower.

For throw you’d want a smaller chip behind a bigger reflector/lens. For flood you’d want a bigger chip behind a smaller reflector/lens. So a triple will almost always be floodier than a single. And behind the same-sized reflector/lens, a bigger chip will be floodier than a smaller chip.

So… decide what you want, first.

Oh, if you want to see something S2ish with a triple, goggle the E2L and/or TO46R. Same style tubelight but with triples.

I agree with Lightbringer. It's up to your own preference regarding flood vs throw.
I do have both the S2+, the E2L and the TO46R and I'll usually cycle them as my EDC carry. Both setups are impressive in their own aspect, so it's up to you to decide.

Probably the best example is the MF01S and the MF02S. The MF01S has 18 LEDs and cant throw if its life depended on it. It does however light up a room and is blinding on turbo. The MF01S has no hot spot whatsoever, even pointed at a wall a foot away. The MF02S on the other hand , has one LED with deep reflector and has incredible throw. The morale of the story is that adding more LEDs gets you more lumens but the light rays hit each other and get distorted. This does not mean one is better then the other, just different.

I’ve got a now defunct 3Tronics S2+ triple out of England that Ven gifted me and it’s a true blaster. LD-2 driver and 3 XP-L emitters.

6A at the tail and I have an 18350 tube to go with it. Lights up my dad’s backyard from 50 yards away.

Chris

I have several S2/S2+ triple flashlights. I prefer them over a single LED. Depending on the type of optic you choose, you can still get some throw. Personally, I prefer the 10511 Carclo frosted narrow spot optic.

Some of my triples have Nichia 219B LEDs, so in order to get some good lumens, 3 of them is better than 1 else risking frying the LED.

Also, I’ve read that it’s more efficient to underpower 3 LEDs than overpower 1.

I also have a single 219B in an S2+ shorty. Since it uses an 18350 battery, I didn’t see the need to build a triple due to the lower battery capacity.

Sure the triples can get hot very fast, depending on the driver, but it’s up to you if you want to use it that way. And depending on the driver, it can automatically step down once it gets too hot in order to prevent any damage to the flashlight (or to you).

I find the S2+ to be well balanced between throw and flood for all-purpose use running a single 3535 LED. I have one with the SST-20 which is excellent and a bit throwy but still very useful. Much nicer than the XP-L HI version. Personally, I’d build the biscotti 7135x6 driver with an OP reflector and try the SST-20 and the LH351D in your choice of tint and see which you like better. If you can find a tint winner in the LH351D it does provide a very nice beam but its hard to beat a 4000k SST-20 for color. That said, the 219B sw35 LEDs I just recieved from azhu on this forum are absolutely beautiful.

Sorry for the late reply, a lot to decipher. Thank you everyone for the input thus far.

ChrisGarrett, stop that, I know what you’re trying to do…

Alright, now that I understand the defining beam charecteristics between the two, or should I say have a better understanding of them, I think I know what to do next.

I do want to be able to easily customize it to my specific wants, so I will be sticking with a Convoy.

Seeings as I have zero experience with a Convoy S2 or S2, or any 18650 light for that matter, rather than buying a host and parts I’m instead going to start with a basic single emitter complete light to get my bearings and see where I stand with it’s performance. A Convoy S2 with a 5700k 219c.

I remember being younger and losing my cat, running around looking for it outside at night was absolutely useless with a giant incandescent Maglite. I do want some throw for emergency situations like that. At the same time however, I don’t want it to be useless indoors. Seeing as I want to have one “big” (to me) flashlight to rule them all, a balance between the the two (throw and flood) would probably suit me best.

I guess that rules out the S2, as it seems to be more targerted towards throw.

So now the question is, should I get x3, x4, x6, or x8 7135 chip driver? They are all basically the same price. Going to order it directly from Simon, a little birdie told me there’s a BLF discount code?

Unless there is a state side vendor with reasonable prices?

The nerd in my still wants to build a 219b triple…

A mechanic doesn’t rely on just one adjustable wrench, but has sets of box wrenches, crescent, socket, deep-socket, etc.

Same for lights. There’s no One Light that does everything. Get what you need, like a flooder, a thrower, etc.

You want to build a light or have a triple led light?
I to have I would buy FW3A or similar for example.
Mike

> Is there any real world use benefit to building a triple over a single?

triples light a wider area, but do not throw as well
a single in a reflector is imo, more versatile for close and far

a triple is only better if you need a wider hotspot, such as when taking photos

the intensity of the light, within the hotspot, is brighter with a single

in that pic, imagine the wide beam is the triple, and the focused beam is the single

If a triple and a single are both set to the same 1000 lumens, the hotspot of the single will be 3x brighter. otoh the size of the hotspot with the triple will be 3x larger

or to put it another way, for a triple to put as much lux on target, requires 3x more total output than a single

singles are therefore more efficient, as long as the size of the hotspot is sufficient

otoh, imagine walking a sidewalk in the dark, the single will reach farther down the road, but because the hotspot is smaller, in order to see things closer to your feet, will require moving the hotspot back and forth to find the target.

otoh, a triple, floods the area with light, so waving the light back and forth to put a small hotspot on target is not necessary…

It can be easier to walk with a triple, and not have to wave it around as much, as long as your target is inside of say 20 feet distance.