I plan to buy an UV light (to charge my GITD items), and the Convoy S2+ looks like a good option according to this 1lumen review.
I would like the body of the light to be violet (makes sense for an ultraviolet light, doesn't it?), but the Convoy S2+ is only available in black.
Therefore I wonder if I could buy a "normal" (i.e. white LED) S2+, and a separate pill with an UV LED. Is this available somewhere?
Please note that I don't feel skilled enough to swap the LED, hence my search of a complete pill. This will also allow me to have two lights in one: swapping the pill is easy and fast, so I can quickly convert my UV light to a white light and vice versa.
OTOH, a more general question about UV lights: as far as I understood, a good UV light should emit very little or no visible lights (which can be achieved using a filter). But in this case, how can you tell if the light is on or off? I don't want to leave the light on by mistake, which would both drain my battery and put my eyes at risk.
First. You can order the black S2+ UV which is available and then send a message to Simon to put the parts in the purple S2+.
Secondly. Again, you can send a message to Simon to send you an additionally assembled pill with the led and driver of your choice. I suspect a surcharge will be required.
Thirdly. UV 365nm is subtly visible even with a zwb2 filter. It also depends on what you shine, some materials show better, others almost not at all. If you want to be sure, you can additionally unscrew the tailcap to break contact.
I am not aware of a separate pill with UV, however someone else may chime in with a solution. When the UV is on although there is very little visible light, there is some purplish light. In addition many things fluoresce brightly (paper, white shirt, my socks and shoes always glow brightly) so it is pretty easy to tell when it is on. Please don’t look in to see if it is on, although you are wearing your UV protective glasses, right? You really need them. You could always just put one of your GITD things in front to see if it is on.
At one time there were one or more lights with both visible and UV emitters, but I am not sure what is out there now. A quick google came up with this https://www.torchspot.com/the-best-uv-flashlights/ . A couple in this link have both emitters. The Convoy UV light is excellent and you will enjoy it. Why not just get the UV light and use one of your other lights for visible work? Or just get two Convoys!
For charging GITD you don’t need a ZWB2 filter, but it will be good for other uses. There are flashlights with both white light and USB, the Wurkkos WK30 (from a company related to Sofirn) is one of them, but lacks a filter. The WK30 uses a 26650, so it will be less pocketable than a S2+.
As others said you are may be better off with two Convoys (or just request a UV one in violet). Since you are in France you are not affected by US patents (there is a guy there with a legal monopoly on filtered UV flashlights, as crazy as it sounds), so you can buy one with the filter included. The Convoy S2 UV versions (Seoul and LG) are cheaper, more powerful and come with a filter. The Nichia UV S2+ version is less powerful but the beam is more concentrated to compensate, it doesn’t need a filter as much so it can sold to the US without patent issues, the LED is more expensive so the flashlight is more expensive. There is also a triple S12 version and a C8 version which takes 2 batteries but I guess they’re overkill for your purposes.
Edit: Unfortunately the S2 is not available in violet, the head is a bit different from the S2, but you could ask for a custom violet S2 with Seoul or LG UV LED (and ZWB2 filter if you wish), I guess the beam will be a bit floodier than the S2.
Black UV S2, purple regular S2 (complete or just the host), all you need is something to unscrew the pill (snap-ring pliers, pointy tweezers, etc.), and it takes all of 5min to do. I did that as soon as I got my UV S2+.
While you got it disassembled, you might as well throw in the zwb2 filter. You’ll thank me later.
In fact I will use this light not only to charge my GITD stuff, but also to clean my working table, tools (and hands) from leftover GITD powder particles.
To do so I currently use my Emisar D4V2 on High, sweeping the table with the beam while closing my eyes and turning my head away. But even so the light is so bright that I am a bit dazzled and don't have an optimal vision to detect the GITD particles. Hence the idea of an UV light without too much visible light, which would preserve my dark adapted eyes.
I’ve read in another thread that the S2+ is slightly floodier than the S2, because of its shallower head. And I prefer a floody light so that it can light up my whole working place at short range. Is your statement based on the LED beam profile, rather than the reflector design?
OK, I’ve just seen that it is possible to buy an “emtpy” S2+ body, available in purple, with a metal switch (that I like) and very cheap. But if I buy both (complete UV S2+) and this purple host I will end up with an empty black host with black rubber switch, which I won’t be willing to use.
The solution might be a custom order (as per Chatika vas Paus suggestion), I didn't know this was possible. I have sent a message to Simon through the AE contact form.
Re. eyes safety: are closed eyes (i.e. eyelids) a sufficient protection against harmful UV, noting that I will not be staring at the light when using it, but turning my head sideways?
Yes, the Nichia UV LED is tiny, so it will be throwier even in a shallower head. The floodiest will be the S12 triple but it’s not available in violet and uses a 21700 so you can’t lego the tube either.
If you contact Simon for a custom order you may remind him that you are in France so you don’t have patent issues with including the filter in the flashlight. I’m not sure if the country is displayed in the chat.
Although you might be able to get away with keeping eyes averted I will always recommend glasses because reflective surfaces can shine a rather bright UV beam into you eyes when you least expect it.
So the LED size effect beats the head profile effect?
I've contacted Simon about a possible custom light (UV pill in a coloured body) and the answer was "I don't sell pill".
So I'll have to buy a black UV light and live with this, since I don't feel like trashing a S2+ host.
From the 1lumen and a BLF review I see the Jaxman U1 (or its shorter, 18350 version U1s) is also a good option for a floody light with very little visible light, since it also has a filter.
Any recommendations on Convoy S2 (floodier thant S2+) and Jaxman U1(s)?
If you want a purple S2+ host for your UV flashlight (which makes sense to me), you could get one of these from Kaidomain: S2 PLUS LED FLASHLIGHT HOST 118MM X 24MM - PURPLE.. These are good quality hosts.
All you would have to do is take the pill from the UV S2+ and put it into the host. A very simple mod.
And another mod if you want to know if the UV flashlight is on or not would be to install a lighted tailcap. If the tailcap is on, the flashlight is off.
Weird response, “don’t sell pill” rather than something like “can’t sell UV in another color” or “too busy at the moment”, it sounds like a miscommunication. Maybe Simon understands ‘pill’ as something different than us.
What’s to trash? Get 2 complete lights, black UV and purple whatever, then just swap the pills in the heads. Then you’d have purple UV and black whatever.
I wrote him again, making my request for a custom light a bit more explicit.
OK, that’s what I want.
…which I have no use for. I already have one 18650 light (an Emisar D4v2, thanks to the BLF member who recommended this one, fantastic light) and don’t need an additional one, moreover with a black body and a more recessed tailswitch (because I would choose the S2 over the S2+, for the floodier beam of the LG LED). And because it is a Li-Ion rechargeable, it can’t be easily gifted to a non-flashaholic friend.
Another option would be to buy a host like suggested earlier by Lightringer and later by NeutralFan, and DIY it by adding an UV LG LED on a board, and a separate (ideally two-mode without mode memory) driver.
Although I don't feel skilled enough to solder the LED on a star, sodering the two wires from the driver to the star should be within my limited soldering skills.
You can certainly try that, but trust me on this, you’ll end up kicking yourself and saying, “Damn, I should’ve listened to that wise and stylish Lightbringer all along”.
In the meantime I may have found an use for the leftover black S2 which would result from this double purchase.
Buy a black 18350 tube, make the black S2 shorter, and put a CR123 inside, thus I can offer it to a non-flashaholic friend without putting him at risk with a rechargeable Li-Ion.
Hence the following additional questions:
Can the pills actually be swapped between a S2 and a S2+: I've noticed the former has trapezoidal threads, whereas the latter has square threads. Is this distinction indeed irrelevant for the pill thread, and head internal threads?
I assume a CR123 will easily fit inside the 18350 tube: the tiny difference in length will be handled by the spring, but won't the 2mm difference in diameter cause the battery to rattle? How about an internal thin plastic sleeve to hold it in place?
Vaguely recall that pills between the S2 and S2+ aren’t interchangeable.
Might rattle if shaken hard, but not that much of an issue. No need to get fancy with a custom-fit “thin plastic sleeve” when a quick wrap with paper-towel would do. I don’t even bother.
The S2 pill is significantly shorter than the S2+, so they are not interchangeable. The shorter pill for the S2 is due to the longer reflector.
In regards to square and trapezoidal threads, it appears the flashlights from Simon now have square threads. I just got an M1 host and surprisingly it had the good square threads. You should check with him if you’re going to swap pills from 1 flashlight to another.
Thanks for this clarification, which rules out a pill swap between a black UV S2 and a purple S2+.
It would work between two S2+, but the UV S2+ has a Nichia which is less floody.
Since Simon hasn't replied to my - more specific - request for a custom S2+ with UV LG LED, I'll have to give up the idea of a floody purple UV flashlight.
I'll have to decide now between the Convoy S2 UV, the Jaxman U1, or maybe the Jaxman E3 UV which runs on AA (no need for me to buy an additional 18650).
I would just buy the 1.75A (7135*5) Convoy S2 LG. The S12 will have to 3x the output at 2x the price but so much UV for close up work cannot be healthy, it sounds overkill.
