I recently received my order of Convoy BD04 flashlight, which supposedly comes with the "new" firmware (supposed to imply Biscotti firmware). But the actual I got from Simon's Convoy AliExpress store is still the old firmware (Low-Med-High-Strobe-SoS).
I have contacted Simon and he says maybe mine is just very difficult to go to Config Mode (my Desert Sand has the too fast timing, which made it quite difficult to change modes). But this BD04 definitely does not appear to have a Config Mode, after I tried many times clicking fast or slow.
Simon has mentioned he can send me a new driver for the BD04 (I haven't accepted his suggestion yet since I'm not sure if I know how to replace the driver, which is my question here...).
Now the problem for me is, how do I change the driver of the BD04? Would it require any soldering (I'm poor at soldering, or my ordinary 40-watt soldering iron just isn't cut out for precision jobs)? Or is it a drop-in replacement (screw out old driver and screw in new driver)?
I'm checking the inside of the Convoy BD04, but I cannot seem to remove the head from its body tube. I don't have a long thin pair of tweezers to screw out the 'pill/driver' from inside the head. Or maybe I'm doing it wrong. Anyone familiar with how to go about this?
You will definitely need to solder if you get a new driver. Nothing that requires precision, but to unsolder the LED from the old driver and to solder it to the new driver.
Other than that, I’m not familiar with how the BD04 is assembled and from what I’ve searched, does not appear to be any reviews that show the insides. I’m assuming it’s a normal Convoy pill design, but can’t advise not knowing for sure.
remove bezel and lens
slide outer sleeve down a bit.
unscrew the silver pill from tube.
These lights have the white plastic surrounding emitter glued, I think. Pop this out.
Unsolder the wires.
Driver is a press fit pop it out.
I have to ask, do you know how to configure Biscotti? It may be installed. I had to ask…
I have stacked 4X 7135s on mine but definitely need to reflash my old version driver. This is my most used indoor flashlight. Curse the strobe every time I use it.
I’m not sure if the BD04 driver is similar or not to the BD06. If is it, you might be able to get rid of the blinky modes with a solder bridge. I did this to my 06.
Thanks Willy,
If the FW is locked I will try that.
I think the BD04 is still a 105 style driver but reversed polarity as the spring is Neg. And has the charge circuit in the tail.
I know the BD06 can be reflashed with clicky FW. Mine is Bistro and a few extra 7135’s. The 06 is the basic 105c driver with integrated charge circuit.
(it’s a zoomable — push-pull to lengthen the front part of the body tube for zooming)
can’t seem to detach the body tube from the head (or I haven’t figured out how)
For configuring, Biscotti, click multiple times (10+ times) until it goes into Config mode — at least that’s true for my Convoy C8 Clear and Convoy S2+ Desert Sand (though my Sand has a too-fast timing where the “window” period between flashes is extremely short and a bit difficult to time correctly). Doesn’t seem to have such a Config mode for the BD04 I got (unless there’s a different type of ‘new’ firmware that is configured in a different way).
I hadn’t thought that the bezel portion can be unscrewed. Now following your step-by-step instructions.
So I’ve unscrewed the bezel with lens. Slid the sleeve down a bit.
Unscrewed the silver pill from tube.
The ‘white plastic’ reflector — not sure how to remove it yet — how to ‘pop it out’?
Cool, you are almost there.
As you can see in your bottom center pic, you can pop out the driver from that cut out in the side of the pill.
I hope the wires are long enough to swap on the driver without removing the white plastic.
Receive the replacement Biscotti driver sent by Simon about a couple of weeks ago:
Only had time to tinker around my mistakenly-sent “old firmware” BD04 last week,
The Biscotti driver came in this labeled “ATMEL1702 TINY13A SSU”
The old firmware was in a driver with chip labeled “YTC2503 1611” (can this be reprogrammed or it only has the unchangeable 5/3-mode groups ?)
Desoldering the old one:
After soldering in the new Biscotti driver:
The solder blob on the right side of above pic beside “C1” was obstructing it from being fully inserted into the head (pardon my use of terms, might be incorrect), I had to fill off some of the excess solder blob to make it fit). But even then, it’s not fully fit — I’m using it currently as is (“partally floating” driver?) — it appears to work correctly, I now love this flashlight (Biscotti way better than the 5/3-mode group).
Also, I’ve been EDCing the Astrolux S1 for some time, I’m trying to use this BD04 instead (as it’s only AMC7135x4 or 1.4A current ~ 500+ lumens max), it does not get that hot even if I leave it on the highest brightness for a longer amount of time. And I find that the 500 lumens appears to be adequate for most indoor tasks I use it in…
