Convoy H2 bezel tightness improvement

Other Types of Lights LED Headlamps
1

This is not a flashlight review. Maybe I’ll do a review later, but youtube already has a good video review not from me.

I ordered Convoy H2 with LH351D 5000K. It came with a small issue - the bezel of the reflector is installed with misalignment towards the button. It means poor or even no water tightness at bezel thread. The reason was found quickly - the bezel is only screwed in at 2-3 turns because of the reflector. Reflector is too high (or long, whatever is more appropriate in this case) and does not allow to screw in deeper, so the sealing ring under bezel does not even touch the head. By the way, the videos in youtube I saw about H2 (only 2 at the moment actually) - I noticed the same bezel position. Looks like it is general fault at H2 and hope they will fix it. But for existing units they sell, you can fix yourself easily with sandpaper.

If you look at the front - misalignment is to this side.

You better see it from the top.

And here’s how bezel is screwed in without reflector - much deeper and sealing ring touches the head.

Same view from another side - no any misalignment.

Taking the bezel out and looking inside. You can see sufficient amount of thermal compound.

Since I disassembled it, decided to change the thermal compound to my trusted one. Running ahead I can say that heating became faster and hotter, means better thermal exchange.

Now we take sandpaper (I had #240), flat surface and start to grind to about this red line (1-1,5 mm, zoom the photo in). Be careful and don’t grind unequally (keep at 90 degrees to surface). I made sandpaper wet, otherwise reflector turns hot. IMPORTANT! Don’t grind too much! Otherwise bezel will screw in deep to the end, but the sealing ring glass-bezel will not be pressed and sealed. And by the way, the copper base plate has no screws and is pressed to head by reflector.

Now wash, assemble all back and see result - bezel is screwed in deep and equally, sealing ring is pressed to head. The only soft spot left for water tightness is charging port, if it important. But it can be sealed too, if necessary, and you’ll get a good IPX8 or so.

Briefly about flashlight: good light, gread Samsung LED, convenient modes. I like that it is kind of thrower, not floody as with TIR lens. Type-C charger - perfect type if you need built-in charger.
Cons: size and weight, but I don’t care.

2

But weight is important… It weight like 21700 light, almost double H04…

3

82.11 grams.
Yes, it has big head (with very good cooling) and thick battery tube. 34 grams heavier than Gekko 1.0 (48 g in specs, but I didn't check). And I'm 100 kg guy... Not big deal.

4

For some reason photos didn't upload. Fixed.

5

Just reviewed this on YouTube and mine was perfect, screwed the bezel down all the way

The reflector is resting on that red positive wire, it’s way too high and your photos confirm this because you’re pointed to the side of the red wire. One of the workers did a poor soldering job

6

I wonder what was causing the bezel to be crooked. At first I thought it was cross-threaded, and luckily it wasn’t. I don’t think it was due to the red wire getting in the way of the reflector since the bezel was raised on the other side.

Regardless, nice job eskon taking it apart and fixing the issue!

7

Well, it looks like it’s in the way though. If not that, then perhaps it is the reflector, pcb thickness, or gasket.

I reviewed it with the XML2 and it’s all perfect, so it’s a bit odd to read the OP has noticed the same on others

Edit: just had a look at the videos and they do have the same issue, all with the LH351D. Maybe mine is from a second batch or it has something to doing with the gasket or pcb.

8

I just received a LH351D version of this light. It still has the same flaw. The bezel was tilted and actually slightly cross-threaded.

I disassembled it and luckily got the bezel to go in straight without the reflector. Then I ground off about a 1mm of the reflector like op, but it didn’t go well. I accidentally touched the inside mirror finish and ruined it.

Now I’m thinking of converting this lamp to a 17mm TIR-lens, but they are about 3-4mm too short for this head :frowning: I must look for a piece of thick copper to make a spacer below the LED board.

9

If it is just a spot after you touched, then I don't think it will somehow affect light quality. Or buy mirror-like auto spray paint and make it glossy again (temp. resistant paint, of course).

10

I tried to clean my fingerprint with cotton tip and IPA, which rubbed off some of the coating. Now there is gold coloured spots all around.

I’m sure trying to paint it is just a waste of time. And I prefer TIR-lenses anyway. I have already modified a couple of S21A’s with them.

By the way, grinding of a full millimeter of the reflector is a bit excessive in my opinion. I think 0.5 to 0.7 mm should be enough.

11

I recently bought one more H2 with same Samsung LED for gift. It came with same tilted bezel, but this time bezel was deeper. I didn't make any changes, but if I had to, I think I would grind less than 1 mm. Mine was more projected and more tilted, this is why 1 mm or more.

Surprisingly, I didn't see this issue on XML versions when read reviews online. All photos were with bezel deep in the head.

12

Thanks for the update @eskon. I wanted to get this light with the Samsung LH351D, but maybe not with this bezel defect. It also comes in versions with XML2 and 219c emitters. How do those compare to the LH351D when using the 4000k tint?

13

Just for information, here is a video how to do TIR-lens mod for H2 or H3. Convoy H3 SST40| Orange Peel Reflector vs TIR Lens - YouTube

Sanding off a little bit of a 20mm lens seems to work just fine. I will try that.

14

Sad true is that Convoys headlamps host is poorly copied Skillhunt H serie . Its chunky, clumsy and have non standard optics.

15

That’s to bad. I wanted a headlamp that has built in charging to replace me skilhunt that broke in less than a year. I don’t like the proprietary magnetic charging on the skilhunt.

But the weight and bezel thing makes this less appealing. Wurkkos headlamps are too heavy. Wish a lightweight headlamp with USB charging was available.

16

Proprietary charger was the reason I passed skilhunt.

I assume H2 was designed to use 1.0 mm thick led-pcb but LH351D versions likely came with 1.6 mm pcb (I didn’t measure it). That would explain the bezel flaw.

I really like convoy’s general quality and good assortment of emitters, but putting these out with this flaw is really careless.

17

Headlamp with integrated charger is very amateur anyway. It takes space in host and you cannot charge batt when wearing a headlamp….you can but its stupid thing. Pure marketing bull#$%.
BTW skilhunt have no integrated charger only a magnetic port. Thats why its same size like without charger.

18

I’m pretty sure there is a demand for convenience on the market :slight_smile: (why I didn’t buy H1?)

19

Not really marketing BS. I’d be OK with slightly bigger/heavier light for the convenience of not having to pack extra batteries on longer trips. I don’t think anyone buying it was planning on charging while wearing it, lol.

20

I just got myself another H2 with LH351D. This time the bezel is straight, which is nice. But it’s still slightly protruding, about 0.5mm above the body.

I did the TIR-lens mod for my previous H2. I didn’t use the ar-lens and no “gasket” between the lens and pcb. Instead I made a spacer out of a 10 cent €uro coin between the pcb and body to raise the complete assembly. This coin is 90% copper. It’s 1.5mm thick after grinding it flat. The bezel sits a bit too recessed with it (just cosmetically). Next time I will use 50 cent coin which is 0.5mm thicker. That should make the bezel sit perfectly flush.

Now I had a chance to do a direct comparison between the modded (25 degree TIR) and original lamp with OP-reflector. In my opinion the modded one has more pleasant beam. It’s slightly floodier and very even. Of course some of the throw is lost but I don’t care. It’s perfect for trail walking and yard working.