https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000307648927.html?spm=2114.12010608.0.0.62087394zs4Dv3
C8 in UV, comes with extension tube, so can run in 1S or 2S. Interesting that it’s 1.5A given that the S2+ LG UV is 1.75A, but whatever.
Any chance of 2 SKUs for our US friends? That with normal AR glass, and a ZWB2 filter item - vague patents are the worst.
Simon, I’d like to open a discussion about UV flashlights with filters and the supposed patent covering them in the US by Way Too Cool LLC. For those who aren’t familiar with it, Convoy doesn’t ship such flashlights to US customers due to this patent covering “wavelength transforming filters” on UV flashlights.
First, I’d like to say I appreciate your respect for intellectual property. Many companies in China, being effectively outside the reach of the US legal system would simply ignore the existence of a valid US patent. You don’t, and that’s admirable.
Unfortunately, in this case, I think this company is making dishonest claims. Wood’s glass was invented in 1903. Simply putting Wood’s glass on a flashlight over 100 years after it was invented is not an invention and does not qualify for a patent. Even if it did, that was done on commercially produced devices before the priority date of the patent (July 2006). Prior art invalidates an otherwise-valid patent. One example is the Polilight, a forensic search light developed for police in the 1980s. It can run on battery power, and has multiple spectral filters, including UV. Here’s a journal article discussing its use; it was published before the priority date of the patent.
Way Too Cool LLC is making a false patent claim to resell your product at an unfair price. I won’t ask you not to sell them lights, but I will ask you to resume shipping UV lights with filters to customers in the US. Refusing to ship these lights to the US just helps this company cheat people.
Also, anyone who ever ever ever got a leak-detection kit (Interdynamics, etc.), typically got a 50W halogen spotlight with silvered filter over the front of it, which would only let through whatever near-UV was in a halogen’s beam. I remember getting one decades ago.
Way Too Cool is Way Too Ass, if you ask me. It’s like patenting a design for a flashlight that contains a battery inside a tube. And whatever patent examiner granted that idiot patent must’ve been sniffing glue at the time.
I can understand maybe not shipping a light with filter installed for fear of retaliation, but from what I’ve heard, you can’t even get a light with matching separate filter in the same package. That’s probably an unnecessary precaution.
I’d cut off WTC entirely, not sell them so much as a switchcap. Let them go pound sand, the crooks.
WTC hasn’t even bothered suing a US-based seller they’re definitely aware of. I expect they’re aware it would be expensive to attempt and likely to result in their patent being invalidated entirely.
Let me understand, US buyers cannot buy an UV flashlight with a ZWB2 filter together without violating the law?
Workaround: buy the flashlight but don't pay. Request Simon whatever modifications, price adjustments, etc. and then pay.
I can “sort of” respect intellectual property because law enforces it in most countries I am aware of, but it is bad. Period.
How is that admirable? Someone asked Simon for their reasons to avoid shipping UV flashlights with ZWB2 filters to USA? He will likely say he is more aware than other sellers and so he prefers to avoid problems.
There will be titanium AA light, T2 style
Be as that may, if the ZWB2 filter that fits the C8 isn’t in his store, then it won’t work - other people have asked for the LG S2+ to be sent just as host and the ZWB2 filter in the same package, and have been told no - but if you buy the Nichia light and the ZWB2 filter, they can ship in the same package. It’s pedantic, but it’s Simon honouring a US patent, which, as Zak mentioned, has flimsy grounds at best.
Yeah, I know. That’s not a format I’m interested in. Too large for 14500 and I’m not a fan of clickies anyway.
But nevertheless - thank you for the suggestion.
It’s even worse than that. If I’ve read the patent correctly, the majority of it describes a selectable filter. Figure 1 does appear to describe a fixed filter, but that’s just one drawing and one paragraph. The rest of the document talks about selectable and switchable designs. The patent might indeed be valid if it only discussed these more complex designs, but the single-filter model is absolutely both obvious, and has been done prior.
I don’t think a selectable filter based on pre-exsiting technology would qualify for a patent either. These things have been used in entertainment lighting for decades.
My video diassembled Convoy S12
Confirm Driver Size 22mm and 20mm switch board
Be gently when you unscrew driver brass ring,threads are fine
The same can be said for light recycling collars, more recently also known as wavien collars when instead it should have been a waiven patent. Bad.
The pharma industry exploits the patent system to perpetuate an insane cycle of unneeded “developments” which some times they even get for free, while at the same time perfectly good medicines are avoided, overlooked or disregarded. Just an example, of course.
The patent system and intellectual property protection stuff is an incredible hindrance to mankind and needs to die.
Wake up, people, wake up. 
Im potentially interested in the Convoy S21A or M21B 21700 models. While Im OK with the SST40 and overall design, I wonder if there are any easily swappable more advanced drivers that would come with more modes, more customizing and higher current to the LED?
Extremely customisable driver including ramping: Sterownik LED 5A programowalny extended v4.0 HE no PWM - www.swiatelka.pl
8A turbo might be a little much.
Led4Power driver: led4power
Has someone that issue where he can’t find Simon’s store in Aliexpress when searching Convoy light? There are all different stores but Simon’s. Even typing “Convoy store” in search bar doesn’t help. When typing “Convoy S12” there is no results for Simon’s one, all are from different stores. 
The Aliexpress' search engine, humongous piece of sheesh as it is, isn't geared to find stores. If you search for a product, pretty sure some offers from the Convoy store will pop up. Alternatively, use a proper search engine: https://www.google.com/search?q=aliexpress+convoy+store
Aliexpress also seems to have an extremely ill-conceived anti-scraping system that sometimes demands that you log in to see a page. It might also affect search results, or simply return a 404 for an anonymous user that it would show to a logged-in user.
I don’t know anything about doing business in China, so I’m not sure what store owners get out of Aliexpress aside from an order page and payment processor, but it would be great if Simon had his own website like Hank does.
“Sorry, the page you requested can not be found! :(”
Yeah…Aliexpress…
I can find his store because I’ve bought couple of things from him and I can find it this way, but I’m just wondering why when searching of anything Convoy related, the only store that isn’t appearing is Convoy store, but all other re-sellers :person_facepalming:
Wasn’t it “renamed” somewhat to “Convay” or something? New logo that people didn’t like, etc.?