Sorry if this doesn’t deserve it’s own thread, I did think that there’d be a general S2+ thread I could ask in but I didn’t find one…… perhaps I’m looking in the wrong place?
Anyway, I have a newbie question if I may ask you all;
Just received my S2+ from the GearBest new years giveaway (thank you GB!). It’s green and I love it. This is my first 18650 torch and first torch with multiple modes. Actually I found the modes confusing, I’ll need to look up exactly how they work. Oh my and the tint of the light is fantastic - not blue like my SK68 clone, but a beautiful warm golden’y glow. How magical.
Oh right, my question. After stumbling through the various modes I found the “super mega turbo turn it up to 11” mode. This was mighty fine for walking the dog, because I could direct the spot in such a way that I could see where I was putting my feet in the boggy woods and also still see down the path to keep an eye on Doodles. But fairly quickly the torch got warm in my hand. Not disturbingly hot, but like a nice little hand warmer.
I was a bit paranoid, so I stumbled back through the modes to a lesser setting and the S2+ cooled down.
But I was a bit puzzled. The light is stock, so presumably the modes are all within design limits, but is the torch designed to run continuously like this? Will it keep getting hotter or will it just reach whatever temp and level out?
More importantly, am I damaging the torch if I let it get too hot?
I just want to make sure that I treat it right.
Oh, and I’m using a Sanyo UR18650ZY cell if that matters
Got any pics of the light you have? I’d like to see it, specifically, the inside of the head (showing the driver and spring) and the spring in the tailcap.
So these lights can get very hot! A typical driver in these will push about 10W and the light can get uncomfortably hot, sometimes too hot to hold if left unattended.
It’s generally not an issue, as long as you hold the light in your hand, you will naturally transfer a lot of these heat out (into your body!) which helps keep the light from overheating. But use your judgement… If it’s too hot to hold, then back off a bit. Sometimes, these high-modes are called a “Turbo” and are for short use only to prevent overheating…
Under normal use, it won’t be an issue… Keep in mind, these high modes will drain your battery much more quickly. For longer walks, I’d usually shift down a gear…
Pics below, though I wonder what you’re looking for?
The torch certainly didn’t get too hot to hold, so that’s reassured me - thank you guys.
I did wonder if this is just a feature of using higher powered torches.
Battery was only down to 75%, so that’s great too. I’m so pleased with this torch!
Very nice! It appears to be a legitimate Convoy there… GB had been shipping some fakes, but yours looks good. That looks like the 2.8A driver too, so yeah, it’ll get warm. :party:
Many experienced flashlight owners buy the Convoy S2+ with only three or four 7135 chips. That way, their flashlights do not heat up as quickly. When you load up an S2+ with the full complement of eight 7135 chips, it gets very hot very fast. You can only run high mode for a few minutes, if that. With fewer driver chips you can maintain high output for much longer. As a bonus, your battery will last longer, too.
In addition, with fewer 7135 chips, medium and low modes will be lower. For many of us, that is a plus.
The gray S2+ uses a different switch cover than the red, blue, and green models. The latter three use a metal switch cover. The gray one has a traditional rubber cover that provides better water-proofing.
If you go with the S2+, consider buying the optional short body tube. That allows you to run using the shorter 18350 battery. In that configuration, the S2+ fits comfortably in a pants pocket.
I do not own the Convoy S2+. All of my remarks are based on information I have gleaned reading at CandlepowerForums and BudgetLightForum. BLF has discounts you can use either at Banggood or Shenzhen Convoy Electronics Co., Ltd. The latter web site is for the company that manufactures the S2+.
Be careful where you purchase. GearBest and others have occasionally been supplied with inferior Convoy knock-offs.
Also of interest — whether your driver is held in by a retaining ring (the pill is threaded to take one)
or is held in by solder blobs
or has a threaded retaining ring screwed in plus solder blobs on top of it.
I’m not sure what the pattern is there — maybe it’s the drivers with more chips that get the solder added?
Yes, if you have more than 4 chips (i.e. they have to put chips on the bottom) they use the solder blobs because the retaining ring won’t fit over the chips on the bottom. Makes it more of a pain reprogram those drivers, wish convoy would come up with a new retaining ring that fit over them - just a deeper pill would be fine.
Personally, I purchase all my Convoy stuff either from Mountain Electronics or directly from the Convoy store in AliExpress. Simon is a joy to deal with and their prices are always reasonable (at least to me). Don’t have an S2+ but the BD03’s I have sure do run hot on turbo, and they have only 4 7135’s. Would be nice if they would remove the flashy modes and throw in a firefly/moonlight mode.
Normally you can keep the light a lot cooler by holding the light where it gets hot. You own hand will act as a heat sink keeping the lights temp down.
Hehe, I have one in the post!
Ironically, it was the first of 4 packages to be ordered and yep, you guessed, it’ll be the last to arrive. The only one where I paid for tracking, which seems to have slowed it down. Anyway, no real rush, the S2+ will do fine service till the D80 lands.
