Most people now know this host as the Convoy S6, but I hesitate to call it that because it didn’t come from Simon/Convoy.
This is a pretty unique host so I wanted to “honor” it by doing something special with it. I knew the instant I saw it that I would install an amber lighted tailcap (my current fav color), but I wanted to do something more. I decided to try mixing white and red led’s, sort of like I did with my S8. The S8 puts out a lot of light with its dual XP-L’s, but because of the small optics it was always lacking in throw. I decided to try to remedy that with this light. My solution was to keep the standard reflector set-up, but also fit some red SMD led’s inside the reflector.
I took a sheet of thin copper that I had from a seller on Etsy, and super-glued an old XP-E right in the middle of it. Then I used a hobby razor to carefully cut the emitter out, and add some narrow slits on the sides. Then, with some solder paste and butane torch, I soldered the little 0805 led’s on.
I then cut the copper some more until everything matched up. The Led+ is shared between red guys and the main led (a beautiful 4000k Nichia 219c which I adore, even more than the 5000k version). The Led- is separate from the main led. I added some power, and it works! Even better, it actually fits in a standard XM-L2 reflector opening! I knew the beam from the reds would be ugly, but I wasn’t exactly expecting the “Eye of Sauron” :Sp
I threw some DC fix on the lens and it cleaned it up beautifully to a nice even flood. However, once I got it all put in the host, I realized the red light wasn’t nearly bright enough. So I pulled it all back out and changed the firmware to up the current to the red led’s. Reassembled everything, hit the switch, and…. nothing. That’s never a good sign. I took the pill out and immediately I could see that I had completely fried the red led’s. :_(
Oh well. If they couldn’t handle the current needed to be bright enough, there wasn’t any point trying that exact idea again. Plus, I was very tired of soldering that tiny stuff So I scrapped the red idea. The light may not be as “flashy” without the red feature, but it is definitely very functional. With the Olive color, 4000k 219c, 4.5amp driver, amber lighted tailcap, and black clip (standard clip coated w/ plastidip), I’d say it’s still very unique as well.
To finish it out, here is a pic of the tail, and one that shows the correct color of the anodizing on this light.