USB Rechargeable 18350 Convoy S6 Triple

Flashlight Modding and DIY Parts Featured Mods
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Another cool flashlight mod for you today, a shortened Convoy S6 with USB recharging facility :wink:

I had been thinking about this one for a while but could not find a small enough suitable charging circuit until the new USB rechargeable 18650 batteries appeared on the market.

After reading HKJ’s Review of Lumintop 18650 3400mAh USB LM34C and Disassembly of USB charged batteries i decided i would buy one of these cells to check out what i could do with it.
I bought it on pre-order so got a good price for it.

I also bought a couple of spare 18350 Extension Tubes to see what lego’s with what.

Onto what i have done…

I figured i could incorporate the charging circuit into the S6 without too much difficulty, the only problem being how to charge the battery when the light is in an off state, ie the light would have to be switched on and in a low mode to make the circuit and charge the cell.

I come up with the idea that if i could disconnect the cell & charger from the driver while keeping them connected together that would mean only having to engage the clicky switch to make the charging circuit complete when the USB charging lead was connected.

This idea would serve two purposes - separating the battery and charger from the driver unit and giving me an internal charging port cover.

The light was already built as a triple with 20mm aluminium heatsink so i cut the heatsink in half to allow enough space for the charging circuit to be installed.

The charging board sits attached on top of a compressible silicone cushion to the driver, the cushion is a couple mil larger than required so when pressure is relieved it pushes away from the driver, breaking contact.

By unscrewing the head a couple of turns the USB charging port is revealed and the driver and charging board break contact while the cell and charger remain connected. All that needs to be done is plug in and hit the tail clicky to on position.

The charging light is green when the tail switch is open or the cell is full and red while charging.
I made this light with an 18350 tube as the charger has a trip protection of around 7.8A and a high discharge 18650 would most likely trip it. (untested though)

Here’s some pictures, the ones of the cell used are from HKJ’s reviews linked above.

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Triple XP-G2 3C on noctigon
10509 TIR Optic
Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Paste
ARC glass
17mm FET driver
10mm aluminium heatsink
Micro USB charging port
Forward tail clicky
Magnetic Tail
2 x 1.5mm green tritium vials

Max – 1020lm
cd – 3500
Throw – 118m

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2 Thanks
2

Very impressive, how did you drill the holes in the light?

3

I always like modded lights from CRX but this one looks extra well done (if that is even possible.)

Such polished fit n finish on this light & it’s so practical too. This light needs to go into mass production.

4

Thanks, i just used a battery drill with 1.5mm bit, drilled three holes and filed out the slot with mini diamond files. The charging indicator is a single hole filled with UV setting glass glue.

Thanks very much mate :+1:

5

Nice mod, your hand-made work is impressive!

6

Still practicing, but getting better :slight_smile: Thanks.

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I’m amazed you did not break many bits and could drill 3 holes close enough together to bridge them with a mini file

8

Me too! :laughing: That was the scariest part of the build and went much better than i had anticipated.
The aluminium is really quite soft once you get through the ano. I tried a new trick and cut a small line with a junior hacksaw on this one first.

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Interesting, interesting, i had a thread about the soft aluminum a few years back, i’ll see if i can find it

10

CRX,

Well Done, Love It.

Liked the Lateral Thinking with disconnecting the circuit to reveal the charging port.

Cheers,
S-L :slight_smile:

11

Yeah nice mod

But seriously an Eagle Eye X2R might be a simple solution

12

Thank you :beer:

Thanks, but i fear you are missing the point :wink:

I have an Eagle Eye X2R on order, should be an interesting light.

13

Very cool mod, CRX!

14

Nice

15

I have been planning a similar mod for a while but haven’t gotten there yet. I laid out a charginging circuit with the components of a commonly available circuit. I have the parts on hand but haven’t worked out how to order the boards.

16

Wow well done! :wink: :+1: Your skilz and builds are amazing! :beer: You must have been a watch maker in a previous life!! :smiley:

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Clever build :slight_smile:
Ingeniously done!

(The pictures are kind of dark. A bit of lighting will make the details more visible i think.)

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Very nice work again, you clearly spend serious time tinkering what should be possible and have most of the build thought out before even starting.

19

Inspiring stuff! I might well make something like this myself based on this build, thanks for sharing.

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Thanks for the inspiring comments gentlemen :beer:
Added a couple new pics to OP.