The Most POWERFUL Flashlight EVER - DIY Convoy INFERNO - 2239 Lumens 

Thanks! Ya it's pretty crazy. They have the XHP50.2 3V as well. Back in the day they only had 6V and people were modding it to 3V, like brain surgery to get over 2000 lumens, but now that's possible with the 3V. SST40 is a great LED too! LED on steroids. Can't wait to see what else comes out. Enjoy the S2+! Cheers! David.

Haha good points you bring up! I was thinking that the title was wrong too, but then I looked into it some more, a flashlight is a "battery operated portable light". Now depending on what you consider portable, that can mean a bunch of different things, in this case, a flashlight is something I can fit in my pocket, this single 18650 flashlight is about as big of a flashlight I can fit in that front pocket of the 5.11 Stryke pants, so in a single celled form factor, it's the most powerful. The SkyRay king can output 3500 lumens stock, but it wouldn't be considered portable in this case, since I can't fit it into that pocket. Ok you're right, if you say it's portable cuz it can fit in a bag, then it is a flashlight and this isn't the most powerful one anymore, but if you're limited to a single celled 18650, this will be the most powerful in the world. Know that song "chestnuts roasting on an open fire"? That's what you hear when it accidentally turns on in your pocket. So I think it's earned it's title in this case. There's some misleading titles out there, but I don't think this is one of them by far. I've put my explanation in the description too, to qualify the title. Thanks for pointing that out though, you're the first one to, and it was a long time coming!

Hi, Thanks for watching my video, and I'm glad you liked it! That sounds like a great flashlight. There's a bunch of those features spread throughout various flashlights, but never put into 1. I think those ideas are great, and I think active cooling would be good to have as well. All of the above plus active thermal regulation, and I think you've got yourself the only flashlight you'll ever need. Right now I'm playing around with putting the X5/X6 Astrolux driver into the S2+, and it seems to be a pretty good upgrade. It has active thermal regulation, but it seems that it's a little slow in ramping down to keep the temperature down, but that's probably because the programming is written for a larger light with greater thermal capacity. Your fan would mean you could put out more light continuously out of a smaller flashlight though, so in conjunction with active thermal regulation it'd operate well. The OLight S1R has a nice magnetic tail with charging, maybe a docking station with a similar magnetic connection would be good. Cheers! David.

Thanks for the suggestion! That would be a good build! I'm thinking about the XHP50.2 3V as well. Not sure which one will yield a better result, but I think 2 builds, one the SST40 and one the XHP50.2 would be a great build and comparison. Thanks for the great suggestion! Best regards, David.

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it. I definitely enjoyed making it! Upgrading flashlights is fun stuff. I'll definitely do more in the future. The UVC light makes a lot of sense, with what's out there. Like getting some fast food and blasting everything that was touched quickly, could stop some if not all germs! More power is definitely good. The s2+ is a great platform for the mod, especially since they have triple nichia LED builds already, if the LED is similar in size, could just be a drop in. I'll look into it, thanks for the great idea! I did a review on the S2+ with UVB, black light stuff, was pretty cool. Would be fun to look into UVC, figuratively. 😂 Cheers! David.

Thanks. Oh good job with that build! That definitely sounds like a powerful build. Where did you order the 18350s? Gotta find good high current cells for that XHP70.2! It can take it all. What lens did you use? You should make a video on your build. Definitely interesting! Others and myself would like to see! Cheers, David.

Lol, good job man! That sounds like a beast of an S2+! It's more powerful than stock SkyRay Kings even. That 12 XPL LEDs sounds crazy too, that's gonna be nuts. Can't wait to see it!

ware did you buy the pil

Nonnof Yobiznes Thanks man! Sorry, I thought there's only one model for that capacity. Isn't it only the LG MJ1 that's 3500mAh? You're right tho, cuz if they make a new model of the same capacity and a different current rating, then my video will be confusing, could be an MJ2 next year(2017). I'll refer to the model numbers in the future, thanks for the tip! Now there's a Sanyo 3500mAh too, so I should refer to the model number for that as well, NCR18650GA is the one I'm referring to. I got some, but haven't made a video yet, it's actually a tiny bit better than the LG INR18650MJ1 3500mAh, but I think that's cuz it had a shorter shelf life when I tested it. Cheers, David.

Hi Texas Ace, thank you for your informative feedback, you seem very knowledgeable and that's awesome and very welcome! I have always liked to work on this type of stuff, modify things, take things apart and play around with them, so to me this is actually fun, and not a lot of work; hopefully others think so too, and enjoy playing around with the electronics, wires, soldering, grinding even, etc. I actually didn't know about the Astrolux S1, or the triple when I built this. But since I've looked at them, as well as a single XHP70 in the Convoy S2+, they look good for high out the front lumens, but will be more expensive builds so I haven't gone down that route. I'm pretty cheap so I wanted to see what I could do with just some extra 7135's, and the stock XM-L2. Thank you for having me re-visit the lumen output, I am always open to learning, and you have shed some light on this. My calculation was simply 20W(bench tested with the power meter), multiplied by the 116 lumens/watt, since the output is generally linear(I assumed), I calculated 116*20=2320 lumens. The Cree website also said 170 lumens/watt at binning conditions(www.cree.com/LED-Components-and-Modules/Products/XLamp/Discrete-Directional/XLamp-XML2), so I assumed 116 lm/w was a fair choice and not misleading right? But you're right, it's not as linear as I thought, and it drops as power increases. I suppose my T4 bin could put out a lot less than 116 lumens per watt. My impression was LEDs put out around 100 lumens per watt, and that fluorescent sources were even reaching 100 lumens per watt, so I assumed my Cree LED could output at least that. Could be totally wrong though. So if I go with a higher bin, say one that gives 170 lumens/watt, can you multiply by 20W and 3400 lumens? That seems ridiculous and nearly impossible, I guess that's where you need to take into account the factors that decrease output. For the heat, I was just trying to extract the heat through the threads, and create more thermal mass so it doesn't get hot as quickly, maybe 30 seconds instead of 20. Not much but it helps having more copper in there. I see that someone on BLF has since made a copper insert for the S2+ that you can buy, which beefs it up with copper, way more copper, he had a link on ebay for it. Easier to get that, but I think it's fun to grind up copper and solder it. I also purchased two 5mm thick plates of copper, gonna play around with that. I like the FET idea, but I was scared of overcurrenting my LEDs, I am hoping the 7135 can limit the current if i throw in a VTC5 with super low internal resistance. I saw on the FET websites they warn about keeping an eye on that, so I opted for the safer 7135 stacked method. I am going to try cone-doming my LEDs, to make a better thrower, what do you think about that? I'd appreciate your feedback for sure regarding that upgrade! Will it redirect light to the reflector and kick it out in an insane beam? I'm hoping, but I'll be testing and sharing my results regardless if it's successful or not. Thanks again for your feedback and looking forward to your shared knowledge! Cheers, David.

At least you are willing to learn and not just cry when something is pointed out. Props for that. Having fun with flashlights is what it is all about, I also enjoy playing with them, thats how I ended up with over 100 of them and counting lol. The S1 is not what I would call expensive at but it also does have it's issues. At around $22 and 1600 OTF lumens though it is a pocket powerhouse that is hard to argue with. The convoy S2+ is simply a bit better made. They can both do the same thing with the same parts though. An XHP50 or 70 in an S2 is pointless, I did it. It gets too hot to hold in less then 30 seconds and hot enough to desolder itself from the star in about 90 seconds. No joke. Same thing happened with one of my triples before I started using drivers with thermal setup down. The biggest reason that XHP's are pointless though is that you have to use 18350 batteries which mean you have all of 5-7 minutes of runtime. Triples on the other hand are much better since they can use 18650's but they still overheat fast on turbo due to producing around 60W of power in a high powered version. They are a very nice floody light although I personally prefer the single LED EDC lights myself, they have a more usable beam for things further away then 30 feet or so. Trying to calculate lumen output from the datasheet is an exercise in futility. Don't even bother. Generally when you are driving an LED hard it can easily get down into the 50-60 lumens/watt range. To see what the LED's do in the real world look up some tests on BLF, djozz does some nice ones. XM-L2's generally max out around 1500-1800 lumens for the high bins (ala, U2 and up). For a T4 you have to subtract 7% for each bin, so that would be a max of around 1200-1300 lumens, which is unlikely with a 7135 driver. My guess is closer to 1000-1100. If you measure the current with a clamp meter or a shunt while it is in the flashlight and then compare it to the charts and correct for the bin difference then you can get a semi-close idea but it will be far from accurate, just a ballpark guess. With current battery tech you pretty much can't overdrive an LED we use now days as long as it is mounted on a DTP copper star. Direct drive will only draw around 5-6A from the best batteries, lesser batteries will be less current then that. the 7135's have a lot of resistance and as such will reduce power more then an FET. For example in my current EDC XG-G3 90+ CRI (soon to be swapped for a 219C 90+ CRI) S2+ with Texas Avenger 7135+FET driver it will pull around 8 amps on turbo with an HE2 cell but only around 5 amps with a GA cell and even less with a laptop pull. Modern triple channel drivers give the best of all worlds, you have regulated low modes and then a full on turbo mode for max power when you want it. You can dedome the LED but I highly recommend you do NOT dedome the one you have. It is a warm white LED by the specs you listed (which is great, they are a great tint). The problem is that when you de-dome an LED the tint "shifts" to be even warmer and greener. If you dedome a very cool white LED, such as a 0D or 1A tint the end result is not my thing but at least it is not puke green. If you dedome your on the other hand it will most likely come out looking like puke green and disgusting. If you want better throw there is a much better option, simply get yourself an XP-L HI LED in the tint of your choice, they come without a dome from the factory and throw much better. They are my go to LED for anything I don't want 90+ CRI in. If you want even more throw get yourself a good TIR lens (they are not all the same, I tested over 20 of them and only found 2 that work well).

Texas Ace Thanks for all the info Texas. I'm always up for learning, that's how we all got here right? Life is a journey and we will never stop learning, everyone is born knowing nothing. That must be quite the collection you have! Lol. But can never have enough! I think there's a light for every task. I haven't tried a fet on an XML, but I should try, from what you're saying, I'm guessing the low internal resistance of a good 18650 won't even burn out a single XML2 on a Sinkpad II. I'll try on a cheap XML2 when I get a chance to experiment. For the dedoming, I was thinking if just cutting it off with a shaving razor blade, instead of gasoline, cuz I don't like color shift either. I like my warm white 2750K, it's kinda like an incandescent light source, which is what CRI was based on, so if you can make it look exactly like it, it's sort of like a CRI of 100 lol. It definitely has a higher R9 value, and that's important for light quality. R9 is a fairly new value that LED manufacturers are looking at, because they realizing having more red spectrum contributes to higher light quality. So for dedoming, I was thinking of shaping the dome like a cone shape, which should help direct the light to the reflector, be it the smooth or a TIR. Hopefully that will help throw more of the light forward, rather than out the front. That's awesome, I've tested a couple TIR optics, 10°, and it was better than the stock OP reflector, but not that much tighter. I put an XPL HI in there too, but I'm thinking it throws a lot of light forward still, so I'm hoping the dome shape will help. I'm gonna test it out when I have some time. The XHP70 in the L6 has a donut shape, so I'm hopeful that it'll help with that too, but I'll have to see. What do you think?

Texas Ace Oh ya, and about the LED desoldering itself, that's pretty funny, but makes sense since the heat can't escape, it'll just get hotter and hotter to the point it reflows, I press down while I solder though, so it might not make a difference since the LED is being pressed down by the reflector. Lol imagine that, a light that runs so hot it operates with the solder melted! I don't like the idea of using 18350s neither, cuz they have much lower capacity than 18650s. I'll try sticking to 18650s, the VTC5 has the lowest internal resistance of all my batteries, it's pretty good, but I don't have any VTC4s, apparently those are true 30A continuous discharge cells, which might mean they have a lower internal resistance. I don't like having a floody light neither, so the triple and XHP70 doesn't seem like a good idea unless you just want OTF lumens, I like a good beam, the stock S2+ is the most practical in most situations I use my lights, but I'm just playing around with throwers too, because they also have their uses. I recently got the C8 clear with the XPL HI and it's hot spot is intense, even higher intensity than the L6 maybe? We'll have to test to see tho. It doesn't work well for walking sidewalks or trails, but it's a hell of a thrower, which I need sometimes. I'm gonna try to put a 5 degree TIR on the S2+ with a cone-domed XPL V6-0D, good thrower in a small package, then if I need it to be a walking light I can put a diffuser on the end. I've found that the diffusing paper in the iPhone can actually create a horizontal distribution, sorta like 60 x 30. From one side it splits the beam into two, flipping it over, it throws light horizontally, perfect for walking a sidewalk, or if you put it on a bike and ride around. Anyways, those are my future projects to play around with. It'll be nice if I can make an adaptor for the front. I'm sure they sell it but where's the fun in that right? I'm liking the off-time memory of the biscotti firmware tho. Have you played with it? What firmware do you run? My cousin has the H17F with the guppydrv, seems to like it, but it's like a $30 driver for me so haven't gotten it yet, but seems great. I was afraid on fet it might blow up some leds, but based on what you said it should be ok. Best part is, I think it's temp regulation might be able to keep the temp down safely right? If they put temp control into the biscotti driver, that would have been awesome, should have had turbo timer too. But can't complain for $3.40. Lol. Do you have the L6? I've been meaning to play with that and make it like a FET driven light, they have 4 mosfets on there, capable of 9A each so I think it can safely do 36A, under high heat, maybe 18A no problem. And one person said an XHP70 can do 12A so that will be insane. Since it's a big light I don't think it'll reflow the solder, hoping at least!

As long as the LED's are kept well heat sinked they will pretty much all handle an FET driver. Slicing the dome still has a tint shift and lumen loss, not recommended on warm LED's, only on cold white LED's. Dedomed also does not improve CRI at all, in fact it makes it worse. It can reduce the blue in the light which makes the red stand out more but the CRI is not improved. Trying to shape the dome is something you can play with but the chances of getting it right without messing up the LED is very small. Even a small scratch/mark on the dome will cause the LED to burn it self to death quite literally. The L6 doesn't have a donut hole, in fact it is the only XHP70 light I have seen that doesn't (well if you look real close on a white wall it sort of does up close but not in real world use). Slicing the dome on the XHP70 will reduce the donut.

TPHVICTIMS Thanks man, it's probably my favourite all around flashlight. I'm gonna make a biscotti firmware version. It'll be even more useful! With the side magnet and tail magnet upgraded it's even more useful, probably the most useful light in the world for the size, functionality and output balance. Cheers! David.

im just wonderinf if you could do the same with the C8 , or Convoy L2 / C12 ? for maximum throw, or maybe mod it for 20W but using XP-L V5 / or even XHP50 led ?

Hi Rocheuro, thanks for the positive comments ;o)! I appreciate it! Ya I like the warm white Convoy S2+, and I was carrying around this for a while, but it was a little big for EDC and I wanted to go with more of a 16340 light, used a cheap XM-L2 keychain light for a while but the threads were garbage. I've found the On the Road M3 and it's as good as the Convoy S2+ for output, but uses the smaller 16340 so it's lighter, and good for when I don't need the runtime. I always thought the Convoy S2+ would be great for biking as well, and I have some bike mounts, it's good distribution for that for sure. 10W isn't much though, and I think a 7xXML2 might be better, running it on medium would be good. I can do some review videos focusing on the C8 and L2(ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-_wfSUfMFCVo.htmlm7s), but for now I've got some comparison of the L2 and C8 in my On the Road M3 video. The L2 is definitely a very good 10W thrower, and the C8 is a very good small 10W thrower, it's beam isn't as tight as the L2, but it still does very well. I compare the C8 to the L2 in a trail, you can check it out here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-_wfSUfMFCVo.htmlm20s You can see that the C8 is a little softer, but it can still see the bridge very well, the S2+ doesn't have a tight enough beam to really light up the bridge. If you want a really powerful thrower, the Convoy L6 is very good, 32W/4000 lumens rated. I tested it out and it can light up a building 0.5km away as well as the L2, the L2 is only 10W, so it lights it up, but the beam is smaller, but they light it up about the same, the L2 might be more intense, but it's very hard to tell. The L6 definitely lights up a larger area. The L6 has an orange peel reflector, so the beam is wider and there's more spill/flood light, great as a search light since you can see more overall. I would say the peak intensity/illumination is similar between the L6 and L2, I'm making an L6 review video, but as a sneak peak, check out my L6 vs L2 vsC8 picture below, you can see that the L2 is tighter, but it's not any better at lighting up the trail/bridge than the L6, the L6 illuminates a way larger area though, the C8 does a fine job but the bridge isn't getting as much light compared to the others: www.dropbox.com/s/4bk4vn9ei94hrhh/L6-VS-L2-VS-C8-IN-TRAIL.jpg?dl=0 (Locked exposure for all shots) If you're after a very good thrower, they are probably going to come out with a smooth L6 reflector, that with the XHP70 will be the ultimate thrower, I'm sure. You could probably do the same thing I did to the S2+ to the C8, but the shelf and body are aluminum, so there's a high risk that you could burn out the LED, but it is certainly worth a shot, because that would make a very good C8 compact sized 20W thrower. The XHP HI V5 would be the best to make it a thrower for sure. The W3 is the highest efficacy, but I don't know if they even sell that, if they do it'll be an expensive and very high color temperature LED. I found a V6 but strangely, it says 200lm/W and max 1092 lumens @10W, so I guess it's only 200lm/W at 0.3A or so. The real key to increasing ampacity though, is using a copper pad, it is essential. I couldn't believe how quickly the XML2 burnt out on the aluminum pad, copper really keeps the hot spot/junction temperature down. The XHP70 is on a copper pad in the Convoy L6, I guess that's how they get 32W into a 7mm x 7mm footprint. Normally the XML2 runs at 10W on a 5mm x 5mm footprint. An XHP50 LED on copper in the C8 would be nice actually, you could use a FET driver, and 2 x 18350s, as long as you don't push way over 3A it would be a beast! They really need to make the C8 have a brass/copper shelf though, otherwise heat may be an issue. You could add copper in there yourself I suppose. If you push the XHP50 hard, you could probably get over 3000 lumens out of it, it's rated at 2546lm, so I'm sure you can push it. Good idea. You got all the equipment, so I think you should give it a try if a thrower is your goal. You can just heat up the pad, and solder the XP-L or XHP50 LED like I did in this video. I bought some low temperature soldering paste, typically used in ball grid array(BGA) soldering, it's low temperature 183°C so you won't damage the LED too much when heating it up to reflow it. They normally use hot air but since our pad is copper/aluminum, it heats up pretty easily. I just used normal solder, but I'm sure the low temp stuff is better for the LED, since keeping the efficacy up is important to maximizing light output. Cheers! David.

Thank you! I appreciate it! I like learning and being creative, that's what life is all about, and we should have fun doing it right? Great question, and yes, I have, I've used the smooth reflector, a TIR optic that's 10 degrees, and one that's for the XPL at 5 degrees, and they each increase the throw a little bit more by narrowing down the beam angle. I'm going to try the 5 degree with the new XP-L2, and try shaping the done like a cone shape, thereby making a very powerful thrower. I think the XP-L2 is supposed to handle the highest power ever, in an LED that size, and have the highest efficacy (lumens/watt) available at lower color temperatures, maybe even higher color temperatures. Technology is always advancing, and we just keep stepping further and further. We've gone a long way from incandescent bulbs giving us 20 lumens per watt, I with this, the bulbs you buy in stores will be pushing over 150 lumens/watt easily, at warm color temperatures around 3000K, that's usable around the home, it'll be great! We can light up the whole house with 100 watts, whereas before you'd need multiple 100 watt bulbs, lol, I've ordered 2 warm whites and 2 cooler XP-L2s, so we'll see how they do! If you're looking for a very powerful thrower, compact, the XP-L2 and a 5 degree TIR lens may be the way to go. If you don't want to shape the dome yourself, you can get the XPL HI or the XP-L2 HI (When they make it, doesn't seem like an option now). I think the S2+ with a good throw would be a prefect light though, and the Biscotti firmware too! Then you can default to high, or program it to anything you want. I'll make videos for the upgrades when I get around to implementing them to my S2+. Thanks again for the comment! Cheers! David.

vicv071122 Thanks!! I was just using the 116 lumens per watt figure provided by Cree. I recently got an XPL V6 LED, if I put that in, how much do you think it would output if I pushed 5.11A through it?

David Sunshine you might get an extra 100-200 lumens out of the xpl, as it is the same die size as the xm-l2. but so is the xhp50.2, and that emitter will double the brightness.

Isn't it a bit smaller cuz it's a 3.5mm x 3.5mm? vs 5x5mm? I haven't dissected the LED so the actual emitting portion might be the same. Ya the XHPs are definitely the way to go for the most power, with higher voltage you need less current, so less heat generated. Not bad for multi-cell lights or ones big enough to have a booster circuit tho. I've ordered some XPLs so I'll play around with them, see if they're any good. I'm gonna try making a tight beam angle and thrower out of it. That's the goal anyways. Cheers, David.

the phosphor area is the same on both LED's. You would be better off going triple XP-L-HI with a carclo 10507 optic.

Cool. Thanks for the suggestion. I've been thinking of a triple, maybe a build on the future. I'm playing around with getting more throw right now. I think going with a triple would be great for out the front lumens, but the beam angle and field angles would increase.

Thanks for the suggestions!! And links! That would be an awesome light I'm sure, I like the higher CRI of nichias as well, since quality of light is more important I'm general for me. I like to play around with output and throw of course too, but there's always sacrifice of one thing or another. I was thinking of also going with 3 XHP35s in the S2+, that would be nuts. What do you think? Just need good 18350s. How is the throw with a triple optic? The beam angle is probably greater, and the field angle is probably less I'm guessing? The copper spacer would be good, but I'd still want to add copper behind the plate since it'll help increase thermal conductivity through to the threads and out the body, the area between the plate and threads seems to be a bottle neck in heat transfer. Unless the block could touch the side wall, it won't help with transfer out if the system,maybe a copper wrap around it could help, like people do with the P60 drop in? The only reason I don't buy all this stuff and build it, is cost. I would buy and build it all if it didn't cost money lol. Probably same reason other people hold off buying the next upgrade. Cheers, David.

Hi ArduinoMaster, that's a great find!! It's EXACTLY what you would want for the S2+ to make a triple, that's A LOT of freakin copper, lol. Thanks for the link. I haven't built a triple before, but it would make a very compact hand cannon. Mountain electronics has stock for noctigon triples, they have a 4000K 90CRI D200 Nichia, if you're looking for a higher quality light, that might be the one to go with, it will have a higher R9 than one at 4745K-5310K. Good for those in search of high output with high quality light. I would personally go with 3000K, I like warm color temp. For high output, they have the XPL with V6 efficacy, that will give you the highest lumen out the front since it has a dome and throws the light forward as opposed to the XPL HI which throws more to the reflector or optic, so there's less losses. If you want more throw, then go with an XPL HI though, but when going for a triple you probably want massive output, so the XPL with a dome would benefit that goal. From my testing, the XPL HI does have a little lower out the front lumens due to the losses on a reflector. (www.mtnelectronics.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=547&search=s2%2B+copper+triple) The driver I'd run it off would be the H17F (www.mtnelectronics.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=67_116&product_id=659) It's got full thermal control, and ever option under the sun for a flashlight. But I'm just dreaming of a great light, I haven't built it yet. lol. And run it off Sony VTC5's(tidd.ly/3ec56fd2), those things have the lowest internal resistance of all 18650's I've found. Good find once again, I think that could be the best upgrade to the S2+ for those going for a nutty triple! Thanks for posting. Cheers, David.

No problem! Yes, the H17F is pricy, but it's the best in my opinion. I haven't purchased it either because it's so expensive, but the full thermal control is great for a high powered flashlight, definitely required for something pushing over 30W. But like you, I'm gonna pass for now. But for $17 it's actually pretty cheap for what you get. Have you started programming the ATtiny13A chip with the ardruino yet? From your name, I assume that's a piece of cake for you, lol. Then you can program whatever you want into the drivers. You won't be disappointed by the VTC5 if you're looking for low internal resistance and high amps. In fact, if you're running the FET, you may even blow things up!! So be careful, cuz it's mainly your battery's internal resistance that's holding back the current for a single LED setup, so it could increase dramatically with the use of a better battery. Cheers! David.

I just finished ordering all parts for a triple. It's going to be built with a custom driver designed by someone on BLF and hand assembled by me with two seperate output channels so I can drive two different kind of leds. The host is going to be an s2+ which I already have. The LEDs are going to be two XP-L HIs and one 90+ cri nichia on a noctigon. I ordered a copper spacer from that guy in your ebay link, he is also active on BLF so I bought it from there (budgetlightforum.com/node/45343). With the different kind of leds I'm going to be able to light the nichia and cree leds seperately depending on which mode I select. So I get 90+ cri and a shitload of output in one tube style light. I am so excited and I'm waiting untill everthing arrives from China and Russia.

Awesome man!! That sounds like the perfect light. Cuz you can't replace good quality 90+CRI light, that's key to have. Combined with the high output of the XPL HIs it'll be a powerful light. It's important to have quality light from a flashlight, that's why I prefer warmer color temperatures. The one in this video is 2750K, which is pretty warm. That's gonna be a great build. Let us know how you like it.

Hi, 1.) I did it to the stock, but now the new driver with Biscotti has come out, it can only be purchased from the Convoy store on aliexpress, I can send you a link, but they're on vacation till Feb 15th. It's worth getting that, you'll be much more happy with it. 2.) Yup, I've done that actually, just for testing. For a bench light you might want to check out the 100W Epistar LED chips. Run off a DC-DC boost converter(100W, and 400W, you could also use a 600W). I use it on old AMD 125W+ (Phenom) CPU heat sinks, it's the most light you'll get for a cheap price. I can give you more info if you need, on the set-up if you'd like. But you can always use an XML2. They have the new XP-L2 which is supposed to handle way more amps than the XML2 and XP-L, I've ordered some and will give it a try. 3.) I use the Canon SX40HS, which has a 35x optical zoom, they now have the Canon SX60HS, which has a 65x optical zoom, so will be even better. Sort of expensive, but if you need a point and shoot with a mega zoom lens, it works great. I use my 35x zoom at the range to spot shots out to 230 yards, works better than my spotting scope. The 65x must be that much better. I like the Canon cameras, as the autofocus seems to work much better than the other brands, I've been pretty happy with it, and haven't felt the need to upgrade yet. I hope I answered all your questions! Let me know if you have any more. Cheers, David

David Sunshine Wow, thanks David. Did you put a link to the reflector you used for this build? (I might have overlooked it)

David Sunshine oh, I almost forgot, if you have that link for the new driver with the biscotti, I would appreciate it. What are the benefits of this driver over the one you built in the video?

Hi, Sorry for the delay. If you're still wondering about the reflector, the SMO one for S2+ is here: tidd.ly/c1581740 But if it's throw you're looking for, you might want to go with an XPL HI and a 5 degree TIR optic. I will be testing the XP-L2 with the 5 degree TIR optic, and cone doming it, to see if it'll really throw hard. The TIR optics seem more efficient than the polished reflector type, so it should be promising when using a V5 LED(highest efficacy almost, aside from V6, but it's the highest I could find in XP-L2). You should upgrade with a tail magnet too: tidd.ly/c2e39084 It comes in really handy. But I actually like the magnets on the side clip, that comes in handy too. Let me know if you need links to the side clip and magnets that I used.

Oh, the biscotti driver is AWESOME! (Here's the link: tidd.ly/817a2be4) The benefits are endless, practically, you can totally program it, and the low mode doesn't blink after 5 seconds, and the low battery protection is perfect, it drops down to moonlight and runs for as long as it can, until it's dead, which means it will never leave you in the dark, exactly what you want a light to do when you're out in the bushes, or using it for something in the dark! The stock driver doesn't function like that. Nobody wants a light that blinks and then shuts off, that's ridiculous when you're trying to use a flashlight in the dark. You also have 12 programmable modes, some which limit you to 50% max, which is great if you've modified the flashlight to be SUPER powerful, and you want to lend it to someone, you can restrict the output, and you can set it to 100% only, which is great if you know you'll only be using it on night shift during a security shift, if you need blinding light, you know you have it, but then you can easily program it for moonlight mode later that week, if you're using it in your home for mood lighting(2700K LED recommended for that). You can also program the memory to be on or off, which means you can default the light to either moonlight and ramp up from there, or 100% and ramp down from there. I have it set to default to 100% and ramp down from there, because I use my light at full blast mostly, but need lower brightness occasionally. The biscotti driver also has off-time memory, not ON-time memory like the stock driver; what that means is when you've got the light on already, you don't need to turn it off then on, then off then on again to change modes, all you need to do is half press once, not twice. The pulse width modulation is also awesome, 16kHz, and has 10-16% flicker, with a flicker index of 0.0 to 0.1, so very good dimming functionality. The stock driver was about 4kHz, which is good, but this is just that much better. They both use the same hardware, it's just the firmware that's changed. I will be trying to upgrade the biscotti to a FET driver, so instead of 2.8A it'll be able to push a lot more, hopefully I will push about 8 or 9 amps with it, but we'll see what happens. I don't know how much into modding you are, but it should be pretty easy to add a logic level MOSFET to the biscotti driver, and fit it into the Convoy S2+ or C8. They also have strobe and SOS if you want them, but they're hidden if you don't need them. So really this is the best of all worlds. I wouldn't mind adding a small capacitor in there to smoothen out the flicker even more, then it'll really be skookum. Hope that describes it for you. Let me know if you have any more questions on that. Cheers! David.

Hi, I was actually using copper conductive grease specifically made for electrical connections, so it will keep the amps flowing best, but if you can't find that, you could just regular thermal grease. If you clamp down hard enough, I think it'll have a good electrical connection and have great thermal conductivity. You could also just dielectric grease for spark plugs, instead of thermal grease, that'll give you a good electrical connection and provide some thermal conductivity, better than air (if you used nothing), that's for sure. Cheers! David.

Thanks man! This is an old video, but the S2+ is still great performance and quality for the money. $12 is a lot less than $129! I'm reviewing the MS03 now, pretty awesome light, but the S2+ is still a great performer. Stay tuned if you're interested in a powerhouse! Cheers! David.

Thank you! Hope you enjoyed it.

Hi, when you check the amps, also check the lux level. Since your test equipment introduces resistance, it will flow less current than it would if the test equipment weren't installed to the system. If you install an LG 3500mAh or better, it will flow 5A+. If you use a Panasonic 3400mAh, it will flow less than 5A, since it has higher internal resistance. Preferably, I would go with the LG HG2 3000mAh, then you'll get full flow of current. Even with the LG 3500mAh, it starts to reduce as the battery voltage drops, it's internal resistance is low but not that low. HG2 is 39mOhm, and 3500mAh is 53mOhm or so, as I've tested. So for instance, if you get 4A and 45 lux, and you install an HG2 and test again with your tail cap on(With bypassed springs front and back), then it should reduce the resistance in the system sufficiently to push 5A+, and the lux reading should go up relatively, it's almost a linear relationship, so I would expect the lux to go up to 56 lux (5/4 is 1.25, so 1.25 of 45 lux is 56 lux). It won't be exact, and might be 54 lux since the efficacy of an LED goes down as you increase current. You can do that, or what I did was use a 130A RC power meter(tidd.ly/136da4bb), and hook it up to 2 lithium ion batteries(2200mAh 3P1S 30C batteries) with very low internal resistance, using XT60 connectors in parallel, this provided very low resistance, and I soldered the wires straight to the board to provide the least amount of resistance in the system. This should only be done if you have all that though, I wouldn't bother with it if you don't have it. The only reason I had all this was because I have them for my RC air planes and helicopters. It's easier to confirm it using a shoe-box and a light meter app on your phone, that way you can confirm the increased light output without that 130A power meter and lithium battery packs. Hope that helps! Cheers, David.

i only able to add more 7135 to the front board, i tried added to back board pcb close to spring battery and it wont give me more amp. i dont know why.. i used lg hg2 and the amp only read slightly higher but still under 4 amp.. is it s2+ has different board with s3 1100 lumens with 8*7135? because i saw someone has star mark on the back board and some dont have that star..

I found that some 7135 don't work well, I got some from aliexpress and it didn't work well, the ones from fasttech are the best I find. Where did you order yours from? They actually made my light flicker a little bit, so I don't use the cheap ones anymore, only the fasttech 380mA ones for me.

ذوالفقار علي Cool, I hope the Fasttech ones are real!!

Cool. I got the 380mA ones from fasttech.

Hi, the LG 3500mAh battery is only good for 10A, so you shouldn't pull 20A from it, but for bursts less than 1/4 of a second it should be fine. For this flashlight, I ran it at 5.11A/20 watts, and after 4 minutes it can get up to 90°C, which is the max you'll want the 18650 to be subjected to, so I turned it off at that point. If you leave it running for longer, you run the risk of the battery exploding, and that could be very dangerous and/or deadly, so it's very risky playing around with the Inferno, it definitely has earned it's name Inferno. I would say you can reasonably use it at 20w for 1 minute maximum, before it gets too hot, overheats and could explode, but I would be careful not to run it at 20w for any longer than you need, it gets hot very quickly even with all that copper. Cheers, David.

Cool. Ya it's fun, and also very very useful, if you're walking around a lot after dark, which I do quite often when I get off work, it comes in handy having an EDC that can punch out a lot of light. My friend built the S2+ XHP70, but I'm not sure it actually pushes 5A through the XHP70, might only be pushing 3A, the internal resistance of an 18350 is higher than an 18650, so you might actually get more amps out of a single 18650 setup rather than 2x18360s. You also will make more of a flooder, than a thrower, so your hot spot will actually be much worse with a larger LED. You can buy reflectors that fit the XHP70, not sure where he got it, but it's not really worth it. I'd rather go with the XHP50 in the S2+, you'll get a tighter beam that way. I haven't played around with 2 x 18350 builds, but let us know how it goes! I haven't gone away from the 18650, cuz I like the extra capacity/runtime of a 3500mAh battery, I can only achieve half the runtime with the 18350 batteries. The MT03 looks good, let us know what you think about that one too!

David Sunshine yeah been thinking about starting a youtube channel on flashlights mods etc. Once you start modding you are hooked lol, no turning back.

Cool, do it man! Start posting, would be awesome. You were posting ASMR videos before right? So you're already familiar with video production. Show us how to mod the MT03. Hey what do you think about my cone doming idea? If you shape the dome like a cone, I'm thinking it'll throw the light at the reflector, and make a beast of a thrower! Do you think it'll work? I haven't done testing yet, but I've made a razor blade tool to help carve the cone shape into the dome. I'm gonna try it on the XM-L2 and XHP70 first, and then the XPL.

David Sunshine the mt03 is a bit tricky to mod, I've done some spring bypassing and dedomed the emitters, even though it may take some of the output away, I like the dedomed beam better. The mt03 cranks out roughly 9000 stock, comparable to the olight x7. Don't the make xpl with the cone dome, saw those on aliexpress. I'm thinking the cone will make it a mix between throw and flood, but who knows try it. On my skyray I dedomed 3 emitters, and four stock, then rotated the reflector assembly, so that on the left side you have 2 stock emitters under each other, on the right you have 2 stock emitters under each other. And in then the middle row of 3 are dedomed. So that gives you flood to the left and right, aswell as a good hotspot that will throw far. Dedoming all will just reduce power, but still mostly flood. Mixing is the best option.

Ya, a balance is always good, it's practical. I'm gonna try to maximize throw, so I'll give the cone dome a shot, not sure what to expect, hopefully I can get a clean smooth cut, and if it's a little rough, maybe some oil on there will help make it smooth again, I'll do some testing. That's a good idea to dedome some and leave the rest normal. Ya you get a little less OTF lumens, but if you're getting a more useful hotter beam, that's more useful sometimes too, so win some lose some. It's always going to be a toss up between flood or throw I think. What I plan to do is make it the best thrower it possibly can be, and it will provide the best of all worlds, since I can throw a diffuser on the front of it to turn it back into a flooder, for when I need to use it for filming videos or close distance use, working on the car, etc. The diffusers I get out of the old iPhone screens is pretty efficient I think, and has high transmissivity, so minimal losses there. I keep the diffuser in the tube of the flashlight, so it's there when I need it. So there are options in that case. If I don't make it a better thrower, it will never be possible to reach distances if you want to. That's why I like the idea of throwers. It's like having a Mustang GT, you have all that power, but you don't have to use it all the time, just when you need it, or when the cops aren't around. lol. True, you waste a little gas driving around day to day, but that's a sacrifice that is worth taking IMHO.

Awesome! Ya the XP-L HI is a great LED, that would be good if it can handle the currents. Throw it on a Sinkpad II like this one, it's only $2! www.leddna.com/sinkpad-ii-gen2-xpl-g-g2-e-c-xte-16mm-round-copper-base/ If you can buy the XP-L for cheap, that'd be pretty good. Also, if you put it on a smooth reflector, you'll get a tighter beam: www.mtnelectronics.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=479 Or you can go with a collimator from leddna if it'll fit, haven't tried it yet: www.leddna.com/10-degree-21mm-reflector-collimator-led-lens-for-cree-xml-xm-l-led/ That's the great thing about a point source, is that you can focus it better into a tighter beam, and make the ultimate high powered compact thrower, probably would be the world's smallest, most powerful, thrower of them all! A thrower isn't all that useful in my applications, so I prefer the orange peal reflector and the XML2, but I can see that being useful for people in search and rescue, security maybe, things that require more punch than regular lights. Cheers! David.

Yeah! I have 3 S2's. One red one from GearBest (Warm White-XM-L2), two from Mountain (XM-L2 and an XP-L Hi I made from a host). This torch will be bad ass! I may figure out how to add a thermal cutoff too. Also, have you ever tried copper braid that's used as solder wick for tailcaps/springs? I don't know if solder wick is of a high copper content though. I will definitely post my results!

One more question, what did you use for spacers between the chips on the driver?

Hi John, I was eyeing the S2+ for a long time, but when I saw the blue one(new at that time) on sale for $12.88 at GearBest, I dropped the hammer and ordered it, for that price, I didn't care if it sucked, but when it showed up, I was more than impressed with it, hence the video and all my recommendations to my friends, some of them ordered 4 of them cuz they're avid hikers, and they had many cheap made-in-china flashlights die on them, mostly due to the cheap drivers, I told them these AMC7135 current limiters wouldn't let them down as easily. The Convoy Inferno is my go to flashlight, due to it's power and long runtime, it's a jack of all traits. When you say you got the Red one with warm white, which color code was it? I only saw on there the T6-4C, which is 4300-4500K, cool white. I would have gotten the warm white one if they had it though, probably ran out of stock, cuz the Blue I got was warm white, and it's not listed now though. I haven't tried copper braid for desoldering, and the only reason for that is because I don't have any, but if it's high in copper content, it would certainly be great for that! The wires inside very flexible silicon cable is very thin, there's hundreds of strands in them, so I think it's really flexible, that's why I like it using it, I assume it's a good balance for conductivity and flexibility. The desoldering braid might be a little thick and not as flexible? Could work well tho, just depends on the braid. The spacer I used was just the tab off of a pop can, it's nice thick aluminum. I just cut it to the width of the 7135, and folded it over once to get a little more of a gap. I haven't received them yet, but I ordered 4 x LG HG2's, 3000mAh/20A batteries(goo.gl/nPHM7s), that will hopefully help keep the amps maxed out for longer with the 16x7135s. It starts to drop off to 4.5A even with the LG MJ1's 3500mAh/10A batteries. The Panasonic 3400mAh/7A batteries hover around 4.0A and then drops to 3.8A quickly.

I'm starting to think that the air gap isn't required between the 7135's though, since the battery is the bottle neck for current. They didn't get that hot on the test bench either. Next build, I'd probably just use the side wall of a pop can(not folded over), instead of the tap(folded over once, was what I used in this video, it makes a pretty big gap). It'll be easier to clip with a smaller gap too. It'll probably be fine without a gap even, but I don't like to promote mutual-heating of components if I can avoid it.

Hi, you can buy an S2+ with the SST40 LED, it will put out 1800 lumens, which is probably very similar to this flashlight, I'll provide you my affiliate link: tidd.ly/30MOhLA You'll want a good 18650 to go with it too, I recommend the Sony VTC6. Cheers! David.

Hi, Oh, I didn't know the pills were aluminum sometimes? Where did you order your Convoy from? That's interesting. Not sure where to buy it, but the Convoy store on Aliexpress is the manufacturer and can sell you any part you need. Message them(Simon) and he'll let you know how much it costs just for the brass block for the Convoy S2+. I'm sure it'll be pretty cheap. If it's too much, then I would just buy a new light from him, make sure you ask for the Biscotti firmware, it's nice. Unless you want to upgrade it to the Astrolux X6 driver, that one is pretty good too, it has active thermal regulation, so I like it, and it's a FET driver with a 7135 for good moonlight mode, pretty delux driver! Cheers! David.

Lol good question. I actually saved a bunch of Canadian and US pennies, got various ones from the 50s and up. The copper content various, the ones above 98 % are pretty good. I started saving them back when we were using them for vmem heatsinks on ATI video cards. Cheers! David.

Awesome! Ya, they have the lowest internal resistance out of all the batteries I have. My testing methods just use a 2.4ohm resistor, so they may not be perfect, but are a good guide. My testing resulted in 26mOhm for the VTC5, way lower than the LG HG2 at 37mOhm, and of course better than the LG MJ1 at 53mOhm. For comparison, the Liitokala 5000mAh 26650 gets 39mOhm, and that's a good battery, so the VTC5 can push more amps than a 26650 and not heat up as much. So it's a great battery if you want to push over 5A.

Hi, sure, I purchased this one: tidd.ly/9ca0cdc8 You'll want to mount it facing downwards, so that it doesn't protrude upwards, you don't want to hit it, if you were to fall off your bike. It's a plastic mount though, so it'll break free, but still better to have it mounted downwards. Cheers, David.

Hi, That's a great idea! I'll have to try it out. The data sheet shows that the XP-L has higher light output than the XP-L2, but hopefully the XP-L2 can handle more total power! Thanks for the suggestion. Looking forward to some testing. Cheers! David.

texas_ace from Budget Light Forum did a death test on the XP-L2. I highly rec you take a look there, the results seem to be mighty impressive.

Dinner-fork tongue Awesome, thanks for the heads up! Looks like the days of bright LEDs are over, now it'll be the era of insanely bright LEDs!! Lol

Hi, I ordered some XP-L2 LEDs from Mouser Electronics, seems like that's a cheap place to get them. Do you know where else you can buy them? I purchased a couple V2 (warm whites) and V5 (4000K) XP-L2s to play around with. (I got the bare LEDs, here: ca.mouser.com/new/cree/cree-xlamp-xpl2-led/) I've got some 16mm Copper Sink-pad II's I'll reflow them to, it should work nicely! I am hoping for a higher color bin though, those are only 460lm ones, I'd like to find some V6 480lm bins. I've got some XP-L's coming in that are V6 but I think the XP-L2 V5 might perform better than that. Cheers! David.

Thanks Cody!! Great idea. I could make one with a Convoy C8, I would put an XPL V6 LED in there, it's probably the highest lumen output LED available for a single cell LED flashlight right now. I could also put it on a copper SinkPad II. I was also thinking of shaping the dome to a cone shape, making it throw more light towards the reflector, and therefore making it a very good thrower, with a very hot beam. By pumping up the amps over 5A, I think it'll be a beast of a thrower in the palm of your hand. Keep an eye out for it, I'll try making it sooner rather than later! Cheers, David.

holy crap, dude you have to do that video, i would like to see that...

cody perret Lol I know. if it actually works it'll be awesome. I ordered an XPL V6 LED but it hasn't come in yet. Once it comes in, it's go time!

Lol probably for a short time, but maybe not. The 2239 was based on my light meter and measuring techniques, that could introduce some variances in the lumen estimate. But I've been testing a lot of lights using a similar method and it seems pretty spot on with what the manufactures have been estimating, so it can't be that far off? Great question tho. Cheers! David.

Ya, you can get the Sanyo 3500mAh from aliexpress, they are awesome batteries, and similar to the LG MJ1 3500mAh. If you want a little more power, go with the LG HG2 3000mAh, or if you're ok with less power, the cheaper Panasonic 3400mAh work well too. All can be purchased from aliexpress, I've been successful with my purchase, and genuine high performing cells were delivered. Cheers, David.

For the LG HG2 3000mAh batteries what amperage should i get them in because im seeing some with 20A and some with 35A, also should i get a protected or unprotected cell? (Last question i promise lol) button top or flat top? Thank you very much!

Jakob Belanger Hi, no worries! You can ask as many questions as you please! Questions are welcome! The HG2 comes in only one model, it's both 20A and 35A actually, it has a certain internal resistance, and it can produce 35A for a short period of time, as long as you keep it from heating up. It can product 20A for longer periods, but you still gotta keep it's temp below a certain temp. If the flashlight gets warm, you should shut it off. It's basically a best guess burst/peak rating vs. continuous rating used for marketing. There's an Astrolux X5/X6 driver that reduces output to maintain the temperature, that's good to use in the S2+ to keep it from getting too hot. It also has a FET, so it'll push a lot of amps, but it's uncontrolled so using 7135s is safer for your LED. I found one FET can't push enough amps to kill my LED though. 3 FETs can kill an XPL2 though, tried that and it fried my LED in seconds. Let me know if you got any more questions! Cheers, David.

Thank you so much for replying and helping me with these questions.

Jakob Belanger You're welcome!! Let me know if you got any more questions. I'm planning to post a video about the X5/X6 driver in the future too, I think that's an easier and better upgrade if you're ok with a FET driver. Cheers, David.

Ya, they rate it for 10A, and it's similar to the Sanyo 3500mAh 10A too. They seem to have similar internal resistance too. The 20A LG 3000mAh cell has lower internal resistance, and the Sony VTC5 has even lower resistance!

sorry I meant *CAPS LOCK*

+wojtekimbier Lol, ya I need more *CAPS* like I need more *POWER* in the Convoy! I'll cut back ;o) Thanks for the question too, it's a great one, the answer is slightly subjective, since internal resistance plays a role, but isn't a hard fact like "if it's below 58.8mOhms you can't use it", you can, just need to be more careful with the heat issue, that's all. More details below: You're right, the Panasonic 3400mAh is rated for 7A, but it really struggles at 7A, and due to the higher internal resistance, the voltage really drops at that current draw, and the device would need to have even lower internal resistance than it already has; I couldn't get the resistance down enough for the 3400mAh to deliver over 5A easily. I'd probably have to reduce the resistance even further, and even then, at the higher operating temperature of this flashlight, the Panasonic would still get hotter and probably not be suitable for use in this thing. In testing, I could get over 5A constant from the LG 3500mAh, however with the Panasonic, it would drop down to 4.8A and steadily drop, I think that to get 5A+ it needs a lower internal resistance, which it just barely has to stick around at the 5A mark. It's because of the small voltage difference between the forward voltage and the operating voltage of the battery. I figure it's a forward voltage of 3.3V, so the difference becomes around 3.9-3.3 = 0.6V, if the internal resistance is lower, it could make a big difference, say 4.0-3.3 = 0.7V, that's a big difference, and makes about a 16% difference in current for just for 0.1V difference. To resolve this, people go with an LED with a lower forward voltage, but the XM-L2 is a great LED, with great power handling characteristics, we just need to use batteries with really low internal resistance to achieve higher currents, which is mainly why I recommend the LG MJ1 or HG2. Same as other electronics, batteries also need to be derated when operating in hot environments; you can operate this while holding the tail comfortably until the thing's about 65-70°C/149-158°F, so components should be rated to at least double what's required of them. With all that said, you could use the 3400mAh in this, I'd just be mindful not to run it as hot as with the higher rated cells. The higher the internal resistance, the more heat energy is realized within the cell, so the internal temperature of the cell just goes up quicker, this is already a risky light to operate, so I wouldn't use a Panasonic 3400mAh in there, it just makes the risk that much higher. Something that proves that fact even more, is that the voltage curve of their 2C draw test, which is about 6.8A, shows that the voltage drops dramatically at that current draw: industrial.panasonic.com/cdbs/www-data/pdf2/ACA4000/ACA4000CE417.pdf Interestingly, the voltage actually terminates at a higher voltage than the curve of the 1C draw, this is probably due to the fact that the cell got hot from the 6.8A current, and that extra heat gave the battery a boost in voltage, I've seen that exhibited in my testing of 18650s as well, it might look good, but it's actually a sign that the 18650 is being stressed at those current draws, and indicates to me that you shouldn't operate it at that rating. So although they show that graph, and it might be rated for it bu the manufacturer, I see that as a sign that one shouldn't use it at that rating in normal practice, maybe once in a while is ok. That's my *TAKE ON IT ALL*. lol jk. Hope that helped. Cheers, David.

+David Sunshine I understand some of the words. Lol. No, seriously, thanks for the detailed reply, I can see the "why" more clearly now. Not much of a flashaholic myself, I've yet to order anything but a couple ThorFire TG06's for me and family when dollar price was low, but how lights work and how people mod them is fascinating to see. I've got to order an S2+ plus a cheap XTAR charger and some Panasonic 18650's when dollar is cheaper again to see what all the fuss is about, can't afford to have much more fun than that yet

Lol. You seem to know your stuff, cuz you're right, the Panasonic 3400 is a great battery. I trust Panasonic batteries more than anything else. Like the LG 3500mAh might have a better capacity and internal resistance new, but I would bet my money on the Panasonic cells for longetivity and cycle life. I even tested the Panasonic at -18 celsius, it performed very well, like 80% capacity at 0.5A. It's cool that you came across my video, this was a pretty crazy mod, wasn't sure it would work as well as it did, but glad it did. Surprised me, lol. I've only purchased $6 lights from eBay, and they were fine, but after playing and with the Convoy light, which cost me $12.88, I would never go back to the cheap stuff. It's a great light, that brass block is impressive stock, that's why a small addition of copper made it handle 20W so easily. I don't work for the company, but I sound like a salesmen for it lol, but good products sell themselves with word of mouth I guess. I put my stamp of approval on it though. The XTAR chargers look good, got lots of options that I'd like to have. I have a counterfeit Nitecore i4 from eBay that I got years ago(they fooled me good), it's working well for now, maybe when it goes it'll be time for an XTAR. But it's charging to 4.20V so no reason to rid if it now. I can say you won't be sorry with the Convoys or Panasonics tho, I like mine and have even ordered more for my friends! Make sure you order from a good source tho, don't want to get fooled. Cheers, David.

+David Sunshine yea, I find convoy flashlights more affordable than other counterparts, it has pretty good quality too. I have a convoy and nitecore but the convoy's cost 1/4 the price of the nitecore.

Torsten Reitmaier Check out the shopping list in the description, it's got all the parts in there that you'll need. Cheers, David.

+Joey Abramovecht Hi, the stock Convoy S2+ had the Cree XM-L2 led in there, with a efficacy bin and color temperature bin of T4-7A(3000K-3200K). I prefer the warm white, that's why I went with that one. If you want to have the highest light output, U3 would be the way to go, but it's a cool white. I don't think they sell the Convoy S2+ with a U3 LED, the highest they go is U2, it's only a step below. The U2 is 6500-7000K color temperature, that's really blue/white, but if you want bright, that's the way to go. Most people would be happy with a T6-4C, once you go to 6000K, the light looks a little weird, and you can't even notice it being brighter, you'll notice it being more blue. If you're only after glaring people or being noticed, the U2-1A would be the correct choice, if you're riding your bike around, that would be the LED to use, as cars would notice you right away. Hope that explains it all. Cheers! David.

outlawz1982gdynia That's the SkyRay King 7 x XM-L2. But they don't sell it anymore. They do sell a Securitying version though. Don't buy the XML version, the LEDs may be counterfeit. I also supercharged that one to 75W, normally it runs at 35 watts.

Hi, Sorry, I just make the ones you see in the videos mostly. I've been testing out the Astrolux X5/X6 driver, if you throw that into an S2+, it'll make it an awesome programmable light with active thermal regulation. Check it out if you're looking for a good light! Or just get the X5/X6 lol. Cheers! David.

Thanks! Ya, the title needs to be qualified, for instance, it's a portable light in that it can be put in your pocket, and it's a single celled and single LED flashlight. At the time the XML2 was the best, now we have more options, XHP50 and XPL2 are good options that'll push more light than the XML2 can. I'm gonna keep trying to make powerful lights in a somewhat portable flashlight, at least that can fit into pockets of a good pair of cargo pants. I'll make some lights with the 100W chips too, but maybe camera tripod mountable so they can be used as video lights, or RALs. Next MOD video is gonna be with the UT02, trying to make the most powerful thrower in something that size, which runs on a single 26650, it can still fit in the pocket comfortably. Soda can lights can too. But I wouldn't bring one on night shift, the UT02 though, I would. The goal is to make something that size throw far, and have a higher candela rating than even lights double their size. Sometimes it's not the lumens, it's the candela that makes a lot useful. Thanks for the feedback! Cheers, David.

David Sunshine Thanks David, Im looking forward to it!