Mountain Electronics 2000+ lumen pocket rocket!!!

[smoking stroker]

O and my light is bristo

 

[staticx57]

Easy way is to turn it on then to click the button on and off should be long enough to trigger the medium press condition. Refer to the graphic

 

[smoking stroker]

Ok cool ill play with it more tomorrow. Thanks

 

[StandardBattery]

Looks like the levels for bistro are:
Mode Levels: Moonlight - 2% - 5% - 20% - 50% - 100%

Sounds about right. Don't like that the body seems inadequate to keep the light relatively cool/warm at 20% output if tail standing at 18-19deg Ambient.

I'm still liking the E14 better and one can get the 18650 tube if they want to run that battery. I have the tube, but run it 18350 for now. This light is good if you need to mount it in some sort of mount that requires this size cigar style light. I'll keep it in my pocket a few more days and compare it with a CREE HI version, but I can't see a reason right now to get this over the Manker, but with the included battery the price on this one is OK. So someone that does not have a battery and knows they want 18650 may go this route if the light will be for intermittent use.

 

[Cobraman502]

Honestly I thought this like would reach out a little further. At 40% light I have a hard time seeing skunks at 100 feet while walking my dog. I think I will be sending mine back and continue using my ZL SC600w HI. not as bright but more useful for me. Tail stand with the ZL is better too. More stable. This is a great light just not what I needed right now.

 

[ven]

Sounds about right. Don't like that the body seems inadequate to keep the light relatively cool/warm at 20% output if tail standing at 18-19deg Ambient.

At around 400lm, quite an ask still for the compact 18650 form as even my larger 18650 lights get toasty after 10+ mins. I find up to 200lm a safe manageable output level for this size of light, but when tail stood there is nothing to help the heat dissipation like our hand/s.

Shame there appears no 10 or 15% levels, that should would work well for you.

 

[StandardBattery]

At around 400lm, quite an ask still for the compact 18650 form as even my larger 18650 lights get toasty after 10+ mins. I find up to 200lm a safe manageable output level for this size of light, but when tail stood there is nothing to help the heat dissipation like our hand/s.

Shame there appears no 10 or 15% levels, that should would work well for you.

Well i'm thinking it's not 400lm, because i dont think i'm getting 2000 at max with the Nichia anyway. Maybe those percentages are wrong, but i'm guessing i'm not seeing more than 200lmn at level 4.

 

[andrewnewman]

I'm curious (having recently ordered one of these lights with Nichias and the Bistro software). My experience with other S2-based hosts (all with traditional linear drivers, not FETs) is that the host is really good at removing heat from the critical electronics. Because the host is small, the result is a hot body rather than hot electronics. I'm hoping that the MTN17DDm driver and Bistro software's thermal management will moderate the output to keep the electronics safe. I'm not really worried about the actual temperature of the light as long as I can hold it in my hand. Are those who own this light more worried that the heat is indicative of an inefficient circuit that uses up the battery faster than normal or is there a concern that it may be overheating the LEDs or electronics? For what it's worth, no close-spaced triples with acrylic optics have (in my experience) produced much throw but rather produce a diffuse "wall of light". Not everyone's cup of soup I'll admit but it has it's charm.

 

[Cobraman502]

The only reason I sent mine back was due to my intended purpose of the light was different than what the light was designed for.

Light was great

 

[andrewnewman]

Ok. So I got this light earlier in the week. I think it's great. I got the one with Nichia 219 D320 bin LEDs and the MTN17DDm driver with copper spacer and Bistro software. The bistro version flashed on this seems to be a hybrid of revision 153.1.52 with BATTCHECK_8bars enabled (the battcheck feature blinks 8 times for a full battery instead of the actual voltage). The 5000K color temperature is pretty perfect to my eye with no color variation or off-tints. Configured it with the factory setting but outputs reduced to 4 (instead of 5), the light is entirely useful. Starts on moonlight and the first two ramp settings past moonlight use the linear driver while the remaining two (which both get pretty hot) include the FET switched through the MCU. Hotspot is perfect and artifact free. Battery performance is good with the supplied Sony VTC5. The Convoy S2 host has a good form factor. This light can blow a hole in darkness at HI while still providing a good moonlight setting. Makes me wonder if specialized switching power supplies and CC on commercial flashlights is actually worth the added complexity.

 

[Blades]

Ok. So I got this light earlier in the week. I think it's great. I got the one with Nichia 219 D320 bin LEDs and the MTN17DDm driver with copper spacer and Bistro software. The bistro version flashed on this seems to be a hybrid of revision 153.1.52 with BATTCHECK_8bars enabled (the battcheck feature blinks 8 times for a full battery instead of the actual voltage). The 5000K color temperature is pretty perfect to my eye with no color variation or off-tints. Configured it with the factory setting but outputs reduced to 4 (instead of 5), the light is entirely useful. Starts on moonlight and the first two ramp settings past moonlight use the linear driver while the remaining two (which both get pretty hot) include the FET switched through the MCU. Hotspot is perfect and artifact free. Battery performance is good with the supplied Sony VTC5. The Convoy S2 host has a good form factor. This light can blow a hole in darkness at HI while still providing a good moonlight setting. Makes me wonder if specialized switching power supplies and CC on commercial flashlights is actually worth the added complexity.

Thank you for the review.

 

[andrewnewman]

Thank you for the review.

Happy to provide my 2-cents on this really interesting semi-custom flashlight. Keep in mind that at 100%, even with thermal stepdown regulation, this light gets really REALLY hot. Holding the head becomes impossible after 15-20 seconds. Even if you back it off to a lower setting, it remains too hot to hold for a good 45 seconds. The Bistro software has a "muggle mode" which I would engage before even considering lending this to anyone. The heat on high was sufficient to cause solder flux to bubble and run on the driver board!

 

[Blades]

Happy to provide my 2-cents on this really interesting semi-custom flashlight. Keep in mind that at 100%, even with thermal stepdown regulation, this light gets really REALLY hot. Holding the head becomes impossible after 15-20 seconds. Even if you back it off to a lower setting, it remains too hot to hold for a good 45 seconds. The Bistro software has a "muggle mode" which I would engage before even considering lending this to anyone. The heat on high was sufficient to cause solder flux to bubble and run on the driver board!

That sounds too hot. I like the idea of blinding light, but not an actual "pocket rocket".

 

[andrewnewman]

That sounds too hot. I like the idea of blinding light, but not an actual "pocket rocket".

The good news is that at 50% it's still stupendously bright and the temperature is manageable. The tint is quite nice also. This is an example of an extreme light that turns out to be practical if you are careful. It is also amazingly bright. If you wanted a similarly bright light without thermal challenges you'd need a much bigger heat sink than a "pocket rocket" can provide. I'm beginning to warm to this light.

 

[STREAMHAWAII]

I was thinking of getting this "Convoy S2 EDC" or the "Emissar D4 quad". With ya'lls experience, should I go with the Bistro or the H17F? What really are the noticeable differences?

 

[tsask]

just wanted to say THANKS for this thread. I had never heard of the folks at mtn electronics. What a cool site with some modestly priced lights that defy belief! wow!!!

 

[Cobraman502]

I was thinking of getting this "Convoy S2 EDC" or the "Emissar D4 quad". With ya'lls experience, should I go with the Bistro or the H17F? What really are the noticeable differences?

Personally I like the H17F it works well for edc purposes. Double tap to high or strobe. You can set how many light levels you want for 1 to 7. Memory or no memory or short cycle memory. The convoy S2+ you can add a magnet if you want. You can have Randy at PflexPro to build you a custom light. He uses the same drive and pots the electronics. Also the switches have some great enhancements.

 

[Cobraman502]

Randy sells triple convoy S2 but I had him custom make a single nichia 219c. It's has a great beam profile and is a good balance between flood and throw.

 

[matt4x4]

Not sure if you guys have seen but up on mountain electronics site Richard has a new build. A Convoy S2 18650 but strange it has cooling fins which are not pictured on normal Convoy S2 bodies. One of the builds comes with a triple XPL-HI (4000k). I just couldn't resist with the free battery. I know I can build it myself but Richard makes such nice stuff.

http://www.mtnelectronics.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=80&product_id=769

How much could you make it for yourself?