# Convoy S2 Build How-To (First time builder)



## Jbraman (Dec 27, 2016)

(Disclaimer, the pics work on my computer, but not on my phone). 

So I scoured the inter webs to the best of my ability for a detailed instruction guide on how to build a Convoy S2 flashlight. I couldn't find one anywhere, and since this is my first build, I was more than intimidated by it. I was able to get most of the information I needed through various articles I found, but they didn't have pictures so I had to kind of figure it out on my own and by asking questions. So here is my version of a how-to so hopefully other new builders can have something to follow for their first builds. 

Parts list (all purchased from mtnelectronics.com):
Convoy S2 host (gray)
Nichia 219C D280 on 16mm Noctigon - 80+ CRI 5000K
QLITE REV.A 7135*8 3.04A LED DRIVER - 17mm
20mm AR Coated Glass Lens (bought this on a whim and actually broke the original so I ended up needing it)

Tools list: 
Soldering iron
Solder
Snap ring pliers
Thermal compound



So.... Here we go!

The Convoy host came with everything but the LED and driver. Lanyard, switch, copper pill, reflector, lens. 





So first I disassembled the body and the pill. I used a pair of snap ring pliers (necessary) to remove the pill from the light head. Much after the fact and after many questions, I finally realized there is a retaining ring on the bottom of the pill that you have to remove in order for this particular driver to fit. The retaining ring did not fit back on the pill with the Qlite driver, due to the 7135 circuits being so close to the edge. 
Once the pill was disassembled, I used a small dab of thermal compound on the top recess before seating the LED assembly. 



Once the LED was seated, it looked like this. The little white plastic device in the back HAD to be used on mine, otherwise it didn't work. It took a lot of trouble shooting in the end to realize since I didn't have the plastic insulator cap installed, the LED was shorting out on the reflector when it was assembled. 




The Qlite driver has four stars on it, with which you choose your mode banks. You select the bank by soldering from the star to the rim of the circuit board. I selected the 3rd bank for my usage, but it turns out I read them the wrong way and I actually selected the 2nd bank by accident. The stars are read from left to right AS YOU SEE THE PRINT ON THE CIRCUIT BOARD. So essentially, this next picture is upside down. This is my first EVER solder job on ANYthing, so forgive the blobs and hideous work. 





Once I selected my mode bank, I fed the wires through the pre-drilled holes and seated the driver into the bottom of the pill. As I said earlier, the metal retaining ring does not fit back on the pill with this driver, so I had to solder the driver in place.





Once the driver was seated, this was what the pill looked like, before making the connection to the LED. 




I trimmed the wires down to where the bare ends folded over and just overlapped the bare contacts on the LED board. They were pretty simple to solder, but again, they are ugly, since it's my first solder project. 




Don't forget to put the white plastic insulator clip over the top of the LED board to keep the connections from grounding out on the reflector when it's assembled. I had to disassemble and reassemble this thing about 10 times with different batteries and tail switches to try to figure out why it was not coming on. 

Here is a dark picture of the assembled light head. 





I found the key is to treat this thing with respect and not to force or torque anything down with strength. Just feed the threads with ease and let them go where they're going to go. Use the snap ring pliers to get down where your fingers can't reach. 

I am not 100% in love with the Nichia tint. I prefer the XML2 in my stock Convoy I bought. All in all though it was an exhilarating project and I've ordered parts to build two more with different drivers and LEDs. Partly for more practice and part for comparisons of parts. 

I hope this helps somebody in the future and I can't wait for the next build! I'm no expert, but if anybody else has questions or clarifications, please let me know. I have had a great experience with this forum and loads of help from members, so I can only hope to pass on a little bit of knowledge.


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## staticx57 (Dec 27, 2016)

Excellent guide and write up. Helpful that you included so many pictures!

FYI, that plastic piece is a center ring that has the two fold effect of isolating the reflector from the wires and helping to center the emitter in the reflector. In your case you used the one that came with it, it is meant for the XM size emitters (XML XML2 XHP50) you can buy a smaller one on MTN as well for the XP sized emitters.


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## anuragwap (Feb 22, 2017)

Thanks for the detailed guide Jbraman. I'm about to build my first serious flashlight using S2+ host from banggood. 

Wanted to share that a small pair of scissors (the sub $1 Chinese ones with plastic handles, blunt tips) can be a very good alternative to snap ring pliers for unscrewing the pill. [Calipers and fancy pliers are not very common in the household of third world countries, but these trashy scissors are!]

First, I removed the driver retaining ring screwed in the pill. This was pretty easy to do by putting tweezers in circular notches of the ring. Then I placed the tips of the scissors in the two rectangular notches of the pill, and rotated the handles while firmly holding the head of the flashlight, also maintaining a slight outward force between the arms of the scissors. After a couple of rotations, glass lens and reflector became loose as the pill started coming out. At this stage, it was much easier to place the tip of the scissors in the two circular holes and start twisting.

This link-> http://budgetlightforum.com/node/32985 contains even more creative ways of unscrewing pill using nails.

Now patiently waiting for 80CRI T5-5D1 XM-L2 from IOS and driver from fasttech!

UPDATE: Got the emitter and soldered to pill. BTW, 5D1 tint is awesome, I like it much more than 4500K N219s.


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## Chris_R (Feb 22, 2017)

I've been playing with two Convoy S2+ (with UV leds, from GearBest). One was intermittent.
Reason was that unlike many other torches, contact between body and tail cap is made on the very end face of the body, as the threads are painted.
Scrape it to make sure it's clean!


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## timothydavidson1 (Aug 9, 2017)

Hello! I just ordered all the parts for a convoy S2+ build. I have a 90% understanding on how to assemble it, but this will be my first assemblely. Your text is very helpful, but it is saying the pictures are not available. Is there a way I can see the pics too?


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## DrafterDan (Aug 10, 2017)

Unfortunately, no. Photobucket recently changed their pricing plans. The cheapest pricing level for the ability to 3rd party host (which is what all forums use to link to images) is about $400 per year. I was currently paying about $3 per month. So, a huge number of us are jumping ship, I'm changing all of my photos to ImageShack, but it will take time. Plus, just like this post, there will be literally millions of photos that 'no longer exist' because of this. It really is heartbreaking, because there is massive amount of knowledge that will be lost. Not only for flashlights, but across all hobbies.
To add insult to injury, there were some helpful coders that were making applications that would help users like me relink old images to their new location, but photobucket clamped down on that....


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## Slorargork (Sep 7, 2017)

*Convoy S2 Build How To First time builder*

Hi, I would like/need some guidence on a first time build. I am a knife maker and would like to start making a few flashlights.


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## DrafterDan (Sep 8, 2017)

*Re: Convoy S2 Build How To First time builder*

A couple things, there are several experienced people on here that would enjoy helping you. Please post a new thread, don't hang on an essentially dead thread that is a year or so old. 

State what your goals are, what experience you have (mechanical, electrical, nuclear, whatever) and we will help. 

Also, I'm waiting on some parts to come in, so I can build up a S2 myself. Since this particular thread has lost its photos (no thanks to photobucket), I was considering doing a post of my build up. I'm using a blue convoy S2 I just purchased today.

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb...r-first-time&p=5126629&highlight=#post5126629


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## finnegans (Jul 10, 2018)

Big thanks to Jbraman for the original right-up and pix, and particularly if you re-posted pix after the photobucket fiasco!


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## louie (Jul 11, 2018)

As someone who has done their share of photoguides, nice work. It's a huge pain to try to do a mod and photograph every step. Sometimes, I cheat and take photos after the fact.

A gentle reminder I'm surprised the mods didn't catch - images are to be less than 800x800 pixels.


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