I have found out the problem of combining a 2800 mAh power battery with a super-light: it runs out of battery ALL the time. With Convoy button, the Chaos could now be used with flat top batteries.So although the Nealsgadgets Lishen LR2700HP is great for bragging rights (29,300 lm), I am going to try the humble Littokala 5000 mAh battery.
With Littokala, output drops a whooping 10,000 lm from 29300 to 19300 at Turbo turn on. The Chaos is a truly uncontrollable beast.
So far, I have these outputs for Nightwatch Chaos at Turbo Turn-on - the light’s scary current draw is acting like a battery tester lol :
Nealsgadgets Lishen 29300
Samsung 30T 25800
Samsung 40T 22900
Molicel P42a 22600
Convoy Liitokala 19300
Wurkkos 5000 mAh 18800 (preliminary)
When I read people’s impression of these 15000+ lumen lights, the term “wall of light” would often enough turn up. I’ve finally decoded what parameters give these lights this characteristic. Basically you need two things: One, a floody beam and two, a hell of a lot of lumens.
What does it look like? To me, the “wall of light” effect is mostly seen rather close up, maybe 40-100m, where the flashlight would light up a whole side of a hill, or complete neighborhood. None of my other lights does this, not even the beloved Wurkkos TS30S with SBT90.2. What else that is interesting is that even though these monsters have top-class throws of 700 meters, the beams are NOT throwy. The extreme throws merely reflect the brute force coming from outputs that are in the tens of thousands.
The rarely seen & mysteriously named JKK76 is one such light and its numbers are typical for this class, using Samsung 30T:
Output: 20,400 lm (Below spec, but not complaining at 100 bucks!)
Throw: 773 m
I didn’t expect much since all of this power and throw costs so little relatively. But… it turns out the light is beautiful to look at and wonderful to hold. It feels rock solid. Owner and I assume designer is one Jin Heng. For US folks, I think the only way to buy is through Kai Domain HERE . I’ll post beamshot next that hopefully will reflect the tremendous output of this light.
If you know how crazy bright 4000+ lm Wurkkos TS30S with SBT90.2 is, then you would understand how ultra-crazy bright these “super-lights” are to create the wall of light. It’s a floody beam that lit up the whole hill side of my neighborhood.
I had to see these 20000 lm lights in person, and now that I have, I believe. I was self conscious of the brightness and was so afraid of bothering my neighbors when I tested these things. All pics taken within 1 second on and then off.
And owners of Wurkkos TS30S not to worry; it remains the king of throw and one of my most favorite lights.
Among the few high output or super throwy LED’s that I have, I’ve observed two beam “colors”:
CCT greater than ~5500: faint green in hotspot at lower output with white wall hunting, but in actual use a harsh white-blue tone predominates. Incidentally this tone is actually helpful for seeing distant objects for me. Examples: SST40 in Nitecore, SFT40 in Wurkkos, SFT40 in Sofirn IF22a, SFH55 in Mateminco, SFN55.2 in Jen Hing JKK76, etc.
CCT less than ~5500: more pleasant warm color but with strong green tint that’s clearly there, but less noticeable in actual use, especially in nature against dark objects. Examples: XHP70.2 “Neutral White in Thrunite, XHP35 HI in Olight, STB90.2 in Wurkkos, SFN60 in Haikelite, etc.
The beamshots above hopefully show well how JKK76 (6100k, harsh white-blue) and Wurkkos (5100k, warm green) are exact examples of the 2 beam colors I mentioned.
Nothing scientific just observation and opinions .
For me, the most fun part of any hobby is comparison, mainly because it highlights weaknesses and strengths. And makes me think which parameter is most important in life . Here are beamshots of Wurkkos TS32 vs JKK76 at Turbo start. I have found Duv drops with these lights at high output (Turbo), so this is, for me anyway, the nicest beam color of both lights.
JKK is white-blue typical of all my high CCT LED’s, and Wurkkos is, what can I say, pure Nichia 519a 5000k goodness, a cream color beam (meaning golden but less yellow) and one of my most favorites, easily competing with 219b 4500k. The color rendering is so very pleasant and beautiful to my eyes.
JKK76 otoh holds output advantage - look at house on top of hill. This thing lit up the whole hillside. A brighter and more floody “wall of light.” YMMV but for me, the white-blue LED color while harsh, provides more crispness and contrast. A little better perhaps for search and safety function.
I think there is so much craziness in the world currently that no one wants to talk to a guy with DSLR on tripod shining multiple flashlights at a tree. So far I’m safe, but let’s wait till I get my DJI drone with flashing red beacon up.
I’ve mentioned how Wurkkos TS32’s beam color is only beautiful in Turbo, and very green at sub Turbo level. Finally got a chance to put the light against the wall of truth.
This change is generally not new and has been observed with different LED’s: green at low output level, less green as output is increased. In the Wurkkos however the transformation is probably the most remarkable I’ve seen.
It’s the level of turning a green frog into Prince Charming. From nearly nauseatingly green, to a “beautiful” beam with great color rendering. Subjectively one of the best, or the best, I’ve observed, even when compared against the legendary 219b 4500k. This is why I would have liked to try Convoy’s new S21F with 519a 5000k, and somewhat disappointed that it doesn’t have it.
It is widely observed and generally accepted that duv values decrease as outputs increase. However, I have seen some exceptions.
For example, on my TS25, duv values actually increase as the output increases from the stepped level 1 to 7. However, when I hit turbo the duv suddenly drops instead of increasing. (from +0.0018 at level 7/7 to –0.0.026 at turbo)
So, I think the way leds are driven may also have significant effects on duv (thus the tint).
If you like to have some more fun with the hobby and have some nauseating green lights that you might have thrown away otherwise (Sofirn IF25a w/ SST20 and Sofirn D25L Headlamp w/ Samsung LH351D are my 2 love-hate criminals), then Zircon Minus Green filter might come in handy.
The one I used for the Wurkkos TS32 is Zircon 803 Quarter Minus Green with 79.9% transmission. This is only $4 (!!) from Boaz, which he labeled as “Z3” Quarter Minus Green on his “”web site” here:DC-Fix Diffusion Film Sale.
Particularly for this 15,000 lumen light, I think the 20% loss is well worth it. What’s a few thousand lumens between friends. For A/B comparison:
Quick tip: I compared stock Lishens that come with Chaos to Molicel P45B’s and Molicels gave 2A more output while having 50% more capacity. Only caveat is that they are bit too short without added buttons.
Oh nice - thanks. Maybe with these I could crack the 30000 barrier just for fun “bragging rights.” Multiple tries and I simply can’t pass 30k with Neal’s Lishen 2170HP. Were you able to test lumen output?
So far, I have these outputs for Nightwatch Chaos at Turbo Turn-on - the light’s scary current draw is acting like a battery tester lol :
Any TS32 config suggestions to avoid green/yellow tint at lower brightness and preserve optimal whites as possible at all levels ?
Should i go A, B or C and what do i sacrifice ?
IMHO, without any doubt whatsoever, B. 519a + SFT40. That Turbo beam is most beautiful, and I’ve seen all kinds of Nichia beams. This light will be soon elevated to my top 4, assuming anyone cares about my list :person_facepalming: . There is a reason 519a is Wurkkos’s last version of this lamp. AFAIK 519a was finally used per recommendation of hobbyists here on BLF.
The sub-Turbo green tint of TS32 in actual use doesn’t bother me at all. It’s just that I am, very unfortunately, a tint snob and keep white wall hunting and talking about it. I play with Boaz filter just to prove a point, but likely will take it off in actual use. All IMHO and hope this helps.
JKK76 has an internal “cage” for the batteries. Of note, the batteries load backward from usual practice: positive end is towards the tail (!). For this reason I try not to switch battery too much for this light lest I make a mistake.
The UI is also a touch awkward. Unless I make a mistake: you can’t have Turbo unless in stepped output mode, and in stepped mode, turning off is click and hold. I have never been a fan of click and hold for off but ymmv.
Otherwise the light feels “unusually” rock solid, is relatively compact vs other lights in this group, and wonderful to hold. The internal cage and deep, large heat fins make this light so much fun to look at and to own.
One more thing about JKK76 that I haven’t found an explanation for:
During charging with 5v 2a capable USB charger, it flashes red, and when completed, solid red.
During charging with a Quick Charge 5v 3a USB charger, it flashes orange and green.
AFAIK, the flashlight will draw just what it needs regardless of how high the current rating of the charger is, but the strange flashing still makes me a little uneasy.
Typically a circuit will draw what the power supply can provide (based on the design), but, for charging, that is based on the protocols that both the device and charger support. It almost sounds like the 2A charger is providing less than it “likes”. That is, it shows that it is slow charging? So it is telling you that? Just a guess, but logical. Of course that wouldn’t really explain the difference between green or red on termination…
Is it really fully charged using the 2A charger when the light goes red at the end? If so, it is probably not something to worry about.
If you still are, maybe contact Jin Heng to ask what is going on ??
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