Battery for Wurkkos TS30S Pro

LED Flashlights – General Info 21700 Flashlights
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Hi everyone,

I wasn’t sure if this would be better suited for the battery forum. As it is a specific question for this flashlight, I think this category might be better.

I have been building a small flashlight collection since a year ago and recently I have been thinkng of getting a TS30S Pro. I have nothing like it and I love Anduril flashlights.

My question is: What battery would you guys recommend for this flashlight?
I don’t know much about batteries, mostly that Samsung, Molicel and some others seem to have a good reputation and many videos from enthusiasts usually use baterries like these to improve performance.
To me, Wurkkos batteries are just fine. But, as this is a powerful flashlight, I think this is a good oportunity to get some other options and compare.

Also, I can get a Molicel battery from the Wurkkos website (that’s where I will purchase the flashlight), but at about 14 euros after discount, that looks a little pricy, right?

Have a nice new year’s eve everyone and a happy 2025!
Regards.

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I bought some Molicel INR-21700-P45B’s for this light. At the time the most potent cells.
Because you’re from Spain (EU) I would suggest you to check out NKON

Not as pricy as Wurkkos, but you have you consider shipping cost. NKON are quit reasonable people.

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The Samsung 40T, Molicel P42A, Molicel P45B, and Samsung 50S are all excellent battery cells. However, in the TS30S Pro flashlight, the performance difference between these high-quality cells and cheaper alternatives is relatively minor. When using the flashlight in high-output modes like turbo, thermal regulation often kicks in before battery limitations become noticeable.

While high-drain cells such as the 40T, P42A, and P45B can provide slightly higher output compared to less capable cells, the difference is subtle. The lumen output difference is typically around 10% at comparable voltage levels, which is hardly noticeable to the naked eye.

High-drain cells also experience less voltage sag during high-output use, potentially offering slightly longer runtimes under heavy loads. However, extended runtime is unlikely to be a key consideration for hot rod flashlights like the TS30S Pro.

The most significant output variation occurs across different voltage levels, regardless of battery quality. Even with the best cells, turbo output decreases significantly as the battery drains. For instance, a fully charged battery might provide 100% output, while a battery at 3.7V may deliver only about 70%. This reduction is similar for both high-quality and budget cells.

While high-drain cells have potential advantages, it seems their full capabilities are not fully utilized in the TS30S Pro flashlight. Now that I think about it, I don’t believe I’ve seen high-drain cells being fully utilized in flashlight applications.

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From the factory it comes with [MAX Discharge Current: 10A (but it can handle max 15A)]

So with a battery around at 15 - 20A is pretty good, so you don’t loose much mAh (capacity, run time) !

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Agreed with assessment above from other BLF’ers.

I spent much effort trying different batteries and AR lenses to squeeze the highest output and furthest throw from this Wurkkos TS30S, one of my most favorites in my collection. And then spent hours measuring and documenting changes. I did it because it was fun and educational. The results are above for your interest.

But for actual use, IMHO Wurkkos battery, despite of its lowest output, is more than good enough. The main reason is step-down. A higher output just results in faster step-down. And the steady state output of all small lights like these are temperature-management dependent, not battery output dependent. P45B is my go-to battery at this point, but not for 14 euros.

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Hi Cannga,

Yes : ) , I had already read your post about TS30S when I was researching about the flashlight.
It sucks that most people thinks it was superior to the Pro version buuut, what can you do? It’s not like TS30S Pro is a disaster, it just has some disadvantages. If I want a powerful thrower with Anduril 2.0 and in a budget this looks like my best option.

Interesting what you guys say about the batteries. I suposse I will get it with the Wurkkos battery (I was going to do that anyway) and I will also grab one or two Molicels and Samsungs later.
If not for this flashlight, to try and check the differences in all the 21700 flashlights that I have (TS21 and HD20) and also to have spares.

Thanks a lot for your insights, everyone.

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Ah, and something at the end… (L☻L) !

Make sure (if it is possible) to take the right batteries not only in specs, but in dimensions too !

You need a flat-top 21700 battery, around in these dimensions (original Wurkkos battery :
Diameter: 21,7mm ± 0,2mm Length: 70,9mm ± 0,2mm ) !

And always its way better to charge them on a nice external charger !

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TS30S Pro is not a disaster by any stretch of imagination! If I said so I must have been in a super-whinny mode :sweat_smile:. The white ring around hotspot that we talked about I’ve seen with youtube demos of other SBT90.2 lights also, including a Convoy. It’s also in the TS30S, just less obvious.

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Has anybody verified 6000 lumens. All I can get out of mine is 3700 / with Molicel and VTC6

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This is a bit of a Wow! light. Battery won’t make much difference as the thermal regulation is set at 45°C and drops off quickly. Then it sustains only 450 lumens, which is pretty hopeless for much. Obviously Anduril allows thermal configuration, but it’s just going to get hot for not much gain.

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Highest I got was 5000 lm, and that’s with Pro model, not the original TS30S, using P45B and blue-reflection AR lens, not the stock lens. Measurement is with Texas Ace lumen tube, not integrating sphere. I did this for fun and “flashlight education,” but for real life use, Wurkkos battery is perfectly fine for me…

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No, no. I meant that the common opinion seems to be that TS30S was overall superior to TS30S Pro, but that doesn’t mean that TS30S Pro is bad.

It’s already on the way, I hope I’ll toy with it it soon.

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Have you also tried other modifications, like a tail spring bypass and maybe thicker wires from the driver to the LED?

I haven’t been able to take of the bezel, to see which wire gauge they’ve used for the driver wires, but to be honest: I haven’t done a really serious attempt either so far.

I did do a 18AWG tail spring bypass though. Since I haven’t got a intergrating sphere or a (calibrated) lumen tube, I did a ceiling bounce test, but with every parameter as equal as I could. (Marked exact position on the floor for TS30S Pro to stand, exact same position for the Lux meter, used the same battery, fully charged and same resting time after charging (and no use in between), 5 of the same short runs/bursts and the same cooling down period between runs, and took the average of those 5 runs combined.

If I remember correctly I had something like a 6 to 7% gain after the spring bypass, but I should have to look back to check if that was the case.

I really want to know what wire gauge the driver (to LED) wires are. In general manufacturers tend to use wires which are more on the thinner side, so maybe there is also some gain to be had.

Today I had my first Ampace JP40 in (from Convoy) in and if the first IR measurements are accurate, it has substantially lower IR than the current High Drain cells I have. They are at least certainly lower than the new Samsung ‘45T’ batteries I have.
Hopefully I will recieve 2x BAK 45D and 2x EVE 40PL in the next few days, so I can verify the IR of them, against the JP40.

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I have not. I am not handy at all so the most I have done to my light is the AR lens and battery. Even though I am an amateur, like you I run my amateur test with attention to details and I make sure variables are removed. It’s a lot of fun.

WOW! You are having so many interesting batteries coming. Looking forward to your results, of the spring bypass AND the batteries. I should have 3 of these soon:

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Now that I have a dedicated battery internal resistance tester (ACIR, which is impedence), that is capable of measuring far smaller resistances than most multi meters can, I’ve also done some quick tests of resistance of different wire gauges.

I took 3 pieces of the same length wire, but in different gauges. I didn’t take a specific length, just made sure all 3 pieces were the same length, just for relevant comparison against each other.

20AWG gave 4,55 mOhm impedence.
18AWG gave 3,03 mOhm impedence.
16AWG gave 1,55 mOhm impedence.

The shorter the length, the lower the impedence/resistance, so the actual differences would be smaller, but I assume the relative differences (in %) should be roughly the same(?).

I also quickly desoldered a standard spring of a Convoy (S2+) switch assembly and did an resistance test at both ends of the spring. After that I did a quick spring bypass with a short piece of 20AWG wire. I made sure, like I always do, that the solder would touch the battery directly and it would also connect to the spring PCB or directly to the tailcap. For that reason I directly measured resistance on the solder connection on both ends.

Standard spring: 15,2 mOhm
Spring bypass: 0,52 mOhm (yeah, 0,5, I measured it several times)

I’m not sure if the resistance of the spring changes under heat/load, but at least in these circumstances it shows how much a difference a spring bypass can make.
All of this though, doesn’t take into account other possible bottlenecks somewhere else in the flashlight.

I know, I’m looking forward to test them. I would have liked to order 2 JP40’s from Convoy, but when you buy them seperately, they are a bit expensive with € 12,34 each (or € 11,10 when ordering 2).
But when you order them with a flashlight (or a host in my case), they just cost € 4,74. Since I didn’t want to order another host (already have waaaay too many projects), I just stuck to 1 this time.

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Very nice. Are you telling me my IR measurement of batteries using my beloved Opus BT-C3100 is sh**? Kidding aside, I’m getting numbers like 20-30 mOhms with Opus. Are these numbers not reliable?

I ordered JP40 from Austin at 18650-21700, but he didn’t have it in stock so I was force fed a replacement, his specialty AM04. It has turned out to be quite a doozy.

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Those numbers are not exactly accurate and in my experience with my Opus BT-C3100 it is often also not very consistent between several measurements and/or slots.

I did a quick test with my Opus tonight, for my JP40. I won’t post the whole explanation and results here, because I don’t want to go too far off-topic with a way too large post.

I will post it tomorrow in the topic you quoted below.

On the page of Austin testing the AM04, that you link to in that post, there is the following photo:

AM04 21700 - 160 Amp Capable - Racing Performance & Long Life

This is an ACIR measurement, the same method my battery IR tester uses. (My results for my JP40 are basicly the same, although I measured it whit a fully charged cell.)

As you can see he measured 2,815 mOhm, which is a WAY lower number than the 20-30 mOhm your Opus measured.

Tomorrow I will explain some more about measuring resistance in batteries. (I have limited knowledge about this topic, but I’ve learned some interesting things over the past couple of days.)

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@cannga, sorry, it’s not going to be today. Today went quite a bit different than I expected, so I’m having a hard time to focus right now.

I will do my best to post it tomorrow though!

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Hi everyone,

In case anyone is interested. I already have the light.
So far I still don’t have an alternative battery but will get the sugested ones at some point to try them in this and other lights.

I have liked the light a lot. Only other thrower I have is TS11 and this is a much bigger and powerful light, the first real thrower I have.
Produces a lot of light at a good distance and also has a flood in the vicinity. Can sustain a decent amount of light and turbo, while not sustainable, is a lot of light. Looking forward to use it some more.
At low output, I don’t find the lighg greenish at all. I have the TS21 and that light is way greener at low output.

Very happy

Thanks everyone for the comments.

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Congrats. Not surprised at all you like it - SBT90.2 always makes for an amazing thrower. I hope you got it at the Xmas sale price?

Without active cooling, there is no light on the market that could sustain “Turbo.” No difference here. It’s meant to be used temporarily only, less than 1-2 minutes at most. I use mine at Turbo-1 or -2, then flashes Turbo as needed, mostly for OMG fun LOL. And same here, the green doesn’t bother me, probably because it’s far-field throw, and much less close-field flood.

Re. batteries, my list for both extremely high current and reasonable capacity and cost:
JP40 (check to make sure vendor has it in stock before placing order)
AM04 from 18650-21700.com (I believe being reviewed by BLF’s battery expert “Mooch”). I have this and it beats all my other high current batteries for Turbo turn-on output.
Molicel P45B (P50B better and best, but at $10 too expensive)

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