[Review] Wuben E05 - Impressive eSwitch 14500

MascaratumB · 2018-10-30T21:05:54.000Z

gchart:

Reserved for modding post with before-and-after beamshots

Don’t forget the triple click to Turbo from ON
I’ll be looking for your mods mate !!
This surely is a great light and the long press for OFF is the only thing that bugs me the most! Other than that…you’ve said it, it is a very nice flashlight
Thanks for the review!! :+1:

nokoff · 2018-10-30T22:02:17.000Z

Thanks for your review! Nice photos!

I like that it can memorize turbo mode as well. This means you can use it as a tactical flashlight. I’m into 14500 size and their 1000 Lumens had my attention. That is until…

I’m familiar with the UI, and yuck. First a long press for off (reminds me of an Astrolux S42) and double clicking brings on the strobe and sos. I’d be in the blinky modes accidentally all the time. I’ll be back when they put in some ramping and drop the blinky modes or allow them to remain disabled.

CRX · 2018-10-30T22:04:25.000Z

The wee one looks happy enough with it (Empty box?)

gchart · 2018-10-30T22:18:42.000Z

CRX:

The wee one looks happy enough with it (Empty box?)

Oh she was loving it. Unfortunately everything was still in the box. It was quite a battle to wrangle it from her.

gchart · 2018-10-30T22:26:53.000Z

nokoff:

I’m familiar with the UI, and yuck.

At least there is direct access to turbo. And when you use the direct access feature, it’s just a short click to turn it back off.

Not perfect but good enough for my uses.

gchart · 2018-10-31T17:21:44.000Z

Factory Specifications table has been updated. Which leads me to…

Ponderings & Pure Speculation: the spec and measured runtimes on 14500 seem to match up too well. My measurements were spot-on to the minute with the specs. How on earth could my High runtime test end just before 181 minutes (like 180.5 minutes), with a factory spec of 3 hours (180 minutes)… that’s too perfect! And battery voltage still being at 3.19V afterward? Likewise during the Turbo test… it cut out at 63 minutes, ending with the battery at 3.14V. Spec is 3+60, exactly my measured time. I’ve never seen a manufacturer time the cutoffs, so perhaps it is purely coincidental. Or is it?

I might need to re-run a couple of these tests with different batteries (such as the 900 mAh Soshine ones I have sitting around) and see if the times are consistent or if they change.

MascaratumB · 2018-10-31T17:30:10.000Z

gchart:

Factory Specifications table has been updated. Which leads me to…

Ponderings & Pure Speculation: the spec and measured runtimes on 14500 seem to match up too well. My measurements were spot-on to the minute with the specs. How on earth could my High runtime test end just before 181 minutes (like 180.5 minutes), with a factory spec of 3 hours (180 minutes)… that’s too perfect! And battery voltage still being at 3.19V afterward? Likewise during the Turbo test… it cut out at 63 minutes, ending with the battery at 3.14V. Spec is 3+60, exactly my measured time. I’ve never seen a manufacturer time the cutoffs, so perhaps it is purely coincidental. Or is it?

I might need to re-run a couple of these tests with different batteries (such as the 900 mAh Soshine ones I have sitting around) and see if the times are consistent or if they change.

WooW, that is on spot Nice measurements, yours and…Wuben’s
BTW, what Soshine batteries do you have if I may ask?
The Sanyo 14500 (unprotectect flat top), Efest 14500 (unprotectect flat top) and Sofirn 14500 900mAh (unprotected button top) don’t work on my, due to the flat top (first 2) and due to length (sofirn) :zipper_mouth_face:

Schoki · 2018-10-31T17:30:32.000Z

I hope you can make some pictures of the driver, when you’re modding it.

Nice review by the way :+1:

gchart · 2018-10-31T19:23:10.000Z

MascaratumB:

BTW, what Soshine batteries do you have if I may ask?

These are the ones I’ve got. Ugh, now that I see that price again (less than $8 for 4 batteries), I’m tempted to get more even though I don’t need them :person_facepalming:

They’re shorter than the included Wuben battery, but they work ok. If I hit the light hard with my hand it’ll flash due to losing contact, but I have to force it to happen.

gchart · 2018-10-31T19:30:08.000Z

Schoki:

I hope you can make some pictures of the driver, when you’re modding it.

Nice review by the way :+1:

Thanks. And I don’t think I’ll be able to get pics of the driver, unfortunately. The tube appears to be glued to the head. At least I can’t twist it with my hands, and I don’t have strap wrenches to try. Thankfully the stainless bezel isn’t glued and I can attack the emitter that way.

DBSS · 2018-11-01T01:44:39.000Z

Nice looking light and I like the UI. I am really interested to get my hands on one to give it a try
I like 14500 lights for the form factor. Will it run on AA just in case you need a quick battery if the one in it dies?

gchart · 2018-11-01T01:41:05.000Z

Yup! Works just fine with AA. You just don’t get Turbo mode.

DBSS · 2018-11-01T01:45:19.000Z

Cool. Thanks for the review and intro to what could be a nice edc light.

gchart · 2018-11-01T15:24:57.000Z

Emitter Swap: complete (see post #2)

MascaratumB · 2018-11-01T15:37:37.000Z

gchart:

MascaratumB:

BTW, what Soshine batteries do you have if I may ask?

These are the ones I’ve got. Ugh, now that I see that price again (less than $8 for 4 batteries), I’m tempted to get more even though I don’t need them :person_facepalming:

They’re shorter than the included Wuben battery, but they work ok. If I hit the light hard with my hand it’ll flash due to losing contact, but I have to force it to happen.

Hum, much better tint now on the flashlight And improved lumens
And thanks for pointing out the batteries! I’ll probably need to get one or 2 that are longer than mine, so that I have some spares. These Soshine may be some candidates

nick779 · 2018-11-19T18:38:15.000Z

Hey Gchart, do you have any idea if a 16mm MCPCB from MTN is a drop in?

Im not too comfortable reflowing just yet.

gchart · 2018-11-19T20:17:04.000Z

It should fit fine. The only thing is I don’t remember if it’s a 1mm or 1.6mm thick MCPCB (I’m thinking 1mm, but I didn’t measure). Worse case if you use a 1.6mm and it was a 1mm is that you’d have a tiny gap between the stainless bezel and the head. You might be able to sand down the gasket a bit to add clearance. What LED are you thinking about swapping in?

nick779 · 2018-11-19T21:12:58.000Z

gchart:

It should fit fine. The only thing is I don’t remember if it’s a 1mm or 1.6mm thick MCPCB (I’m thinking 1mm, but I didn’t measure). Worse case if you use a 1.6mm and it was a 1mm is that you’d have a tiny gap between the stainless bezel and the head. You might be able to sand down the gasket a bit to add clearance. What LED are you thinking about swapping in?

Probably a warm XPL2 like you did.

teacher · 2018-11-19T21:31:45.000Z

Great review!! Thank you. Mine are supposed to be here Wednesday, I can’t wait.

The picture of your daughter is great, she’s a cutie & maybe a budding ‘flashoholic’ too.

Muto · 2018-11-19T22:24:56.000Z

Got one, the 3 hour run time on high is what sold me. Most 14500 flashlights chew through the battery very fast on anything other than a low setting.
The coupon code from Vipon puts this light at 19.97 with prime, couldn’t say no to that.

Got the Wuben TO46R last week and am blown away by the quality, fit and finish and performance.
The packaging is even better than a lot of other light in the same price range.

Thanks gchart for the great reveiw!
Later,

Keith