[Review] Wurkkos WK30 - White/UV/Red 26650 Flashlight

gchart · 2019-09-03T21:07:31.000Z

Disclaimer: I was kindly offered the Wurkkos WK30 flashlight for review. Amazon link (non-aff)

General Info:
The Wurkkos WK30 is a new White / Red / UV flashlight, powered by a 26650 (or 18650 or 21700) battery. It is micro-USB rechargeable and comes with a 5000mAh Wurkkos-branded 26650 battery, among other things. The Sofirn 4000mAh 21700 that I tried did fit, but was definitely snug length-wise. The white LED is a Samsung LH351D 90-CRI 5000K, one of my current favorite LEDs: good lumen output, no obvious tint-shift, my fav CCT, etc. The red LED is a Cree XP-E2 (the product info says XP-E, but it looks like an XP-E2 to me). The UV LED is said to be made by LG, but no model numbers or specs are given for it.

Fit & Finish:
The quality of the WK30 is great. The anodizing is has a nice, satin feel to it. It has a good solid heft to it. The threads are relatively square and smooth, if slightly thin. The bezel appears to be glued on, at least I was having difficulty removing it by hand. The switch retaining ring is a nice blue color which adds a small pop of color. The USB cover seems thick and well secured.

Runtime:
A nice, flat regulated runtime. The light ran at 12 lumens for a long time before eventually shutting off with a measured battery voltage at 2.75V. Between the mass of the light and the timed stepdown, the light doesn’t really get too hot; it seemed to max out around 50°C. There’s also “Advanced Temperature Regulation” at 50°C in addition to the 3 minute timed stepdown. I really wish they wouldn’t do this. If you have ATR, you really don’t need a timed stepdown.

Operation:
The flashlight is operated entirely from a single side-mounted e-switch that has battery indicating LEDs under the switch cover. I could write out a UI description in my own words, but I’d really just be interpreting the already-clear instructions that Wurkkos provides, so I’ll just paste those here. What I will say is that I normally don’t like long-press for off. But in the WK30, it’s a pretty short “long press” and really not annoying. Much better than some other lights (looking at you, Wuben E05). Also, I was concerned that the UI would be overly complex or confusing by having 3 different colors at multiple levels each. While the UI is different than other lights, it’s actually pretty easy to use. So here it is:

In the state of power off…

Single Click: enter white light memory level, click to cycle through Eco-Low-Med-High lighting modes, press about 1-2seconds to turn off.
Double click: turning into red light mode, click to cycle Low-Med-High lighting modes, press about 1-2 seconds to turn off.
Triple click: turning into UV light mode, click to cycle Low-Med modes, long press to turn off; double click to enter white light memory mode.
Quadra click: lock out all function, click four times able release lock mode.
Long press:enter white light Eco mode, click to cycle Eco-Low-Med-High lighting modes.
Notice: Double click continuously to enter strobe modes, single click to cycle strobe-SOS-beacon, then double click back to normal modes when on strobe mode.(Only on White/Red memory level)

Misc Info:
This came packaged in a relatively nice cardboard box, and contained everything you’d need to run it: the flashlight, a Wurkkos-branded 5000mAh 26650 battery, a USB cable, spare o-rings, lanyard, battery spacer, and instructions. Overall, a nice kit for the asking price ($37 or so as of the time of this writing).

Here’s the WK30 with a few other well-known lights. Left to right: Convoy S2+, Wurkkos WK30, Sofirn SD05, and Emisar D1S

gchart · 2019-09-04T03:47:07.000Z

Coupon time! Wurkkos has kindly offered a 20% off code for my fellow BLF-ers: ILD2EECH.

Note, the code is supposed to take effect at 1pm on Sept 4th (not sure what time zone). I’m guessing it’s for Amazon US.

Lux-Perpetua · 2019-09-04T05:30:32.000Z

Hi gchart, thanks for the nice review. :THUMBS-UP:

I fully share your positive impressions. :-)

Some comments:

There's a new updated manual I have made for Wurkkos that you can easily download from ► here ◄.

The updated manual also includes the correct product/bin codes about the XP-E2 red (630nm), LH351D 5.000K 90CRI and LG LEUVA33U70UL00 (395nm).

On TLF someone tested to max out the WK30's thermal dissipation by restarting it once every 3 minutes. It seems there was no ATR in place in that sample. After 30 minutes is was heated up to 80°C.

Source: https://www.taschenlampen-forum.de/threads/wurkkos-wk30-lampe-mit-3-unterschiedlichen-leds.70998/page-3#post-1011570

I will ask Wurkkos if they did implement a thermal regulation in all WK30 lights or if there's just the 3min timer.

gchart · 2019-09-04T05:39:15.000Z

Great, thanks for the updated manual and the ATR link (and translation/summary)!

1stein · 2020-01-06T05:50:25.000Z

Just wanted to share with you some experience with my WK30.

I called this one “WK30: My Way”. It’s supposed to serve me in autumn and spring, when in the evening walks I need to use some light. It’s not that bright as winter ones, and not as light as summer ones.
I’ve swapped emitters, each has a role now

- XP-L HI V4 3C (from Hank’s Intl-Outdoor) - is supposed to throw farthest this host is capable of (White Flat was not possible due to 3535 footprint)

- Nichia 219B sw35 R9080 (thanks again Azhu) - is supposed to give most pleasant light

XP-E2 620nm red - is supposed to preserve night vision and keep me away from buzzing insects

Playing with this flashlight consolidated my feeling: I do like multi-colors flashlight, especially modable.

My mod was limited to emitter swap although this wasn’t easiest mod I’ve done. The bezel is glued (with blue grade glue) so it took me a few minutes more. [edit: first I heated up the bezel to around 70 Celsius, then I used 2 strap wrenches to open it. Very slowly but finally the threads got loose.] The rest is easy if you clean up the threads well.

Original setup:

Glued bezel:

“My way” setup:

“My way” setup top view:

…and three colors in the (battle)field:

THANKS FOR READING

gchart · 2019-12-03T15:29:48.000Z

1stein:

I called this one “WK30: My Way”…

Awesome mod! Did you use strap wrenches to break the glue? Just get it hot and twist hard with your hands?

1stein · 2019-12-03T15:48:09.000Z

gchart:

1stein:

I called this one “WK30: My Way”…

Awesome mod! Did you use strap wrenches to break the glue? Just get it hot and twist hard with your hands?

Thank you. Right, I should have mentioned it, did ‘edit’ in post.
Yes, heating up and two strap wrenches did the job.

nofearek9 · 2022-11-06T06:05:09.000Z

great mod,like the outcome!