My favorite feature of this light is it's flexibility you can run it on 1 or 2 18650 (rechargable) cells, 2 or 4 CR123 primary (throw away) cells, unscrew it in the middle to do a rapid battery changeout or convert the length of the light, and although a bit difficult to master, you can select 6 different operating modes by signalling the digital driver circuit in the head. This means I can keep a box of 18650 cells on hand for an earthquake good for 10 years, or use it every day and charge every 3rd day. I've owned it now for a year and am updating the review because it deserves it. This is a powerful lamp even compared to the high end surefire incandescent 250/500 lumen lights without the worry of a blown bulb at the wrong time.
Update unless you want to do your own spotwelding you need batteries with a bump on one end so that they will touch in the middle ultrafire makes an 18650 3000 mAh cell. They also make a really nice 2 cell charger to go with their 3000 mAh cell, but the amazon link tool can't find it the title of the charger is "UltraFire WF-139 3.6/3.7V Battery Charger for 18650, 14500, 16340, RCR123 Lithium Batteries" but if you search for ultrafire charger you will find it it is not a prime item but worth buying if you use your tk-30 every day. With the 3000 mAh cells in it (with buttons) it will run for several days before needing a charge as that's 24 watt hours of charge stored (depending of course how bright you run it).
Note while tenergy offers a good buy on 4 ea 2600 mah cells, there is a company that sells on amazon.com named batteryjunction.com who has the ultrafire 3000 mah cells. Not only do these have button tops they also have the protection pcb on the bottom. Basically the ultrafire 3000 mah cells give you more power, a button top, and a protection pcb bottom just what the tk30 needs. I bought 2 of the relatively expensive 3000 mah cells and i've been very happy with them in my tk30 after using the 2600 mah tenergy cells previously. It's a personal matter you can also solder a bump on the bottom of the 2600 mah tenergy cells so that they will make contact when put in series inside the tk-30. One end needs a bump however you get it though.
The TK30 is optimized for the 18650 battery (for those unenlightened in li-ion cylindrical cells which included me up until a couple weeks ago, they don't use letters but measurements. The standard format for a li-ion rechargable is XXYYY where the cell is XX mm in diameter and YY.Y mm long in this case 18mm dia x 65.0 mm long) Saying it uses an 18650 is like saying it uses AA cells nothing about voltage or mAH is implied in the numbers. 18650 cells are sold today from 2200 mAh, 2600 mAh, and 3000 mAh with and without internal protection printed circuit boards. Watch those numbers go up over time as technology improves. Interestingly it was the battery that led me to the TK30 after seeing the performance of the TK21 with a single 18650 cell.
A] None of the 18650 cells are defined to have a "bump" on the positive end as they are normally used in laptop battery array construction and get tabs spotwelded to them. As such I used a piece of spring steel folded over to join the first and second 2600 mAH battery from tenergy. If you just put them in the flashlight the positive and negative of the 1st and 2nd battery wont touch due to the recessed plate and surrounding insulation, so you gotta do something to connect the two batteries. If you like everything one perfect alternative is to use a soldering iron and on the protection pcb under the 18650 tenergy you'll see a gold bottom because you are looking at the bottom of a pcb with a 20 microinch hard gold plate finish. Just put a blob of solder in the middle of your forward most negative terminal and the problem is solved permanently it will touch the recessed 2nd cell's positive terminal.
B] Once the circuit was complete it was BRIGHT brighter than my tk40 that uses 5-6 V from 2 sets of 4ea AA nimh or alkaline cells in parallel to divide the high current (and therein lies problem 2) keep in mind 2 ea 18650's develop 8.4-8.8 volts after being charged when used in series as this lamp does. I have not yet made current measurements, but I'm guessing its high because the TK30 is significantly brighter than the TK40.
Because the 630 lm head is used in both the 30 and 40 flashlight is almost identical except for some milling operations on the rim which are "de minimus" it really pulls alot of current so much that the inexpensive 18650 cells protection pcb *may* open up. The 2600 mah tenergy cells have a protection circuit board and did not have a problem running for 90 min straight on full power so I'd rate the tenergy protected li-ion cells very high as they did not blow the thermal breaker.
[STOP that info applies to my first unit serial #19 and my replacement unit serial #20] The review is being redone because the two units differed dramatically!
My first unit (serial # xxxx19) was clearly defective the fact you could look into the LEDs eyes wide open without a welding hood was a good clue. My second unit (serial # xxxx20) works fine even with the short single battery configuration. Add the tube for the 2 battery operation and it blows away the TK-40 output.
As for why serial 19 failed and serial 20 worked great, let me just say that 19 arrived in the usual amazon box but then the two case halves separated and the pieces fell out without any work on my part. Being a hater of these blasted sealed packages I didn't mind.
Serial 20 arrived with 4 each round sticky dots holding the top and bottom case halves together. This tells me someone got to play with serial #19 before I did and serial #20 was next in line but honestly unopened. Since I don't know how it was used, if it was used, what batteries were used, I can not draw conclusions about serial #19 other than someone had opened the package and likely returned it to stock prior to me getting it. #19 was really bad, and #20 turned out really good.
Serial #20 was run first for 90 minutes on 2 freshly charged 2600 mah tenergy batts then turned off with no noticable decrease in light output which indicates the digital regulator works just fine. 90 minutes was chosen because the outer tube became so hot it could not be held without gloved hands after that point. Serial #20 was almost as bright on one cell (4.2 V) as it was with 2 (8.4V). Considering the head in the TK40 runs off 4.8 VDC with nimh cells, 4.2V is just like some used NIMH cells, so that's no big surprise, however with 8.4 VDC it is a VERY bright (est 30% more than TK40) 2 cell (18650) rechargable flashlight with a great runtime. That puts it in a candidate for 5 stars now.
Again, the heads are the same configuration, but the TK30 has a cooler color temp, whiter light than the TK40 which is a much warmer white. The TK30 is brighter than the TK40 on turbo max mode. I will say charging 2 18650 batteries on the TK30 is alot easier than 8 AA nimh cells on the TK40, however the TK40 has a tad better runtime, especially on the lower power settings. Those lower power settings are easier to select on the -40 too, as the TK30 relies on rapid unscrewing and replacement of the head to change power levels which is a challenge to do in twice in 0.5 seconds. You gotta have a fast wrist to change the TK-30 power levels.
One more difference between the 30 and the 40 (perhaps how they got their name) is that the 30 is a 3 mode / 2 feature (or 6 mode) light while the 40 is a 4 mode / 2 feature or 8 mode light. The 30 looses the lowest lumen longest runtime on the 40 which leaves 3 brightness levels and some strobe effects like the 40 has.
That is the big difference between the 30 and the 40 that and of cource the 30 has a narrow tube with 2 cells and the TL40 holds 8 AA cells. The TK30 gets hotter faster while the 40 does not get as hot as fast, mainly because it has more thermal mass and lower power. The TK30 weighs ALOT less those 18650 cells are a weight blessing. When fully charged at 4.2 volts they approach the TK40's performance with a single cell by unscrewing the 2nd cell body and moving the clickie cap forward. 4AA nimh = 1.2 to 1.3 x 4 or somewhere in 4.8 5.2V and a full 18650 is 4.2V making the difference only .6-1.0 volt.
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Summary:
Over a year has passed and this is now my favorite LED light. The 18650 rechargable li-ion cell contributed heavily to that after thorwing away boxes of used CR123 cells.
My 30 is 30% brighter than my 40 with a fresh set of batteries. The TK-30 is also whiter in color temp, around 5500K which is easier on the eyes, and makes the -40 look incandescent by comparison.
Earlier I said, "Expect a rewrite in 3 days wed of this week" well now it's rewritten. The tk-30 can easily outperform the tk-40 everywhere but runtime. The -40's double set of 2700 mah AAs gives a net 5.4 Ah while the TK-30 gets 2600-3000 mAh or 2.6-3.0 Ah.
I can comfortably recommend the tk-30, a set of 4ea Tenergy 2600 mah 18650 cells, and the small plug in charger that does 1-2 cells at a time. With one set of batts in the light and one set parked on charge you'll be a happy camper
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This light uses 18650 batteries, which is very significant because they require special care. First, if you search for them, you won't find very many at all. They aren't even sold in stores. Then you need a special charger which only works with this type of Lithium Rechargeable. These batteries can vent with flame if they are abused, which means discharging them below 2.7 Volts or charging them above 4.2 Volts. Sound bad? They are fantastic batteries IF you know what you are doing.Unless you are familiar with the properties of an 18650 battery, do yourself a favor and consider another flashlight. The Fenix TK40 is considered one of the best lights that uses common AA batteries. You can get it, buy an Eneloop pack here which includes 8xAA, 2xAAA, and a charger for around 32 bucks. Then you will be set. TK40 performace with eneloops (NOT plain ole alkalines which aren't the best for this class of flashlight) should be comparable to 2x18650s.
(math: 1x18650 has 3.6 average volts with 2500mAh = 9 Watt hours. x2 = 18 Watt hours)
(1 eneloop AA has 2000 mAh x 1.2 volts = 2.4 Watt Hours. x8 of them = 19.2 Watt hours)
It is true that 2x18650 = 7.2 average volts with a max of 8.4. But 8xAAs at 1.2 volts = 9.6 volts (if they were in series). But in any case, these lights have transformer circuits that adjust the voltage so that the emitter gets around 2.5 Amps on high mode (the max for these MC-E emitters, both lights use).
Compared to the TK40, this light has more throw due to the bigger head and thus larger reflector. It is also long and skinny as you can see. The TK40 is fatter and shorter which makes it more compact and has more of a balance between throw and flood. This can make the TK30 appear brighter at range since the extra spill from the TK40 is dissipated at long ranges.
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Bottom Line: If you know about 18650s and want a light with great throw, this is the one to get. If you aren't savvy on 18650s, the Fenix TK40 or cheaper itp A6 Polestar are more recommended options.
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Just got my Fenix TK30 today it is a great flashlight. I got these along with the Tenergy 18650 Batteries with internal PCB. Basically it will not let the batteries over or under charge. Would take more care with the batteries but they are nearly as creepy as others seem to make them. Would recommend them with the light. Have to use the light to really appreciate how nice they are. The light is much skinnier than I expected. Using the single battery it is actually quite small with the extension it is long and skinny.Overall I would highly recommend. Would be great for hiking, camping, and other outdoor activities.
Honest reviews on Fenix TK30 630 Lumen LED Flashlight
I bought this light to have in my pov for emergencies, however I find that I am using it more and more. I purchased four UltraFire 18650 XSL 2600mah batteries and the Ultrafire wf-139 Lithium Ion battery charger and it is a good combo. be careful picking out your batts because all 18650 batts are not the same diameter. These do fit and are easy in and out.Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Fenix TK30 630 Lumen LED Flashlight
Cannot say anything bad about the fantastic flashlight. The only comment I have is that it did not come with a special spacer for the 2 battery set up. Had to make my own.
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