Weltool W65B, W65C, and Weltool LH8

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Weltool W65 & LH8 specifications

Brand/model	Weltool W65B	Weltool W65C
LED	–	–
Max. Lumens	1250	1750
Max. Beam intensity	83,900 cd	77,000 cd
Battery config.	1*18650 / 2*CR123	1*18650 / 2*CR123
Onboard charging	–	–
Modes	1	1
Blinkies	None	None
Reflector	Smooth	Smooth
Waterproof	IP67	IP67
Review date	February 2022	February 2022

Weltool doesn’t really need an introduction, but the W65 does need a little bit of explanation.

Weltool has 2 customizable weapon mount flashlight bodies, the W35 and W65. And when I say customizable, I mean to say, you can get different parts (like different light sources, tailcaps, switches etc.) for them.

When Weltool sells them as a kit, they usually add the type of LED/use case behind the product name. So in the case of the W35, you have the W35LEP (LEP light engine), W35IR (with Infra-Red light engine), W35A (for normal white light), etc. The W65 and W35 use the same kind of threadings so all parts are interchangeable. And both the W35 and W65 are compatible with Surefire Z68 tailcaps, DS00, or UE rear caps, etc. That makes them a great choice for anybody looking for a good Surefire replacement.

Once you have the W35 or W65, you can just buy the head, or tailcap you prefer. The only thing you have to keep in mind is the maximum voltage. Some heads accept up to 6V (2*CR123), while others may only accept up to 4.2V, so make sure you don’t use 2*CR123a batteries with the wrong light source.

Package quality.

Weltool uses fairly basic packaging for its flashlights. They sent the W65 and 2* LH8 heads for testing before the official specifications were announced. They will take our measurements into consideration for its specifications. So, when the product has actually launched, they will include different accessories, so keep that in mind.

• The flashlight: Weltool W65
• 2* LH8

The W65 is a weapon mount flashlight with optional light sources and tailcaps/ switches. But this review is about the particular combination of W65 body, TC70 tail switch, and LH8 heads I received.

The LH8 heads have only 1 mode, so the UI is very straightforward, with a click for on, and a click for off.

It has a forward-clicky switch so you can use it for momentary-on, and signaling/morse coding.

Then there’s of course, also mounting holes for attaching it to a gun. I’m not very familiar with this, so please check the images below. From what I could gether, this is for a Picatinny mount… but please don’t take my word for it.

Nope, it’s not!

I got corrected :–)

This type is referred to as the ‘Surefire’ Scout mount and is used by several other brands including Modlite, Arisaka, and Z-Bolt. This Scount mount is also the standard for weapon mounted lights on rifles.

Weltool’s build quality is usually top-notch. The lack of knurling on the battery tube is not because they forgot about that, but simply because this is meant to be attached to a rifle or a gun.

One of the interesting features of the Weltool W65 body (as well as the W35) is the battery needs to be inserted from the front, even though you have a removable tailcap switch. The tail switch has a beefy spring that connects to the battery’s negative pole, but the hole is too small for the battery to go through. This is a rather unique approach for me. There are probably other brands like Surefire who have that, but I don’t own any Surefire flashlights yet.

The Weltool LH8 heads I received look identical on the outside. The only difference is the LED. Both heads have bare threads, so even loosening the head doesn’t result in switching off the flashlight. There’s no traditional bezel that protects the whole top of the flashlight. No, there is just a screw-in bezel that keeps the glass lens in place. It’s grey-ish/silver and likely stainless steel. But I doubt a little if this is the best way to do this. Why isn’t there a bezel that covers the whole front? That way, it would be more protective than this approach.

After testing it so many times, and (un)screwing the heads so often, the bare aluminum threads caused some damage and minuscule pieces of aluminum. It’s not a bad idea to add some lubrication.

Weltool’s warranty, taken directly from their website:

From the date of sale (the serial number on the Lights body can show the date), the limited warranty for LED products is 5 years, and the warranty for LEP products is 2 years.

The above free warranty does not cover any damages or failure caused by:

• Problems caused by alteration, misuse, abuse, or unreasonable
• Battery leakage , improper operation or using poor quality battery
• The products do not purchase from Weltool directly or its authorized dealers or other illegal way
• Broken lens caused by external force
• Lamp, switch runs out of its lifespan
• rubber cap, O ring’s naturally aging
• normal wear and tea, imprinting, or color finishes
• Other problems caused by improper operation
• Discontinued products

If Weltool products don’t work because of your improper operation, we can provide paid maintenance. Labor is free but we will charge for parts. The total repair fee is assessed according to the cost of the replaced materials. Freight should be paid by customers.

I received 2* LH8 for testing purposes, and it depends on whether you buy the W65B, W65C or just a LH8 head of what you are getting. I did the testing on both heads (W65B, and W65C), with 18650,18350 and CR123 batteries.

Both LH8 heads have a very well-centered LED within a smooth and deep reflector. This reflector is protected by a glass lens with AR-coating. You can see the purple coating when you use the lens as a mirror trying to look at a light source. Please don’t use the sun for this.

It’s not really a traditional bezel, because the glass lens is kept in place with a screw-in type ring. This one seems to be made of stainless steel. But if you drop it on the floor, I’m afraid you won’t be able to unscrew it anymore. Aluminum is weak and can dent and make the ring get stuck.

Smooth reflectors can’t hide any artifacts, in fact, they highlight any abnormalities. And so do these smooth reflectors. Both have a very distinct hotspot, while 1 of them has another bright ring around the hotspot inside the spill. The spill is weak but helps to light up certain things in close range. At a longer distance, the spill is too weak, which is actually fine.

These are weapon mount flashlights, so you shouldn’t worry about high CRI, or neutral tints, lol. You don’t point a gun at some flowers or trees to observe their colors.

The Opple Light Master measurements below are hard to get really stable at a distance of about 1.5 meters. At closer range the Light Master device just gives an error. Even going through the hotspot gives different CCT readings etc. so this is about an average. Could be 5-10% higher or lower.

• Length W65+LH8: 148 mm / 5.8 ”
• Head diameter: 31.5 mm / 1.24 ”
• Tailcap diameter: 26.6 mm / 1.05 ”

• Weltool W65B/W65C empty: 107.9 g / 3.81 oz
• With battery: 156.9 g / 5.53 oz

Weight: 

Flashlight comparison

Size compared to the Weltool W35 flashlight.

Group 2 compared to other well known 18650 flashlights: 18650 Weltool battery, Olight Warrior Mini, Convoy S2+, Weltool W65, Convoy C8.

Group 3 compared to other Weltool flashlights: 18650 battery, Weltool W35, Weltool M2-BF, Weltool W65, Weltool W3 Pro, Weltool T11, Weltool W4, Weltool W5.

Both Weltool LH8 heads use the same driver, a single click for on, and a single click for off. No modes.

Available modes:

• On

From OFF:

• Half-press: momentary on
• Single-click: On

From ON:

• Single-click: Off

Shortcuts:

• none

Mode memory:

• none

Blinky modes menu:

• none

Low battery warning:

• none

Lock-out mode:

• none

PWM:

• not visible

Firmware / UI Conclusion:

For a weapon mount light, you don’t want to use Anduril or any of those types of customizable firmware. Having 1 mode is probably all you really need. No hidden and useless features.

Weltool included a battery with the shipment, which arrived at 3.5V. The battery they included in my package was a 18650 battery with 3,000 mAh. It’s a button top battery, with a micro USB port and 70mm long.

Besides this battery, I used several other batteries for testing different things. I used several Samsung 30Q flat tops, and a Samsung 25R flat top cell for lumen testing. All Samsung batteries performed worse than the Weltool. How this is possible? I can’t tell for sure, but the Weltool is quite a bit longer, and probably makes better contact on both ends. Another reason may be that the Weltool is brand new, while the Samsung batteries already had a few charge cycles on them.

Besides those, I also used the Weltool LH8 on my Weltool W35 body for lumen testing, and throw testing.

For lumen and runtime testing, I also bought 10 CR123 Duracell batteries, because you have to use new batteries for every test you do.

Lumen measurements:

For Amp readings, I use a Fluke 77III DMM. For higher amps I now use a Fluke 325 True RMS clamp meter. For microamps, I use a cheap DMM with an easy-to-use micro amp setting.

All output numbers are relative to my homemade Integrating Sphere. It is set up with an Extech SDL400 Lux Meter for measurements including a Kenko PRO1D ND-16 filter. The base measurement is done with a Convoy S2+ that has been tested at 255 lumens.

All of my readings were taken from a fully-charged Weltool 18650 battery. It’s pretty difficult to get consistent Amp readings, because something my copper wires show a lower current than the original probes.

LH8 type	Amp at start	start	30 sec	10 min
W65B	4.26A	1324	1251	501
W65C	4.72A	1858	1750 lm	603

And now tested with 18350 batteries

LH8 type	start	30sec
W65B	943	894
W65C	1289	1199 lm

For the CR123 batteries, I measured lumens directly with the runtime test. That way, I don’t have to throw away another 4 CR123 batteries, which I already had to do after measuring throw.

LH8 type	start	30sec	10 min
W65B	461	456	445
W65C	574	558 lm	523

Runtime:

The runtime test was done with the 50cm integrating sphere, including the Kenko Pro1D ND-16 filter and Extech SDL400 data logging Lux Meter.

W65C with 18650: starts at around 1858 lumens and slowly drops to 1714 lumens when it drops 2 timse till it reaches 608 lumens just before the 2 minute mark. From there it has a stable output till it reaches 585 lumens at 1h36min when it drops to 70 lumens. That’s the total runtime. But the light continues to run at 70 lumens and turns of at 1h42min.

W65B with 18650: Starts at around 1324 lumens and also drops 2 time tilli t reaches 505 lumens in 2 minutes. The output is pretty stable, and after 1h37min it drops to 100 lumens. At 1h42min it turns off.

W65C with 2*CR123: a much lower output than 18650 at turn on. It starts at around 574 lumens, and after 55minutes starts to decline in output. By 2hours it’s down to 12 lumens and continues running for many many hours. After 13 hours it still running at sub lumen output. I stopped the test at that point, and the batteries were down to 1.3V. After turning the light off, I couldn’t turn it back on again. But you could have extended battery life by just letting it run. W65B with 2*CR123: start at around 460 lumens and after 54 minutes it’s 423 lumens before it starts declining. By 2 hours it’s down to 12 lumens, and continues for many more hours slowly reducing output. After 24 hours and 48minutes, the light was still running at about 0.5 lumens. Total runtime is somewhere around 1 hour and 1 hour and 15 minutes.

W65B with 2*CR123: start at around 460 lumens and after 54 minutes it’s 423 lumens before it starts declining. By 2 hours it’s down to 12 lumens, and continues for many more hours slowly reducing output. After 24 hours and 48minutes, the light was still running at about 0.5 lumens. Total runtime is somewhere around 1 hour and 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Throw Measurement

Measurements were taken both indoors and outdoors with a professional Hagner E4-X Lux Meter.

These are measured with the Weltool 18650 battery at 20 meters distance. Numbers recorded manually 30 seconds after turn on.

LH8 type	Candela measured	in meters	in yards
W65B	84,400 cd	581	635
W65C	67,600 cd	520	569

The following with Duracell CR123 batteries:

LH8 type	Candela measured	in meters	in yards
W65B	35,600 cd	377	413
W65C	27,200 cd	330	361

For the following beamshots I used a Canon EOS 5D Mk2 and a 50mm lens. manual settings: ISO1600, 1/4sec , F4, 5000K

The shed is about 65 meters / 71 yards away, and the fence and trees are about 200.

Disclaimer: This flashlight was sent to me for review at no cost by Weltool. I have not been paid to review, nor have I been holding back on problems or defects.