Nightwatch Chaos NS59v2 9xSFQ60.3

Specifications

Brand/model Nightwatch Chaos NS59v2 9xSFQ60.3
LED 9xSFN60.3 6000K
Maximum lumens 32,000 lm
Maximum beam intensity 150,000 cd
Maximum throw 774 m
Battery 2*21700
Onboard charging No
Material Aluminium
Modes 5
Blinkies Strobe
Reflector OP
Waterproof -
Review date October 2022

Introduction

The Nightwatch Chaos NS59v2 is a scary flooder with nine SFQ60.3 emitters.

Neal asked if I would like to review anything in his store. Nightwatch immediately came to mind after recently trading a torch for the Nightwatch NSX4. I searched his store and came across the NS59v2. It has a similar aesthetic to the NSX4 but it has nine emitters instead of four and it is powered by two 21700 cells in series instead of one 26800 cell.

This torch was sent by Nealsgadgets for review. I have not been paid for this review nor have I held back my opinions of this torch.

Packaging

The NS59v2 came in a plain white cardboard box and bubble wrap to protect it.

Nightwatch Chaos NS59v2 9xSFQ60.3 packaging Nightwatch Chaos NS59v2 9xSFQ60.3 packaging bubble

The following was included in the box:

  • Nightwatch Chaos NS59v2 9xSFQ60.3
  • Two button top Lishen LR2170HP 21700 3000mAh cells

Torch in use

The Nightwatch Chaos NS59v2 feels like a hefty duty light in one hand.

Nightwatch Chaos NS59v2 9xSFQ60.3 in use

It is top heavy but the aluminium cigar grip near the tail helps prevent the torch from sliding out of my hand. Knurling provides plenty of grip.

Nightwatch Chaos NS59v2 9xSFQ60.3 in use Nightwatch Chaos NS59v2 9xSFQ60.3 in use

Two smooth and large lanyard holes have been cut into the side of the tailcap to allow the torch to tailstand while a lanyard is attached. The torch can tailstand due to the mechanical tailswitch being slightly below the edge of the tailcap.

Nightwatch Chaos NS59v2 9xSFQ60.3 button Nightwatch Chaos NS59v2 9xSFQ60.3 front

The reverse-clicky tailswitch gives a satisfying click. It would be nice if a forward-clicky tailswitch was used instead so that the mode can be changed before the light has been clicked on.

This torch could be used as a duty light. I just use it to light up an entire field and giggle. It is a lot of fun!

Build quality

The Nightwatch Chaos NS59v2 has anodised aluminium with a matte black finish. The tube is anodised on the inside too.

There are no sharp edges. Knurling on the head, tube and tail provide plenty of grip.

Aluminium cigar grips also help prevent the torch from slipping out of my hand. However, they do not prevent the torch from rolling away on a flat surface.

Each cigar grip has four long holes that could be used to clip a strap to.

Nightwatch Chaos NS59v2 9xSFQ60.3 side Nightwatch Chaos NS59v2 9xSFQ60.3 tube

The torch came with a few scratches on the head and the tube. This is to be expected due to the manufacturer keeping the cost down for enthusiasts.

The threads at the tail came lubricated with Molykote HSC Plus Paste to improve the electrical conductivity. I found that my hands kept getting paste on them because it would transfer from the threads and onto the batteries.

Both ends of the tube have two o-rings to help prevent water getting in.

The threads at the head have not been lubricated.

Nightwatch Chaos NS59v2 9xSFQ60.3 tail threads Nightwatch Chaos NS59v2 9xSFQ60.3 head threads

The tailswitch and driver are both held down with brass retaining rings and the stainless steel bezel unscrews from the head. This torch is enthusiast friendly (no glue!).

The driver has a long a smooth pill for a battery to press against and the tailcap has a spring-bypass to reduce the resistance.

Two button top 21700 cells are a tight fit and they became slightly dented over time.

Nightwatch Chaos NS59v2 9xSFQ60.3 spring Nightwatch Chaos NS59v2 9xSFQ60.3 driver

LED, bezel, lens, reflector and beam

The NS59v2 has a stainless steel bezel with “Chaos” etched on one side and “v2” on the other.

Nine cool white SFQ60.3 emitters are spread out in an orange peel reflector to produce a smooth wall of light.

Heat appears to transfer sufficiently from the nine emitters to the MCPCB (metal core printed circuit board), and then to the head of the torch. These emitters did not burn themselves while performing multiple Turbo runtime tests. There was a report of one of the LEDs developing a burn mark in an earlier version of the torch, as seen in the Nightwatch NS59v1 review on 1lumen.com.

Nightwatch Chaos NS59v2 9xSFQ60.3 emitters

I have taken Correlated Colour Temperature (CCT) and Colour Rendering Index (CRI, RA of R1-R8) measurements with the torch positioned two metres away from an Opple Light Master Pro III (G3) for each mode except Turbo. Turbo was measured at three metres.

The CCT is around 5500K on lower modes and 5900K on High and Turbo. The CRI is around 65.

The Delta u, v is slightly positive (green) on lower modes and closer to pure white on Turbo.

The beam has a smooth white hotspot with a slightly green corona that blends into the spill on Moonlight, Low and Medium when looking at a white wall. A white wall of light is produced with High and Turbo!

The stainless steel bezel does not create an annoying ring. The arrangement of the emitters in the orange peel reflector causes a flower pattern to be produced.

Mode CCT (K) CRI (Ra) x y Duv
Moonlight 5411 64.0 0.3348 0.3605 0.0087
Low 5457 64.1 0.3336 0.3585 0.0082
Medium 5514 64.6 0.3321 0.3563 0.0078
High 5885 66.2 0.3239 0.3420 0.0044
Turbo 5948 68.0 0.3228 0.3368 0.0023

Calculate Duv from CIE 1931 xy coordinates

Dimensions and size comparison

Dimensions

I took the following measurements using digital callipers.

Measurement Unit (mm)
Torch length 213.9
Head diameter 58.2
Tube diameter 28.1
Tailcap diameter 30.0

Weight

I took the following measurements using a digital scale.

Weight Unit (g)
Torch 352.9
Battery 1 68.6
Battery 2 69.1
Torch with batteries 490.6

Size comparison with its competition

From left to right: Nightwatch Chaos NS59v2 9xSFQ60.3, Nightwatch NSX4, Sofirn SP36 BLF, Sofirn Q8 Plus

Nightwatch Chaos NS59v2 9xSFQ60.3, Nightwatch NSX4, Sofirn SP36 BLF, Sofirn Q8 Plus

From left to right: Nightwatch Chaos NS59v2 9xSFQ60.3, Nightwatch NSX4, Sofirn SP36 BLF, Sofirn Q8 Plus

Nightwatch Chaos NS59v2 9xSFQ60.3, Nightwatch NSX4, Sofirn SP36 BLF, Sofirn Q8 Plus

User interface and driver

The reverse-clicky tail switch may be clicked to turn the torch on and then half-pressed to change modes.

State Action Result
Off 1C On (mode memory)
On Half press Cycle (Moonlight, Low, Medium, High)
On 1C Off
On Double half press Turbo
On Triple half press Strobe

Strobe

The strobe frequency appears to be consistent.

Low voltage protection

There is low voltage protection but the battery might drain to 0V if you leave it on for a few days. The torch started flashing around 5.93V to indicate that the voltage is low. It turned off at 5.82V and a current of 53mA continued to be drawn.

PWM

I did not notice any visible PWM (flickering).

What I like about the UI

  • It is simple and easy to use.

What could be improved

  • I prefer a forward-clicky tail switch.

Batteries

Two high drain button top Lishen LR2170HP 21700 3000mAh cells were included inside the torch. The cells arrived with a voltage of 3.07V and 3.75V, and they were isolated with a piece of plastic. I measured capacity of 2897mAh and 2959mAh with a Vacpcell S4 Plus (500mA).

Nighwatch mentioned that the NS59v2 requires two Lishen LR2170HP 21700 cells capable of a 60A peak current.

The NS59v2 is the first torch that I have used where the batteries are in series. The fact that the torch can draw over 50 amps made me concerned about the capability of the 21700 cells being used. I tried some Samsung 40T cells but the lumen output was much lower than expected. I would recommend getting the optional Lishen LR2170HP 3000mAh cells for the best performance!

I discharged the two Lishen cells in a Vapcell S4 Plus and charged them in parallel in an XTAR PB2S to balance the voltages. I had used one of the cells while reviewing the Nightwatch NG01 and they had become unbalanced.

While conducting runtime tests, I charged the two cells in a Vapcell S4 Plus and they finished charging with a difference of about 0.002V. It is best to ensure that the voltages are the same when connecting batteries in series. I would not recommend mixing 21700 cells in this torch. It is a lumen monster!

Nightwatch Chaos NS59v2 batteries Nightwatch Chaos NS59v2 batteries

Driver

Here is a teardown of the driver and tailswitch.

The retaining ring for the driver can be unscrewed with tweezers or a camera wrench spanner tool. However, the driver cannot be removed without first desoldering the wires from the MCPCB.

To get access to the MCPCB, I unscrewed the bezel for the head and then knocked the head against the table to get the reflector to pop out.

Nightwatch Chaos NS59v2 9xSFQ60.3 teardown Nightwatch Chaos NS59v2 9xSFQ60.3 teardown

I ended up cutting the wires with flush cutters and removing one screw so that I could lift the MCPCB up with a hook.

Very little thermal paste was used I found a blob of something sitting between the shelf of the torch and the driver.

Nightwatch Chaos NS59v2 9xSFQ60.3 teardown Nightwatch Chaos NS59v2 9xSFQ60.3 teardown

Driver photos!

Nightwatch Chaos NS59v2 9xSFQ60.3 teardown Nightwatch Chaos NS59v2 9xSFQ60.3 teardown

Nightwatch Chaos NS59v2 9xSFQ60.3 teardown Nightwatch Chaos NS59v2 9xSFQ60.3 teardown

The retaining ring in the tailswitch can be unscrewed with tweezers to access the switch PCB. It has a massive switch!

Nightwatch Chaos NS59v2 9xSFQ60.3 teardown Nightwatch Chaos NS59v2 9xSFQ60.3 teardown

I replaced the thermal paste and managed to get the torch to work after the teardown. It now easily draws 50A on Turbo.

Performance

Specifications:

Turbo High Medium Low Moonlight
Current (A) 60.0 25.0 3.0 0.7
Light Output (lm) 31,000 17,000 5,000 2,400 780
Beam Intensity (cd) 150,000 - - - -
Beam Distance (m) 774 - - - -

The manufacturer tested with a Lishen LR2170LA 21700 4000mAh cell.

Lumen measurements

I used a UNI-T UT210E clamp meter to measure the current at turn on.

Mode Amps at start Specs Lumens @turn on Lumens @30 sec Lumens @10 min
Moonlight 0.59 A 780 737 721 689
Low 1.70 A 2,400 1,990 1,972 1,939
Medium 3.70 A 5,000 4,294 4,258 2,985
High 23.30 A 17,000 16,367 15,529 1,374
Turbo 50.10 A 31,000 30,390 14,895 1,965

Sparks were flying while I was measuring Turbo with 8awg wire at the tailcap with a clamp meter.

Standby drain

There is no standby drain. This torch has a mechanical tail switch.

Runtime graphs

I used my own DIY lumen tube with a TSL2591 sensor and forked bmengineer’s project RuTiTe to record runtimes.

Note: Lumen measurements may be off by 10% with my DIY lumen tube.

Nightwatch Chaos NS59v2 9xSFQ60.3 runtime graph

Nightwatch Chaos NS59v2 9xSFQ60.3 first 2 hours runtime graph

Nightwatch Chaos NS59v2 9xSFQ60.3 first 10 minutes runtime graph

Nightwatch Chaos NS59v2 9xSFQ60.3 turbo runtime graph

Nightwatch Chaos NS59v2 9xSFQ60.3 high runtime graph

Nightwatch Chaos NS59v2 9xSFQ60.3 medium runtime graph

Nightwatch Chaos NS59v2 9xSFQ60.3 low runtime graph

Nightwatch Chaos NS59v2 9xSFQ60.3 moonlight runtime graph

Turbo started at 30,390 lm, quickly dropped to 15,529 lm by thirty seconds, continued to drop to 1,900 lm by two minutes, maintained around 1,600 lm until 1 hour 12 minutes, and finally dropped to 110 lm until 1 hour 32 minutes. Room temperature was 17C. I measured a maximum temperature of 78.C at the head of the torch with an Infrared Thermometer after a few minutes. The torch gets unbearably hot to hold within a few minutes.

High started at 16,367 lm, dropped to 1,600 by two minutes, maintained around 1,600 lm until 1 hour 2 minutes and finally dropped to 110 lm until 1 hour 30 minutes. Room temperature was 15C. I measured a maximum temperature of 63.4C at the head of the torch.

Medium started at 4,294 lm, maintained 4,000 lm for almost 10 minutes, dropped to 2,000 lm at 10 minutes and maintained that output for almost 1 hour 12 minutes. Output zig-zagged a bit while trying to maintain 2,000 lm and became unstable after 1 hour 12 minutes. Room temperature was 12C. I measured a maximum temperature of 20C at the head of the torch.

Low started at 1,990 lm, maintained 1,900 lm for almost 1 hour 25 minutes, dropped sharply to 110lm at 1 hour 34 minutes, and finally switched off just before 2 hours. Room temperature was 17C.

Moonlight, if you can call it that, started at 737 lm and gradually dropped to 110 lm over 7 hours.

Regulation was all over the place with High and Medium. It was fairly stable for Turbo and Low so you can use this as a general purpose light. But I would be more inclined to use this torch for giggles. It makes a wall of light!

Throw

I took lux measurements with a UNI-T UT383BT at 30 seconds at a distance of five metres for each mode.

Mode Specs (cd) Specs (m) Candela measured (cd) Distance (m)
Moonlight 3,475 117
Low 9,500 194
Medium 20,650 287
High 78,050 558
Turbo 150,000 774 91,925 606

Throw numbers were a little lower than the official specifications (774m vs 606m). This torch is definitely more of a flooder than a thrower!

Beamshots

I went to a local park and aimed the Nightwatch Chaos NS59v2 9xSFQ60.3 at a tree 70 metres away while using Turbo. I think this is the first time that you can clearly see the tree in the background about 70 metres away.

Beamshots were taken using a Sony RX100M2 using 3.2", f3.2, ISO 100, 5000K WB.

Nightwatch Chaos NS59v2 9xSFQ60.3

Nightwatch Chaos NS59v2 9xSFQ60.3 Turbo beamshot

Cyansky P25 V2.0

Cyansky P25 V2.0 Turbo beamshot

Olight Warrior Mini 2

Olight Warrior Mini 2

Conclusion

The Nightwatch Chaos NS59v2 is a scary fun flooder!

It produces 31,000 lumens for a split second with two Lishen LR2170HP 21700 3000mAh cells in series and pulls a whopping 50 amps. This translates into a massive wall of light that makes me giggle.

The build quality is good for the price. It is a budget flooder for enthusiasts.

Runtimes for Turbo and Low were better than expected. However, it would have been nice to see better regulation for Medium and High.

You could consider the Acebeam X75 or Imalent MS18 for powerful flooders with longer runtimes if money is not a concern.

I highly recommend the Nightwatch Chaos NS59v2, with the optional Lishen LR2170HP cells, as a cost effective flooder.

Pros:

  • Scary fun!
  • Good build quality.
  • Good regulation.
  • Nice tint on High and Turbo.

Cons:

  • Low voltage protection has an issue.
  • Tint is a little green on lower modes.

Product page

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Promo code: TIMMC

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