The Maxxeon WorkStar 2000 Technician’s Floodlight is the big brother of the Maxxeon Pocket Floodlight (review) we like so much.
The WorkStar 2000 is a “professional” floodlight that delivers a huge perfectly round light bath for illuminating wide areas.
It has neodymium magnets and a built-in hook and the head turns 360 degrees and tilts 180 degrees.
This work light is quite different from most of the directed-beam flashlights, no doubt about it.
While the light may not seem as bright as a high-output flashlight that is not a “floodlight”, the WorkStar 2000 is the light to have when working in a confined area where a lot of light is required.
Also, unlike the Pocket Floodlight, the WorkStar 2000 has a built-in, user-replaceable rechargeable battery pack that uses 6 AA NiMH batteries.
The Maxxeon Pocket Floodlight has been a huge hit with webBikeWorld readers and here at home. It puts out a broad circle of light with no hot spots.
Granted, it’s not a super-powerful laser beam type of light…but it’s not designed to be that type of light either. Which makes comparisons difficult…
In fact, the Pocket Floodlight is just the opposite — and the amount of light it puts out for its size, while using just three AAAA (that’s four A’s!) batteries is pretty amazing.
So when Maxxeon announced the WorkStar 2000 Technician’s Floodlight, I just had to take a look.
The Technician’s Floodlight is like the Pocket Floodlight’s big, big brother. It’s a “professional” light, designed for use by, well, pros. Like me and you!
Don’t let the “Pro” moniker put you off though, as the WorkStar 2000 is quite useful around the house and in the garage.
NEW! Buy a 6-pack of fresh Energizer AAAA batteries for your Pocket Floodlight!Maxxeon WorkStar 2000 Technician’s Floodlight
The WorkStar 2000 is a “floodlight”, which means that it’s designed to deliver a wide circle of light, which is different from the focused beam put out by most flashlights.
For example, the classic shape of the Milwaukee M12 rechargeable flashlight, with a list price of $82.00 just for the flashlight body, not including the battery or charger (add $70.00 for the battery and $82.00 list for the charger!) is a very bright, very directed flashlight that is also very useful in a number of situations.
The M12 is 34 mm wide at the exit point of the lens. From a 1 meter (39″) distance, it puts out a 0.74 m (29″) wide round light pattern.
The Pocket Floodlight, only 10 mm wide, delivers a 1.17 m (46″) wide circle of light at the same 1 meter (39″) distance.
For comparison, the WorkStar 2000 (27 mm exit width), puts out huge 1.8 meter (6 ft.) wide perfect circle of light!
Here’s a simple graph that illustrates these differences (the “Light Output” is the diameter of the beam at the 1 meter distance):
When most people talk about flashlights (if and when people do talk about flashlights!), they usually think of light output as the “brightness” of the light.
But there are many different aspects of light and the quality and type of beam that a flashlight or work light emits.
The Maxxeon WorkStar 2000 Technician’s Floodlight is designed to deliver a very wide, even circle of light.
It’s bright, especially at the highest setting, but it doesn’t look as “intense” as the much more concentrated light of the Milwaukee M12, for example, because the light is spread out over a much wider area.
It also has a very sharp cutoff point — the sharpest we’ve ever seen.
But when you’re working on a motorcycle in the dark or you need a wide area of illumination where distances are constrained — like under the hood of a car — the WorkStar 2000 is the light to have.
The WorkStar 2000 has a pull-out hook and metal tripod mount in the base. The provided metal belt loop cleverly attaches to the light with the neodymium magnets.The Maxxeon WorkStar 2000 Technician’s Floodlight – Details
The WorkStar 2000 body is made from “high impact” polycarbonate and the neck and internal pull-out hook are made from glass-reinforced ABS.
The light weighs 389 grams (13.75 oz.) and it measures 26 cm (10.25″) with the head pointed up.
The head rotates 360 degrees through a series of tiny clicks, or detents.
It also can be rotated back and forth through a 180-degree arc as the head rotates 360 degrees.
The WorkStar 2000 uses a 5W Cree X-PG LED. The reflector is specially designed to deliver the very wide, very round light beam with zero hot spots. The even quality of the light that comes out of the WorkStar 2000 is outstanding.
The LED is covered by a tempered glass lens with a rubber gasket to reduce shock.
The back of the light head has vented openings and the LED holder has serrations that act as the heat sink. These high-output LEDs of today actually do put out quite a bit of heat, so an efficient radiation source is required.
WorkStar 2000 vs. Pocket Floodlight (L). WorkStar 2000 light head (R).On/Off, High/Low Switching in the WorkStar 2000
The light has a three-way switch, with off, on low and on high available. Switching gears can be a bit tricky — you have to press the switch once to turn the light on, then press again to turn it off, then press again within two seconds to switch to low.
The “trick” is not to hit the button too quickly — a nice, slow, even press is best.
The low light setting is noticeably less bright than the high setting, but Maxxeon claims 8 hours burn time on low and 2 hours on high, so that’s quite a difference.
I recharged the light a couple of times so far and it seems to take about 1/3 less time than the claimed 3 hour recharge time.
The special circuitry keeps the light output constant until the battery is depleted, so it pays to keep an eye on the LED. When the light goes out — it really goes out! It doesn’t become dim or flicker, it has a constant output until the last second and then…”click”…it’s off.
The upside of this is that you’ll have pure light as long as the battery has a smidgen of charge.
Width of the light output of the Pocket Floodlight on the left, compared to the beam width of the WorkStar 2000. Note exhaust ports with heat sink underneath the head of the WorkStar 2000 Technician’s Floodlight.WorkStar 2000 Construction
The body of the WorkStar 2000 holds the 6 AA rechargeable NiMH batteries and Maxxeon says the battery pack is user-replaceable.
I haven’t taken the light apart to see; it’s held together with three stainless steel Phillips head screws.
A socket above the switch is for the provided recharger and a small LED light blinks green and turns red when the battery pack needs a charge.
The light stands on its own and the molded design prevents rolling. Two strong neodymium magnets in the back can be used to hold the light, or a provided metal belt clip cleverly snaps into place over the magnets if desired.
Another clever design is the pull-out hook in the handle to hang the light upside-down. A metal tripod mount can also be found in the base of the light.
The WorkStar 2000 also comes with an automotive style accessory outlet charger and cord, so you can charge the light when you’re on the road.
WorkStar 2000 Light Output
It’s very difficult to describe and to photograph the output of the WorkStar 2000 in comparison to “normal” flashlights.
It puts out a very wide and perfectly circular spot of light that is surprisingly sharp at the edges.
Even at 3 to 5 meters distance (10-15 feet), the beam is perfectly circular, perfectly round, very sharp at the edges where the beam ends and it has absolutely no hot spots.
So this is a very different type of quality of light than any other type of flashlight or work light I’ve used. If you’re looking for a very tight, concentrated and powerful beam, the WorkStar 2000 isn’t it.
But if you need a wide area light, you got it.
Where it really shines — if you’ll pardon the pun — is in tight working spaces, where the broad beam of light illuminates a much larger area than most/any flashlight.
For example, working under the hood of a car, where the WorkStar 2000 can hang from its hook or attached with the magnets.
Having a nearly unlimited freedom of movement in the light head really helps also, because it gives a much wider range of placement options for the light, and then you simply point the head in the desired direction and the wide light beam does the rest.
Let’s take a look at a slide show we put together, comparing the WorkStar 2000 to the Gordon LED Flashlight (review) and the Pocket Floodlight. A video below further illustrates this.
You can click on a thumbnail in the slide show to go back to a photo. Hold your cursor over the main photo to bring up a menu if you’d like to pause the slide show.
Note that each series was taken at the same manual exposure with the camera, as noted on each photo.
So although the overall light output may look different and isn’t necessarily similar to what you’d see with your eyes, the light output and width comparisons are valid.
Where to Buy It
We sell the Maxxeon Pocket Floodlight (review) on webBikeWorld and they’ve gone to webBikeWorld readers from all over the world. The WorkStar 2000 is a bit more difficult to procure, due to limited supply and it’s also more expensive.
Plus they’re only available in lot sizes of 5. So unless there was a big demand, we probably won’t be selling it on webBikeWorld.
The list price of the WorkStar 2000 is $119.75 plus $9.99 shipping if purchased directly fromMaxxeon.
While that may seem expensive compared to the Pocket Floodlight, it’s actually less expensive than many of today’s high-powered professional LED flashlights and work lights — none of which put out this type of broad, even beam.
Conclusion
The Maxxeon WorkStar 2000 Technician’s Floodlight is a very interesting work light for anyone needing a wide, clean source of light for the workshop or around the house. It’s a unique type of light and one that I haven’t seen before.
It comes in very handy for working on motorcycles or cars, especially when it’s really dark.
The WorkStar 2000 can also be used as an emergency light around the house, at the camp and it would probably work great inside a tent.
This is a unique and rugged work light that definitely has the “Wow!” effect on anyone who sees it!
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wBW Review: Maxxeon WorkStar 2000 Technician’s Floodlight
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| Manufacturer: Maxxeon, Inc. | List Price: $119.75 + S/H. |
| Colors: Red/Black | Made In: China |
| Review Date: January 2012 | |
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