Flashlights

Hoorah, my Q8 finally has shipped.

I hope they get to you faster than mine got to me! After they cleared LA customs it took FedEx 3 days just to care enough to pick them up. In total 2 weeks to cross the continent. But I've had 2 for 2 days and my brothers for a day. There have been a few reported problems with them (2.6%), but the manufacturer found the cause and fixed it. Yours should be of that batch. The flaws aren't such that they affect the function of the light, but in the LEDs that backlight the switch.

My lights are flawless. Let me know how you like it.

Check it over to make sure it's right. Open up the battery compartment and check to see that the printed circuit board is fully seated. Just measure it around the inside. If I remember correctly I got a hair over 9/16ths of an inch from rim to PCB. Check for sharp burrs. The threads and O-rings needed a bit of grease on all of mine. Don't forget to grease the end cap threads and O-ring. You'll probably never remove the end cap again. The contact ring that circles the "Q8" on the PCB (you'll know what I mean when you see it) also had dark gunk on it. I removed it with a pencil eraser, but I have compressed air to get rid of the erasure "dust". You might need to get creative depending on what you have available. You don't want to deposit anything abrasive in the threads that you can't remove.

The problems the few lights have had have been in the switch backlit LEDs. The ones with the problem have all failed within a few hours of having cells in them. IOty's normal for the switch LEDs to be lit when the light is off, and off when the light is switched on. The problem lights have no switch LEDs lit when off. Typically they'll light at first and then quit. If they stay lit for 24 hours they should be good for a very long time. What I'm trying to suggest is to put cells in and just leave them for at least 24 hours, or permanently. The switch LEDS will drain the cells in something like 60 years so it's not a big deal to keep the switch LEDs lit. You'll want to check and charge them every year or 2 anyway.

But for $40 it's quite a light; a budget light at that. The user interface (UI) is just superb but I find the "manual" and the "cheat sheet" to not make much sense to me. I got lost in the advanced features of the UI and had to ask for instructions to get back to the factory default settings.

One word of caution with the factory defaults... The light will ramp down after 3 minutes in Turbo mode. It does that to protect itself from the heat. If one shuts off Turbo after 2 minutes for instance then puts it back into turbo the 3 minutes starts all over again. That could lead to major problems. Use the hand as the temperature regulation in that case and back it down manually when it gets hot. I far prefer to err on the side of caution with heat and electronics. To see what's safe set it on it's base and in turbo and watch for it to ramp down in 3 minutes. It'll be obvious unless you blink when it does it. That is a safe heat level, check with your hand to calibrate your hand. It'll be hot to the touch if done at ordinary room temp'. Of course if it's cold out or raining that will make the 3 minute step down useless, so it can be put back into turbo in those conditions. The 3 minute step down was based on normal room temperature.

If you need help I'm either here in the thread or via PM. Of course there is the BLF thread too and those folks know far more than I do.

FWIW, here's a pic' of the BLF Q8 in hand for scale; I have small hands. The base holds 4 18650 cells and the head houses the dedicated (chip) computer and associated electronics.

The beam is neither all flood or all throw, but a hybrid.

The flash overrode the switch backlight with its green LEDs, but the green tint can be seen faintly.

My brother got his Q8 from me yesterday. He's had last night to use it and loves the thing. He finds the output to be crazy for the size, the quality to be high, and basically what he described to me and while he didn't use these words, he was calling it a perfect light. He's quite literally a happy camper.

The next big BLF light is the GigaThrower aka GT or affectionately called Giggles. You'll understand why after watching the video of the prototype.

https://youtu.be/LStmsIyGldA

John, do you have your Q8 yet?

John, do you have your Q8 yet?

It finally just arrived today. Now I have to read through (and try to comprehend, if possible for a relative dunce like myself) the "Checking the New Q8" page and then figure out what my cell choices are (and where to buy them). Or maybe I'll wait a little while... and meanwhile try to get a rush order of Prevagen.

Excellent!

Any protected button top 18650 cell will do. Some will give more performance than others but any quality cell will do. I suggest going to Mtn' Electronics or IMR Batteries. Both will have quality cells and no counterfeits. For best performance you want high drain cells. The bigger the mah # the more juice it will hold; 3400/3500 mah is state of the art today.

If you have some neutral grease, silicone or SuperLube would be great, put a small amount on the threads at the head and bottom and on the o-rings. Check the ring in the head that the cells will make contact with. Mine was dirty and needed to be cleaned. But if you have no means of cleaning it just press on without.

I still haven't figured out the cheat sheet to navigate the finer advanced points of the user interface (UI) but the factory defaults are excellent. One click and hold for a split second then release will put you into ramping mode and in moonlight output. Click and hold to increase output. Release and quickly click again changes direction of the ramping. Find an output that you like and shut it off (click). A quick click will get you right back to that level. 2 quick clicks takes you right to turbo. Stay in turbo for 3 minutes and it will ramp down so as not to hurt the light. Shut it off at any point while in turbo and go into turbo again and you get another 3 minutes of turbo but that can destroy the light from heat. It would be OK to do that in the rain or if it's very cold outside since that will carry the heat away. But use your hand on the light as the temperature sensor. The factory default is a 3 minute ramp down and temperature isn't the deciding factor.

Click it 3 times for a voltage reading on your cells. The light will blink for voltage and then 1/10ths of a volt, then it'll repeat until you click again to turn that off. For best cell life I like to recharge before 3.6 v, but one can go much lower than that. Full output is obtained with fresh cells and max' output will decline as the voltage in the cells goes down. Four clicks locks out the light. Four more clicks activates the switch. The switch LEDS will drain the cells in about 60 years so don't worry about them being lit. When the light is outputting something the switch LEDs will go out.

When ramping up or down, the led switch light will blink either once or twice when the switch is released. If it blinks once you're in the most efficient mode that the light has. If it clicks twice it's in a more inefficient mode. Even at the point where the light is almost going inefficient it's still plenty bright. Just use ramping to get you what you want. The more efficient the mode (dimmer) the longer the cells last before the light shuts down. The light won't allow the cells to go so low as to hurt them, and that's good. Protected cells will also not allow over discharging.

If there is a section in the instructions on cell safety you want to read it. Li-Ion cells are fantastic, but they contain a huge amount of energy. They must be used correctly. Misused they can be a bomb. But protected cells go a long way to making them very safe.

I have an Opus BT-C3100 (I think that's the model) charger as my everyday charger and it performs all of the functions required to maintain and check the cells to insure they stay matched cells, and they must be matched cells in this light. If one cell changes spec's as compared to the others that one is toast and isn't used. The other 3 can be used in other lights (or in the Q8), but the funky one is disposed of. Best case scenario is that another 4 matched cells are obtained and put in the light, but in a pinch the light will run on 3 or even one cell. Just don't use full output or the spring that holds one cell can overheat and get damaged.

If for any reason the light needs repair don't throw it away. Inquire on the BLF for someone to fix it. These lights are repairable.

Whew! That was a slug of info! Any questions? I'm here. I need a break now though after writing that.

Thanks, Brian. That's a good summary.

Well, my Q8 is not working at all. I charged the cells (NCR18650B) completely and inserted them as instructed, but nothing happens when I push on the button, and the button itself is not illuminated. So now I don't know what to do.

Don't despair. Let's start at the beginning. Sorry, but that means I ask if the appliance is "plugged in". I don't mean to insult you with that.

Are the cells button tops (flat tops won't work*)? Have they been inserted with button tops "up"? Has the body of the light been fully screwed into the head? The switch light should have blinked when the 2 were screwed together, and then remained on unless you have defective switch LEDS.

If all of that checked out press and hold the switch. It should light and ramp up.

Assuming all of the above check marks have been made, contact The Miller in the Q8 thread and let him know. You won't be cast aside. If you need the link get back to me. You'll find the forum gents helpful until they get a new light to you.

*They won't work as they come from the factory as a flat top, but they can be made to work. If you have flat tops I can mod' them for you. I'm thinking you have flat tops and they simply won't make contact as they are. Pix will help. If you want to take this private that works too.