Q8 3rd batch or the same as 2nd?

Springs!
A bypass yields 1000 more lumens!
Not mentioning the light can turn off when bumped on the tail…
The springs used in the D4 would have been great.

its probly more orders of the second batch then, all i know is i got a email friday saying they have shipped my q8 as it was on back order

have u done the spring bypass? i was thinking to do it but im a newb with little experience

When it was clear during developement of the Q8 that the goal of 4000 lumen would easily be met even with steel springs without bypass, I pleaded not to aim for better conductive springs (like copper alloy ones) or for a factory-bypass, to keep the safety feature that a steel spring forms when inserting the battery the wrong way. I’m still strongly in favor to keep it that way.
We did put a lot of effort in getting Thorfire to use longer stiffer springs, resulting in that they used a somewhat better spring than was used in the latest prototype, but we never got the exact spring we wanted

The springs in the D4 (Be-Cu alloy) are of low mechanical quality and have very little travel, that is why the D4 can only accomodate a very specific battery length (the standard size that unprotected cells have). It is unsuitable for the Q8 that has the dimensions to accomodate a variety of battery sizes. Only if the battery tube is shortened these springs will work, but anything longer than a standard unprotected 18650 will not fit.

so for someone like me , the best torch i had is a 2 aa battery led torch, so as standard it would be more than bright enough

@djozz: Thanks for the explanations, it all makes sense. Someone recently posted a pict of he’s Q8 tail board after he inserted one cell the wrong way and this ‘safety feature’ did work.

@leftfordead: Would the Q8 be more than bright compared to a 2xAA…? Be prepared to be flown away! Lol :smiling_imp:

The D4 has two springs, the Q8 only one per cell. 2 springs are always better to prevent power interrupts caused by bumps. Easiest and cheapest improvement would still be an additional buffer cap.

Thorfire planded to release Q8 with NarsilM v1.2 (but nobody knows when this will happen)
And they said they will use uncoated lens only.
So I suggested to name this lamps batch 3.
Maybe the december 2017 lamps are batch 3?

Infos whats new in NarsilM under NarsilM - configurable e-switch firmware for Multi channels, v1.3 - Flashlight Modding and DIY Parts - BudgetLightForum.com
An updated cheatsheet is under http://bit.ly/narsil-cs

so i think ill leave the springs alone then , my current torch is running 1 aa battery and 1 small led ,so i think the q8 will be a slight upgrade, so how do the steel springs help with saftey?

i noticed on a few vidoes that some of the q8s were not branded ;blfq8: was that with the early ones?

Springs act as fuse - more or less. Under high current and heat they sort of retract and the cell lose contact. They have to be replaced though.
Early prototypes had no branding.

Do you have those lights?
My D4 has one spring and the Q8 two for each cell.
I agree an extra capacity is the best cure for short power interruptions… Still a bit tricky when you’re not used to solder those tiny components. Don’t ask how i know. :person_facepalming:

Do you have these light?

The D4 Has a spring on both end of the battery.

OK i get it. I was only counting the one at the tail.
The Q8 has two springs nonetheless… but on the same side.

I ordered my Q8 from Banggood a few days ago and they had two shipping options, either to ship from China or from US warehouse so I chose US warehouse as the China one was sold out. The US one was $20 cheaper so does that mean I am going to get an inferior Q8 and not the latest version? Just read about if you bump the Q8 it turns off because of the weaker springs on earlier versions.

‘Inferior’ is extremely relative here, even the lights from the first batch were top-performers, it was just that some (less than 10% if I remember well) had issues with switch-leds not working well (mine were fine), and only if you are into modding it makes sense to replace the low quality screws that were used for attaching the taiulboard and driver board.

But I doubt that any first batch Q8 is still for sale, from the second batch on the screws are better and there’s no switch-led problems reported.

It can be expected though that a certain moment a batch of Q8’s appears that is built cheaper, with cheaper components, it was always that way in chinese budget lights. But they have not been found as yet.

I would say "inferior" was the wrong choice of words! Would there be any tell tale signs that I got a Q8 from batch number 3 or would batch 3 be the same as batch 2?

Well, if there is any place where you would find the answer on that it would be this very thread, with just 24 posts it is doable. You would find that there was no complaining about batch 2 and so any alteration for a ‘batch 3’ would be Thorfire’s initiative, not from the Q8 team, and there’s no report from anyone yet finding differences. All I can find on alterations is that the Q8 may get new firmware at some point. Not that NarsilM 1.2 will be noticably different though…

From this thread:

Thanks. Obviously nothing to be worried about then even if I get Batch #1 as I don't mod my flashlights.

Both of mine from the 1st sell are excellent.