(BLF) Sofirn Q8 V1.5: The XPL HI monster, DIY parts + Extended 8x18650 tubes GB Interest List

When I am making a part or a whole flashlight out in my shop on my lathe, it is I and I alone that decides what is worth doing. Doesn’t Sofirn have that same luxury? I mean, it’s THEIR business after all… pretty sure they have a reason that makes sense to them for doing it the way they are.

They DID say the tubes would be ready weeks ago, but here we are, waiting. I no longer have the cells ready for my 2 sets, so I will once again have to order cells if/when the tubes come through. Of the 16 Samsung 30Q’s I had sitting waiting on these there are only 4 left. It is what it is I reckon.

To be honest, I’m about ready to just make my own and be done with it…

Please add me to the list: 2 sets for the BLF Q8, 1 set for the Sofirn Q8.

Yes, Dale they have shure a reason for two different tubes.
But i am curious what it is.
I see some backsides:

- logistics of parts is higher

  • selling to customers is difficulter
    no one part fits all.

What is wrong on the org Q8 tubing?

IIRC the original BLF Q8 tube works on both but not sure how waterproof it is due to O ring design.

I know when I build something and then get a chance to re-build it I always tweak something, going for that little bit better…. perhaps this is what they did, applied a bit of a tweak for better water tight seal or whatever. So now there is the old design and the new design. :wink:

If I’m not mistaken they made the tube a little longer so it could capture the carrier at the positive end, each subsequent section captures it’s carrier, you can’t load multiple carriers from the open end this way so I am not sure why they opted to go this route. But in doing so, perhaps the tube is just that much longer that it needs to really be made differently to fit the 2 versions of this light.

Back in the day, ThorFire/Sofirn I believe came to us, looking for ideas for the next gen, or add-on's. Our original proposal was for a mini Q8, like using a quad 14500 setup, but The Miller was the backer of that idea. I think Sofirn came up with the extensions on their own, but also, there was always some critiques against the current battery tube and interest in a carrier based design, but early on, we figured that would be an increase in cost.

Funny in that they basically did build a mini Q8 with the SP36, which I much prefer over a quad AA/14500 light. I think the SP36 was a great decision, but the tube replacement/extension for the Q8, not so sure about, but it's got some interest here.

For me, I'd love to see a replacement.compatible head for a Q8. My thinking was go big - maybe a 90-110 mm wide triple SMO to get lots of lumens and throw, retro to a Shocker for example. The cost of the head wouldn't be much cheaper than the full light of course, sorry to say... Other option would be a wide head to fit maybe 5x quads, 20 LED's total. Dale basically did something similar in a custom mod.

I miss the Shocker - ~4500 lumens that could do 500 kcd, w/dedomed XM-L2's. The Shocker had basically 3 C8 size reflectors, so always wanted a decent cost moddable Shocker but made lighter, possibly as compact as possible. The "BTU" company os gone for a while now and never did get to building the rumored Shocker II.

My Shocker has 9V MT-G2’s in it, I love the big lug! It’s built like a tank and the triple reflectors are exquisite. Surprisingly tight beam even from the largest Cree emitter.

I actually came up with the idea to do the large head mated into the original Sofirn Q8 head because of the carriers. I wanted to bring attention to the Sofirn lights because of their consistent quality and the stackable tubes to add run time seemed like a logical choice for a big monster light. I still don’t know if the carrier’s they are making can handle the current requirements but I do still intend to find out. I tend to forget that the big aluminum head screws into the bezel threads and literally fills the entire void where the reflectors and MCPCB once were. Two screw holes in the emitter shelf of the Q8 that once held the reflector from turning now anchor the big aluminum head. It’s a big chunk of aluminum, and it works. I’ve always wondered why they take so much material out of the big head lights, when they could leave mass in to aid the thermal design? Mine is over 3 lbs, sure it can be heavy, especially if you’re injured or not feeling well, but a sling will take care of that or a lanyard will add insurance against droppage… I would love to see Sofirn step up to the plate and make us a big hoss light to compete with the big boys. :slight_smile:

FWIW, the Ham’r is 101mm diameter at the bezel.

The Q8 came without carryer because it should be as near as possible like the SRK design.
I has voted for carryers but there was no Chance to get them due to the starting point as better SRK.

My BLF Q8 will no longer ramp… I can’t figure out if something is wrong with it or if I am not doing the right thing to get it into ramp mode. I don’t know how it got out of ramp mode. Sorry if this is in the wrong place but I couldn’t find where to look for this info or request it.

Thanks,
Brian

What is it doing?

Interested, should I send a PM?
I have the Sofirn, I just got it on Sunday.

It will go to full brightness from off and also can go to different flashing and dim settings. When I got it, it would ramp from off if I held the button and it would also ramp back down. I am not sure if I did something to it or what happened but I just want to get it back to that setting where it will ramp up and down. I have tried different button pushes for mode changes that I read in the instructions but no success.

Brian

Have you tried to reset it:

Ramping mode, From OFF or ON : 3x click > 2x click > 2x click > press and hold 1-2 seconds will blink 4 times to confirm reset.

MODEs(not in ramping mode), From OFF : Click + Click and hold for 3 seconds > 2x click > 2x click > press and hold 1-2 seconds will blink 4 times to confirm reset.

I really don’t know what your describing, but if it’s not ramping, I’ll assume it’s in mode sets. To get back to ramping you go into the menu by holding the button for about 3 seconds. It will first go to turbo, then to strobe, then into the menu, release the button. You will see it blink twice fast followed by a single slow blink. At this point you need to click twice. Make sure you see the confirmation blinks as you click the button. Now just let it finish going through the menu. It will end with 4 fast blinks. Now it should be back in ramping.

I’m so happy now. I followed your instructions with no success, I did it again and didn’t think it worked then it was off and I held the button and a ramping it came. I never in my life thought I would be so happy to see a flashlight get gradually brighter, then gradually dimmer.
Thank you AguassissiM and JasonWW

I am in for a BLF Q8 extended 8×18650 tube (x2)

Putting X2 at the end is confusing. 1 set means 2 tubes and 2 carriers for 8 batteries. So you want 1 set, right?

Are these tubes still being produced? If they will come out for sure I might buy a BLF Q8 and build a 4 XHP50 or XHP70 light. It is just taking Sofirn some time to design the extension tubes and battery carriers properly, right?

It seems they are past the design phase, hence the videos of the product. There might still be some tweaking going on. I’m sure they are busy producing flashlights trying to catch up any back orders due to the holidays. We see this every year. Plus we still have the Chinese New Year coming up in February. So if they haven’t done a full production run by early Dec, and I doubt they have, then they might not have time for these new projects until mid Feb. We just have to be patient and see how it goes. Situation normal.

I am in for 2 sets. 4 tubes and 4 carriers