Hi, I’m new to the BLF A6. I’m noticing that I can only access 6 modes from moonlight on up. I believe it’s supposed to have 7 modes.
After the 6th, a half press makes it flicker and then it shuts off. The next half click sometimes goes to moonlight and sometimes goes either to 6 or turbo (can’t tell).
Any advice?
What cell? It may not support DD perormance. Oh, and welcome to the forum. Too bad your first post is about a glitch but you came to the right place to get it figured out.
Inserting a 2.2 ohm – 10 ohm resistor in between cell+ and the C1/D1 junction will fix the problem.
Hey, thanks for the response.
I’m very new to this, so bear with me. By cell, do you mean battery or LED type?
I edited previous post. Look at link.
Mike
I was able to get 7 modes when I first used it a week ago. Is there some setting I may have inadvertently enabled?
Thanks! Excited to be here.
The cell is the power source, some are able to provide more current than others and some have protection circuits that even limit current.
Check that both retaining rings are snug. Turbo mode is where minor grounding issues can first become apparent. Weak ground causes a voltage drop the mcu interprets as a low battery. Excessive voltage sag from a poor quality cell can do the same, hence the question, what cell? 
even if the rings are fully snug, make sure they actually snug against the pcb(both driver and switch). It’s not unheard of for the milling to be a bit off and cause something like this. There can be other causes but I prefer to eliminate the simplest ones first.
What you’re describing sounds like what happens when I insert a protected cell into my direct drive S2+. Turbo mode draws too much and trips the circuit in the cell.
What cell are you using?
Good theory. It certainly behaves like you’d expect if a circuit was being overloaded. It starts to transition to another intensity, flickers and then shuts off.
Brand is Nuon. Battery is NURE18650-1A, which is protected.
Banggood delivered a Samsung INR18650-30Q with the flashlight but it appears to be totally drained right out of the box. It won’t even charge.
That Nuon cell is a pos. What kind of charger do you have, and where are you located? If in the US, there are several trusted sellers of 18650’s and chargers, that will make sure you get authentic cells and chargers that work.
I have a Nitecore Intellicharge i2. I bought this battery at a local BatteriesPlus because I wanted to test whether my new BLF was broken, or the “new” battery they sent me was useless. This battery allowed me to do a quick test, but now I’ve just been using it. I plan to order a nicer battery this week. Should I get an unprotected or a protected? The Banggood website recommended protected but that seems to cause performance issues…
What country are you located?
USA
Good deal. There are several trusted sellers to buy authentic 18650’s in the US without having to order from China.
Also, I just tested a Sanyo NCR18650 protected cell in my BLF A6, and it works fine on all seven modes. This particular protected GA cell has a Seiko protection circuit with a 12 to 13A high current cutoff. The A6 doesn’t draw anywhere near that.
Personally I don’t use protected cells, but this one definitely does work if it makes you feel more comfortable. Your charger should be fine.
Here’s a few sellers I personally trust. I’m sure there are more.
Liionwholesale out of PA
IMRBatteries out of TX
Illumn out of California
Awesome. Thanks, Robert!
I’ve struggled with the protected vs. unprotected topic. It’s easy to succumb to fear over stories of unprotected cells exploding. What’s your advice on what factors I should consider in the choice to use protected vs not? Does it simply come down to whether or not you’re careful enough 1) not to run your cell down to zero charge and 2) not to use it in devices that will attempt to draw too much amperage?
Banggood ships the batteries with a thin insulating film on the negative end. Check if yours have one.
As long as you are using high quality authentic cells from Samsung, LG, Sony, or Panasonic/Sanyo, you will be fine. Check and recharge them when they run down to 3v or so, you’ll be fine with unprotected. You may consider getting a charger that displays the voltage instead of percentage bars, which will allow you to get a better idea how your light uses the cell. If you are unsure, or don’t want to deal with remembering to charge, then by all means, use a protected cell. Personally, I don’t use any 18650 cells with a continuous discharge rating under a 10A. If you build or buy a flashlight that draws 7,8,9 or 10A, then buy a 15 or 20A CDR cell. It’s as simple as that.
There are several FL manufacturers that have LVP (low voltage protection), that is built into the drivers making protected cells unnecessary, since the light will shut off at the low voltage. Good example of this is Zebralight.
The stories you’re hearing about exploding cells are Vapers being stupid, abusing the cell beyond it’s discharge ratings. A good example is a Samsung 25r 18650. It’s rated as a 20A continuous discharge, but also can be safely pulsed at 60A for a few seconds at a time. Some of these guys see re-wrapped xxxfire cells with exaggerated ratings printed on the wrapper, and think, hell, I can run those at 40A no problem. Then the vape mod fire button gets stuck on and they find themselves with their pants on fire, or missing teeth.
Just be smart, ask questions, and don’t cheap out on batteries or chargers.
Yes! That was the problem. It was so thin I didn’t notice it at first.