There….you….go.
Well I kind of think Elfeland being BG is the same.
People with issues have a choice,
EITHER
try customer support or AE messaging that is aimed at stalling by people not knowing about flashlights or the Q8
OR
post here
I know what I prefer 
The Miller wrote:
Amen, amen. Pointing out where to look for potential failures is the kind of help we all appreciate.
A cold solder joint can crack and eventually separate and that’s easy to fix, if you know where to put the soldering iron briefly.
Seems like they’re doing a production line where each worker does a single operation (e.g. one guy was putting on the left switch LED from one reel, then passing the board on to the other guy who was putting the right LED on from a different reel, then passing it on to the guy putting the resistor on ……)
So if there’s a problem with one particular solder join being poorly done (too fast so it’s a cold solder spot that will crack later, for example) — that’s a QA type situation where identifying the possible problem can help everyone look for it.
Hm. Why didn’t they have those guys place all the components, then another guy solder them with a heat gun? Oh, well …
Happend to me more often than i liked. A pice of kapton tape used as a temp shield helps a bit. And if you really pop the switch get 50 new ones from BG for ~2$ (https://www.banggood.com/50pcs-4x4x2_5mm-Waterproof-Copper-Button-SMD-Tactile-Tact-Micro-Push-Switch-4-Pin-p-1024026.html?rmmds=myorder).
So far i had no real worries about the switch leds… even planning on disabling them if they are too bright or faulty… But a few people mentioned PINK leds and now i want some in my Q8! What’s wrong with me? :person_facepalming:
Soldering those rice grains does not look easy though… 
Soldering them on is easy, it’s removing the old ones that are tricky.
Right Jason…. and those hot pink ones like in Jason’s avatar have a violet or light purple kind of cast to them that I find appealing, I typically do just like Jason did there and use one blue and one pink and like the effect. Although on my L6 I have 2 pink and it’s really nice too.
The Miller I am simply concerned that someone who ordered a q8 8 days after myself and approximately 1400 other blf members has received a shipping notice from Ali Express. Is that not a bit odd? I would like to know if find what’s going on there if you don’t mind. It seems to me to be underhanded at best. If all of those lights that aren’t up to blf standards are being sold at another vendor and the only issue is a possibility of uneven brightness on indicator leds. Especially if they are making all new lights and the other 2k are to be sold as is. I just find this to be odd and you wanted questions to banggood to go through you. I personally would love to know the answer to that one
Not really, least for me. Put solder on your iron tip, apply to the SMD LED - no problem - really doesn't matter if you damage the LED's you are removing. I've done this many time, not just with LED's.
No scathing criticism from me. Just nice pics! Lol
Mismatched is purdy. :heart_eyes:
I get you.
My estimate is that there is no way another 1000 were made just to sell via Banggoods AliExpress store. They have the same source.
AliExpress is strict when it cones to terms so not marked as shipped means cancel and refund. So they say shipped awaiting the real shipping. Vendors can extend purchase protection so they have the time as soon as they marked it shipped.
There is no short cut there, just a few extra $ to pay to get a non working tracking
If this is not satisfying enough I will ask Banggood, but I doubt they want to be all that open about how things are connected.
I only learned about OEMs and connections from Neal when he left Banggood and only when I promised not to post about what brand is actually made by who. They just love to keep things in the dark you know…
I ordered lights through Banggood on 10Sep and 12Sep that are backordered with expected shipping 10October… and I read now that people buying lights through other sites as late as 15Sept already have shipping notices. Also, a buddy of mine reported paying $43 on a competing site the very day I bought mine at the group-buy price of $40.
So now my attention turns towards the future. I’ve already given $14 to the GT project. If the rollout of that light happens similar to the Q8, with secondary vendors shipping lights to the masses at the same price ahead of those forum members who’ve had money staked for months, and without who’s support the project never would have happened… it will not go over well.
And this rant is not to take away anything from the incredible amount of work many forum members have put into this and future projects as I’m sure certain details of exactly how the product rollout would happen were intentionally withheld by the vendors… but it is something to plan for in the future.
So I would say “I can’t wait for my lights to arrive!!!”… but according to Thorfire, I can.
Fine. I can wait. Hope they can really fix things.
It feels like Equifax — we’re not the seller, and we’re not the buyer, so the market doesn’t work.
We’re part of the product[ion] being sold. Free design and QC, we are.
I didn’t mean to add more fuel to the fire, just meant to share information. The_Miller is absolutely right in the fact that my order may have been marked as shipped just to give it a tracking number, keep the purchase “live”, and extend purchase protection through AliExpress until October. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if my order has not actually shipped and are using the system to buy some time until they get stock again.
They look Really nice!
The one on the right has that neat Moon shape, could be an add on upgrade and there would likely be a demand.
What’s your Mod fee? 
The Miller, please add a date in the topic title when there is a change in the first post content.
It will be useful for those who are not able to follow all in details.
The GT production and sales are handled by one company, Lumintop
The Q8 is made by company A, Thorfire and sold and financial stuff handled by company B, Banggood
We work with TF to sort things out.
Banggood is selling via their main site, Banggood and via their AliExpress store Elfeland.
There is no stock, the lights finished are shipped to the first 500
There are strict rules on Ali, so they seem to mark them shipped and you can bet on it, the Elfeland ordered are not really going to be shipped sooner then the rest.
Relax. Elfeland entry was made later, orders are processed later. And if all shipping conditions are the same WILL arrive later
In previous specials it became clear we were the beta testers, we really tried to avoid it here and unfortunate there is (are) an issue(s) on a few. Each issue is one too many, but come on, except for 1 case we are eagerly awaiting pictures of, the promised light was received with aproblem in a bonus feature not hindering the operation.
And we strive to get it so that the rest do not have a chance of the issue pop up.
i think it is too strong to say that a max non critical problem rate of <2% means all who buy it are beta tester.
As if for each problem we read about of buyers of a Sunwayman, Thurnite, Klarus there are not 49 to 99 buyers happy. And the issues we read about on the above mentioned are true issues that hinder the actual lighting with the flashlights, if Thrunite would include a bonus clip and it bended out of shape too easy, would that make all Thrunite buyers beta testers?
yes will do
I was showing off a light in the PostOffice one time (local, very small place) and a guy that came in was dumbfounded as to why we would supply the design and engineering for the Chinese Manufacturer to use for free? To me, we want a product that we can’t afford to design and produce ourselves, so we offer our findings and it gets made with minimal investment on our part… how else could that happen? And in the process everyone we know can get in on the light, great deal, expands our hobby by bringing in new “member” and the entire thing takes off, we’ve seen it happen with our FET drivers (very glad to have been involved in that from the ground up, even if I was only building and testing.)
Looks to me like everyone profits. Business at it’s best.