Q8, PMS SEND TO THOSE WITH ISSUES BLF soda can light

BLF Special Edition Products
13464

Janky driver screw

Album of screws/grim
All the screws were grimey, non of them were stripped out. Used slight downward pressure while unscrewing, They were not tight or difficult to get out, could have been tighter. I reinstalled them tighter then they were with out stripping the screws.

A little glue/grime what ever on the PCB mounting location. Wiped off easily with some orange cleaner.

The screwdriver bit I used fit snug, no play. No size/type markings on the bit I used.

I would have liked to gone further to see if the driver area needed cleaning up, But couldn’t get the button ring/cover off :expressionless:

13465

Receipt update:

2 ordered, 2 arrived, no damage.
My body threads didn’t line up with head either. Not an issue for me.
Button lights equally bright. Very green.
Both lights functioned well. Easy to use.
Much brighter than expected. !!! Uniformly bright/same tint.
Nice beam pattern for style of light. Compared to my other soda can lights.

Outstanding value and THANK YOU to all involved in production, testing and designing.

Not being dismissive of other’s issues, just informing on my experience.

13466

[quote=Joey Adams]

[quote=twodollarbill]

Here is the latest update I have in the order details section:
2017.09.19 03:42 (GMT-7): 【GuangDongShengShenZhenShi SHENZHEN 】Despatch from Sorting Center

I’ll update if a new posting appears.
[/quote

The Miller, the above is making it clear that his shipping info, if fake, is very elaborate don’t you think? I have never heard of a bogus tracking number showing actual movement. :weary:[/quote]

Interesting for sure. Don’t want to make anyone do the opposite of what I advice “order and forget” but following it of course.
It is a bit amusing, I feel inclined to dare you to a bet that I think this Q8 will not arrive before a week after Thorfire has started production again (I have 3 arrived AliExpress orders today, when I marked them delivered, two of them showed the first of the four pictures green (shipped out) but the little airplane pics were not green (in app) and the third said “no tracking available.)
I see you are having a hard time, so despite being against betting, shall we do a bet? That way IF it arrives sooner you have a win moment and can smile about it, good idea no? Here is my proposal.
If you win you can order a flashlight related item at Gearbest or Banggood of which I pay max or the first $20 OR you say I can donate $20 to help Mrs Lumens (Valerie), and if I win you donate $20 via PayPal to PinkPanda for Mrs Lumens.
Yeah let’s flip it around and make it good for you whatever happens :slight_smile:

To be honest I am so happy it is weekend.
Thorfire said they want a whole new switch assembly.
Introduction of a totally new part is not something one wants at this stage. Just matched (same bin) SMD LEDs, good resistor and good soldering should solve it, but the new board with two resistors is (if well executed) better.
So DEL is specifying the parts but a day to contemplate is good to have.

13467

Sadly i suffered from a bout of premature charging last night, i should know better than to not get my hopes up too high with Danish postal involved. :person_facepalming:

I expected another parcel, and on that i paid customs yesterday, and this mean i always get the parcel the day after.

BUT ! as it turned out that only happen when i pay my customs late in the afternoon, if i pay it 5 - 6 hour before like i did yesterday then it get shipped out same day but do not arrive the day after :weary:
Where as if i pay late in the afternoon the parcel get moving around midnight, pass 1 hub around 3 - 4 AM and then arrive in my town in the morning around 7 AM and i can pick up my parcel at the post office most often around 9 in the morning.

So that’s the last time i pay my customs early cuz i have paid late the past 25 parcels and those i could all pick up the next day.

No telling where the hell this country is going, but its not in the right direction that’s for damn sure.

13468

That's weird - maybe they used a little dab of glue because of that stubby screw. Might want to try prying with a hook tool, or something similar but careful not to damage threads. What I'd do is thread the 2 screws back in partially, so only in the PCB, then grab onto one with a small pliers and try pulling it up.

13469

The driver can be pulled out some with just the two driver screws removed? The driver wasn’t stuck at all, moved freely with the screws removed, I just thought I needed to get the button switch screw/cover off.

Edit: was able to pull out the driver, was fairly clean, put it all back together and not touching it anymore. No want to break it :smiley:

13470

Got mine today :smiley:

First of all, a big thank you for the Q8 team that made this all possible, it’s a very nice flashlight, i really like the ramping mode on it, and it has a nice and decent feel to it. And although i only got 2 battery’s at the moment (new one’s are still to arrive), is produces a lot of light :open_mouth:

I have been a (very) silent member, i read the most part of the Q8 tread here non the less. I received all the three Q8’s i did order, relating to the problems people have i can report:

- 2 of the flashlights don’t have equal lighting in the switch, the last one is fine

- also the three lights here have a “dirty” copper ring, but we can clean this, no problem :slight_smile:

- One light has a very small dent, bearably visible (sorry for the photo quality, don’t have a decent camera available here at the moment)

- One has a small “dent” inside

Here you can also see a little bit of dust other people are talking about, i wiped the top clean with my finger, but there is a lot of dust left. I think i am going to disassemble them to get them clean.

- Although all three got dents in the rear inside part, when the springs are

I don’t really see them as a problem, dents are on the inside, and are not likely to cause any problems. Just to point at some point’s where possible improvement is possible for the future. Although i am very interested to know what is causing the problem with the switch lights. If there is a solution to this problem i would be happy to order a spare part or pcb to replace them, even if it would cost a few dollars. It would also be nice if they would dim a little bit more, they are quite shiny. Maybe i will look into it some more, i replace them myself (soldering a led of resistor is not a real problem for me), only i don’t have the knowledge to see out the parts i need.

This weekend friend of mine will pick up his Q8 i did order for him, i think he is also going to be very happy :laughing:

Thanks again Q8 team! I’m going to try to be more active here (although i live a very busy life), and i will certainly report any problems may they come up :wink:

13471

When they get all the wrinkles ironed out, and start selling the lights under their own name,

I suggest they use as a logo: “BLF QC”

It would be a recommendation.

13472

Got the first of my 3 Q8’s in (2 were shipped, 1 is in backorder). It is in fine condition. Some numbers and impression later.

A picture to nag the OCD-sufferers (no, not the leds, they are equally bright)

13473

Today i received my Q8 (free shipping option) and this is how the package came out of the typical grey plastic Banggood bag

So i could not wait to try it, so put some new and fullly charged 30Q’s in it and i noticed the unbalanced switch indicator LED’s.

Then played a little while with it, and man, i love it! I love the ramping, love the size, love the tint, it’s a winner!

Luckily the indicator LEDs do not show any signs of intermittent flickering or such.

One thing that annoyed me is that i did not notice a small burr on the end that touches the head on the PCB, which resulted in a scratch on the PCB (poor picture)
.

Even my wife, (who thinks i already own too much lights) said it is a nice light, well thats a compliment for her :smiley:

13474

Ding. They didn’t check for that.

13475

The UF”s are available with a choice of bezel colours, silver & black also iirc so I just ordered one with the colour I wanted.

13476

Nice!
Great news finally a real production Q8 in the hands of another team member! Awesome for we all know Djozz has no problem saying how it is.
Sorry, very good to go into the weekend with others being positive and nice too of course, but joy not all the weight of answering about production Q8 lights is on Toms shoulders!
Cheers all
poured myself a drink 50% red fruit syrop and 50% decent Cognac to celebrate, cheers
Good weekend all!

13477

13478

I purchased three Q8’s and 2/3 had this black stuff on the ring. There wasn’t much but it was noticeable, almost made it look like there was impurities in the copper – Isopropyl alcohol barely did anything to remove it.

I ended up using Acetone and cotton swabs and I had to scrub quite vigorously to get it off, it was amazing seeing how dirty the acetone swab was when I had cleaned it with isopropyl seconds before and the isopropyl swab came off clean.

I managed to get almost 100% of it off, but I feel like after putting my lights back together and using them that a small amount came back, I’m starting to believe it’s part of the button tops rubbing on the copper and leaving metal there.

Maybe they were dirty from Thorfire testing the lights with 18650s before shipping? Maybe Thorfire is using 18650s with crappy quality button tops or solder blobs?

Now copper should be softer than whatever the button tops are made of, but maybe the button tops are nickel plated or something? Plus solder is definitely soft enough to be affected by copper.

EDIT: The ring is brass not copper, duh me. I honestly thought it might have been brass considering the color, but I figured it was copper due to its better conductivity. Brass is only 28% as conductive as copper, but copper oxidizes… man if only we could have silver plated copper lol.

13479

You deserve a full glass of Cognac, with a dash of syrup for color!

13480

With both of my today arrived lights I only got around 4000 Lumens with Samsung 30Q Solder-Top and Protected Imalent from the DT70. Is there something wrong with them?
Or is my lightbox badly adjusted? But I got similar readings on the BLF A6 compared to what was written here and similar readings here and on TLF with the Astrolux MF-01 Nichia.

13481

The ring is brass not copper, but doesn't explain anything, don't think. Hhmm, I'll have to check the ones I got - maybe didn't notice/look for it. I'd probably use some 600 GRIT paper on them if the isop. alcohol didn't work. Maybe just not cleaned up from the manu process.

13482

Isn’t that contact ring brass, not copper?

The dark smear could come from the contact ring, or it could be carried on whatever cutting tool they used (maybe it’s scorched lubricant?)

There are a lot of different brass alloys. If it’s a “free cutting brass” alloy, containing lead, the lead will smear out across the surface under contact — it’s a feature lubricating the cutters.
If that’s the source of the dark mark, a combination of vinegar and hydrogen peroxide will clean the surface:
http://brewingrabble.com/resources/surface-lead.htm

13483

Interesting data point: on my previously bad/flickering switch board i replaced the resistor and both LEDs (same reel, should be same properties) and one of them was still dimmer than the other. I’m thinking now that it is due to the traces in the board itself rather than the LEDs being mismatched.

Are there any oshpark board designs or there I can try as a replacement for this illuminated switch?