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

FedEx has decided that my 1st Q8 needed a sleepover in Sweetwater, TX. Perhaps this will guarantee me a smooth mellow beam. Who knows?

The Emisar lights use a UI called RampingIOS.

For the seriously anal retentive (I am not at liberty to disclose my source) you may want to take out the rear end board (oops, sort of back part) and use a little very fine emery paper on the drilled/threaded holes. There are little bitty pieces of metal sticking up from the threading process. A very short burnishing removes them. Theoretically that could maybe possibly improve current flow.

I have the same marks on the bezel as mentioned above. It rather looks like maybe a programmer started the retraction of the machining blade a bit too soon. It looks sort of like a wave function from something oscillating (stepping up). I don't really care.

My approach to simple tuning is probably going to be something like this. Clean any trash (there is very little) out of the grooves with my wife's toothbrush (that is confidential information). Remove the rear PCB, hone the tops of the threaded holes a bit, and apply Stabilant to all the conducting surfaces. I am thinking I might just add a bit of solder to the base of the springs before I apply the Stabilent. On top, the surfaces are in excellent condition and clean. Same approach as the rear. Catch the toothbrush when she is not using it and clean the threads. Knock off any irregularities on the top edge of the tube with the aforementioned very fine paper. Lubricant as yet not selected. Tungsten Disulfide in the Buckyball form is my lubricant of choice; but it is so messy. Clean and treat the contact surfaces on the tube and PCB with Stabilant. From what I can tell that should double the output.

The UI has the ramping, battery check, mode memory and lockout and is identified as “Emisar UI V2. Per Joechina this does not have the ability to program modes like NarsilM. I can only go by what Vinh says on the Sky Lumens website as I don’t physically have it yet. It looks like Vinh keeps the interface without changing. It still has the ramping that I love so much in my Q8’s. Thanks to those who have corrected my misconception.

Got 2/5 today. Looks great, perform pretty darn well, though I guess I am jaded have an ETsx25L3… I kinda thought the Q8 would be an order brighter.

But its a bad ass light for $40!!!
Can’t wait for the rest to arrive, mine are in there…

oh, good news

alternety, my 1st one should arrive soon, can you sneak that toothbrush into the mail? :wink:

One of my 2 Q8s came yesterday. The other probably passed my house and went on an east coast tour, smartpost…

Anyway, the thing is a tank! It’s smaller/thinner than I thought it would be, but more solid. The beam reminds me of my L6, but in a more compact package and with a cooler UI. Super satisfied, thank you all that were involved with making this happen!

Got my Q8 today. Light works OK. But the packaging took a beating outer plastic bag was torn and had small puncture holes in it.Inner box had one flap torn off and has crush lines on it like someone jumped on the box a few times with the light not inside. Also had to lube the threads because there was almost no factory lube.

somebody convince me why to buy this flashlight lol And can I have the code for this light…?

I believe the group buy $40 price deal is no longer available.

And yet, even at $100 I believe this light is worth every penny. I have a lot of lights, but the Q8 is my fav right now…

Still waiting for my Q8 to arrive…

Just have to share a success.

Received 2 lights from the second batch, and they are both immaculate. Fit and finish, function, and fun factor - all rated off the chart.

Amazing interface/usability with NarsilM. Sets the standard for all new lights. A brief 5 second demo to friends and co-workers, and they are pro’s with the basic functions of usage. They are also blown away with this light’s capabilities, as am I.

Thanks to all contributors in the design and execution of this light.

So far I’ve received 5 of the Q8’s I ordered, 4 out of those 5 work flawlessly and are everything I’d hoped they’d be. It’s that 5th one that has my attention, it appears as though this one will not fully turn off the main LED’s, instead they constantly remain on in a very dim state. I’ve uploaded a video displaying the issue I’m seeing. Hopefully the Q8 Team can work with me to get this issue figured out and resolved.

Would it be possible for someone with a more in-depth knowledge of the driver circuit (I know nothing about how it works), please tell me what to inspect and/or test, to determine why the LED’s are constantly getting that trickle of current which is keeping them dimly glowing all the time? I’m not too shabby with the electronics, so if necessary I can open it up take some more detailed videos/pictures of the driver circuit, solder/desolder wires, do some testing with my Fluke digital multi-meter, bench power supply and/or test load. Anyway, I will probably need some guidance to really determine what is the problem with the driver, so please watch this video and let me know what I should do next….

It’s the improved version with ultra low moon.

Seriously:
I first would look for a short at one of the SMD components. Some excessive solder, might be. Perhaps you can upload a close up picture of the driver.

If you deactivate the switch LED - do the main LEDs still glow?

Me too :weary:

Cheers David

Good to hear, appreciate it! At times I feel all beaten, battered up over the little things goin on. I've gotten similar feedback from 5 co-workers that have them, and still a few more Q8's on the way to others. For many, once they see it and use it, it becomes an "I got to have one" thing.

Yeah Tom, you did more then good.
As a matter of fact the behind the scenes support you gave, sending new parts to some, swapping a problem riddled by a fully tweaked blue switch LEDs one, amazing.
Some people just don’t get how much energy it takes and has taken you, so just ignore some who keep on asking a bit :wink:

ElginAgain that does not sound good, what is your level of soldering?

As for solutions, new parts for those with problems are accepted BT Thorfire. Expect action on this soon.

I had my two at a robotics team meeting last night. Several people played with them and were very impressed - even more so after I gave one piece of advice: “try click and hold”. I had a couple students hold the lights and light up a few sheets of plywood for me so I could cut them into smaller pieces with a circular saw. We actually had to turn them down from max because there was simply too much light. Plenty of light saber noises were made and beams pointed into the night sky.

The adults were very interested when I told them that there is an AtTiny inside - I can never remember which model it is, just checked the first post - it is an 85.