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

What is it doing, or not doing?

I’ve done more tests with my protected NCR18650Bs (from LiitoKala official store/AliExpress) — I only did in 2 samples though, so I’m not sure if there might be a difference.
It appears to turn on (at least for several seconds — not shutting down — I didn’t test for longer periods of time) at up to 5.70A. Then when reaching 6.1A it shuts off. So it appears the protection circuit trips somewhere between 5.70A-6.10A — is this an OK value?)

Made a video here using the Astrolux S41S (quad-Nichia) as test subject, and my 18650s on hand (I freshly charged all the 18650s prior to the test to get highest current draw on Turbo mode; although my test setup isn’t that good…):

It appears the S41S 4xNichia can draw over 11 or 12A with a freshly charged INR18650-30Q (at least the first few seconds, fresh from charger)…

Around how much current does the BLF Q8’s 4x XP-L HD drain at Turbo mode? (Does 4xNichia219 [not sure if Astrolux S41S s 219B or 219C] drain more than 4xXP-L?)

D_t_a, those batteries should be fine for the Q8 if you use all 4. The Q8 pulls about 15 to 16 amps total. So each cell only needs to provide 4 amps.

Button light sometimes flicker and fade. Though for now it works good for 24 hours… Possibly only on voltage ~4,2? Will check it.
Rarely there is a delay between button press and mode switching.

Both are on the movies in post in quote.

I have 4 protected Panasonic 18650Bs I bought from Banggood last year that I ran for hours in my 2 Q8’s without issues. But of course there’s no way to tell which protection circuit is in them.

Yeah, buying protected cells from Banggood may or may not have the correct specs on them. They are a big company and carry many versions of batteries. You’d just have to physically test them out like D_T_A did.

About the only way to get guaranteed specs on protected cells is to buy from certain stores like Mtn Elec, IMR batteries, Liion Wholesale, Illumn and a few more. They are very choosy about the cells they buy and sale.

On the video of the delayed button pressing, is that light set to ramping or mode sets?

The switch lights look like the common issue a lot of early versions had.

Do you have any soldering ability?

I’m really not sure what to recommend. Usually we would ask The Miller, but he is not around right now. I think Texas Ace is a Q8 team member. Have you tried emailing him and posting the link to your videos? I’d try that first and take it from there.

@FreeMagenta:
It sounds like a switchboard thing, and if you can unsolder and solder wires there are two solutions:
*wait for The Miller, he may have some arrangement with Thorfire for a replacement board (I don’t know what the status is of that)
*unsolder the board and send it (as a letter in a simple enevelope with a stamp) to me (=within EU) for repair,I could even get you a different colour leds if you like.

If you can not solder I’m afraid you will have to wait for what The Miller can or can not do for you.

Well, due to my hand injury I will have some problems with soldering.
Surprisingly now the symptoms vanished, button leds are shining for few hours on a fully charged batteries. Will keep it for a few days then I’ll see.
Switch delay - it was probably badly callibrated thermal protection (kicked in on the light start; I didn’t see button leds blinking because…. well, the leds weren’t working :wink: ) Now, with these leds ‘self-fixed’ I can see it (it is visible on the video as well if you know what to pay attention for) :slight_smile:
So I suppose I will wait a little - then maybe ask someone to switch the driverboard (one of Lexel’s maybe?… more 7135 modes would be nice; seriously it could be 4+FET instead of 1+FET - efficiency still great on 350mA/led, and much brighter usable light).

Sorry for being a little annoying :slight_smile: but I wasn’t sure.

My BLF Q8 is working excellent, here are few pictures:







You can find more pictures here:

Lovely sharp pics there Gregor. I don’t know anything about photography, but to me those are magazine quality if not better. Maybe even calendar quality. Not the sexiest subject matter, but at least here they are appreciated.

Thank you for your kind words.

Only nikon dslr with good tamron macro lens.
Hand held.

:slight_smile:

Hand Held! Seriously?
I think I will be calling you if I ever need brain surgery.

You can do this :smiley:

+1…. Very nice indeed!! Thank you. :beer: . :+1:

++1 too! Wow!!

Finally got my BLF Q8!

Opening up to place batteries, I notice the head’s ring (sorry for terminology… the part where the battery’s + side touches) seems oily/dirty. Is this normal upon shipping? I suppose I just wipe/clean them (alcohol needed?)

I used protected NCR18650Bs since those are my only button-top 18650s for now.

I notice it’s quite heavy when loaded (I’ve thus far only handled single-18650 flashlights), but well-balanced when holding it.

Still trying to learn how to use it (as this is also my first ‘ramping’ flashlight). Testing some modes, but not all yet — it seems difficult to get to the part to cycle thru the various strobe modes. (for instance, double-click, then double-click to get to the 1st strobe mode, is there a shortcut to cycle to the next strobe mode?)

Also did a firmware check, looks like it still is NarsilM v1.0 (too bad it was not yet part of the new batch with v1.2 firmware as mentioned just a few pages back).

I remember reading a ‘checklist’ to test if there’s any issues for the BLF Q8, can’t seem to find where it is now. I’d like to check if my BLF Q8 has any issues…

d_t_a …… hope this helps.

  • 1. As far as the ‘dirty ring’, many shipped like that. Just wipe it down or clean it with alchol… what ever suits you.
  • 2. Not sure about short cut to strobe cause I do not use them.

@d t a

If you are in strobes you can use single-clicks to cycle forward through the different types of strobes, but you have to be quick: If resting on a strobe longer than 1.2 s it locks in and the next single-click is OFF.

Trick for Firmware v1.0 in RAMPING
1.
You can do it in a complete sequence: 2X, 2x, 4X brings you to 10sec beacon

Now you can go back via click&hold. You can go back 4 times, then comes OFF. If you go backwards you have time to do this.

It is always easier if you navigate backwards in strobes, but you should go first to the last strobe mode.

For firmware v1.2
it’s easier
1.
2x, 2x

You can go endlessly backwards. There is no OFF in the back cycle.

An updated cheatsheet with more notes for beginners is under http://bit.ly/narsil-cs
Make sure you download v10 Q8

The dark stuff comes from the function test. The batteries they use to test get over time dirty and that rubs onto the ring. Clean it with alcohol and you are fine.

If you want to see the timing involved to get to and move through the blinkies modes, I’ve got a video here.

The trick is to NOT stop on the first of the 5 modes. Stop on the 2nd or higher mode. Then you can “press and hold” to unlock and cycle backwards and forwards.

Make note of the 5 modes:
Normal strobe
Alternating strobe
Bike strobe
2 second beacon
10 second beacon