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

Yes all four emitters light up, and it goes on turbo mode when screw the parts together.I tested with 3 different batteries none worked.

All parts look fine, did not do more if there is a guarantee I bought it from banggood.

Br,
Tomi

Tomi

That certainly does not look like it should!
All 4 led’s should blink twice and it should start in moonlight mode.
Did you accidently set it in another mode?

I don’t think but is there a way to check that too? The light itself is great.

That may be the first Q8 that does not function out of the box? (apart from past indicator led issues)

The easiest check is unscrewing the driver board and see if the big black led-wire was caught between ledboard and body while the board was assembled.

But if you are not the investigating type just go the BG customer service route and hope for a good solution.

Mode sets is pretty difficult to use on the Q8. I’ve tried it a few times, but just can’t get used to it. I really don’t like the timing constraints to change modes, and it’s unlike any other light I have. Luckily, the light is great with ramping, and it works very well. They definitely made the right choice to make ramping the default UI.

I don’t know why they didn’t make mode groups function in a more standard way.

To beat a dead horse:

Could I suggest once again - a simple version of Narsil for people who just want a simple flashlight? A great flashlight; but a flashlight! Some features (you might run a survey for functions of a simple Narsil), but not the “I will use this function when the sun goes nova, if I can remember the button press sequence to get it” features. Ramping is incredibly good. The pilot light; pretty good (although it is actually a bit too bright for the table in the bedroom). After that, it gets less clear. Over simplification is not (maybe) needed, but it needs to be intuitive for a user that just does not want to ( or understand) screwing around with irrelevant (to them) functions and count seconds for button pressing to operate the light. Really!

Removing some Narsil nuances and replacing them with a small default (settable) Joe six-pack interface, would, in my opinion, be a major improvement.

I would buy a firmware writer to get a light operable by the ignorant unwashed masses (ah, like me).

I bought these as an emergency light. In multiple uses. If the people huddling in the wreckage can’t use it; what is the point. In an emergency, multiple training sessions on operating a flashlight in an emergency seems unlikely.

No one (Me, my wife, a friend) have been able to simply use the flashlight. Or the neighbors run over wanting a light because they see me as a flashlight freak and did not plan ahead. Really, really not able to be reliably used by civilians.

Flashlight persons who hang on complicated or obscure functions can be happy with raw Narsil. That is fine.

But second (or sub-second) button press timing, remembering what a sequence does out of a large set, to use a flashlight - nah. No way. Won’t happen.

For me it has been the exact opposite of what you describe. I have yet to hand a Q8 to anyone who has failed to grasp the simple ramping function of Narsil almost immediately. I have a lot of lights with very different UI’s. without exception this is the one that non flashlight people think is easy to understand.

Yes - that can happen. But a small mischance with the thumb gets them into never never land. Trying desperately to get back to the nice simple ramping function.

I have experienced that on my deck while trying to show my wife some meteors. Her reaction to a suddenly very bright flashing light that I could not stop was not pleasant. There are tooth marks on my butt. I could not get it to stop. That must never ever happen.

Why must responses to this sort of post always be aggressive and end in a “well it worked for me and every randomly selected passerby” I gave it too. Fine. You are an excellent flashlight user. Your friends and neighbors are princes or princesses of intuitiveness. So the people you know can intuitively operate this flashlight. So what!

More people can not be this perceptive. Including me.

It is sort of like inventing shoelaces that require a several page instruction manual.

My post was in no way meant to be aggressive but your response obviously is intended to be. If you truly have this much trouble with this UI there are lots of lights which have one function on or off.

Never had to desire to change the stock UI. That said, my second release Q8 has been performing flawlessly for several months now. More than happy with mine.

I’m curious if most Q8 users stay with the default timed stepdown (3 minutes) or change to the thermal 55-degree Celsius option. I’ve left mine as it came so far. In 3 minutes, the light gets quite warm but not uncomfortably so. But then again, its pretty chilly in my area this time of year. Would 3 minutes on turbo in the heat of summer be pushing it?

shirnask - I have gone through the whole exercise for developing this light, and bought three of them. I do not want to start over and do something different. Yours is quite an annoying suggestion. I want this light and have supported it from pretty much the beginning.

OK, I will stop. I, my wife, and my friend are simply incompetent (or limited by senior mental capacity). And I accept that. I read it and did not understand/remember when standing on a full dark deck trying to change the settings while trying to watch a meteor shower. Another reading of the manual would probably improve our understanding. 2.5 of 3 people here have no interest in reading the manual with a handy magnifier (don’t go there, it can be expanded and printed, but a couple of letter size sheets wrapped around the light are not convenient; unless the text is phosphorescent ), they simply want it to work. In the dark. After the ceiling has collapsed. Months after reading the documentation. Kind of the operational purpose of an emergency flashlight rather than using it as a driving light to get to the market at night.

I appreciate that many, if not all, others have no equivalent problems. I don’t necessarily believe that, but what is, is. Everyone has there own reason for having the light. And they are completely happy. Fine.

I and my users have no interest in how everyone else perceives the interface. It is, for us, an emergency light. We have earthquakes, forest fires, and long power outages.

That means lights sitting for a long time without use. Not chasing wildlife. Periodic battery topping. Unlikely re-reading of the manual. We may read the manual, and then years pass. Then, in an emergency, finding the manual and reading it with another light source so we can use the emergency light. I also understand this is an exaggeration; everyone can most likely turn the light on. And eventually stop the flashing stuff and anything else not of interest. It is just too easy to get into a totally useless and unwanted mode. With no obvious way out.

I have simply taken the wrong view of the lights purpose and usability months after putting it in the drawer for emergencies. And I can understand that. I really really like it. But.

Got it.

I go quietly into the woodland; with my Q8.

I am in my mid 60’s and I have 3 of these for emergency lights. My wife is not far behind me in age and she is on oxygen 24/7 so when the power goes out you can imagine there is a since of panic when your not getting enough air suddenly. She has successfully used one of these to light a room enough to attach a regulator to an oxygen bottle.

You see the green lighted button - press and hold the button -the light comes on in moonlight and increases in brightness until you let go at the light level you need. Press the button once more and the light turns off. If you press and hold the button from off it will always come on in moonlight and you will not blind yourself. If you somehow trigger some unexpected mode, don’t panic, you can always turn off the light by turning the battery tube 1/4 turn counter clockwise then figure out what you did wrong.

I don’t find the above process complicated. If you try it I don’t think you will either.

The mode set UI was originally the only UI in Narsil. It was based on STAR and Werner’s UI, modified to allow for single-click off, with bistro-like config options added. Ramping was added later by popular request.

There are already several other interfaces available, in case one appeals to you. If not, perhaps you could describe in detail exactly how you want it to work?

Seems a version with blocked

- momentary Mode

- no Strobes

  • no entry in config menues
    can do the job

@ alternity:
I completely understand your point!

I love to write my own firmwares and I specially love to squeeze as many features as possible in a single firmware (for instance different strobes, ramping and discrete modes, momentary or not momentary, colors, diagnostic output and much more). But even I - as the creator of the firmware - have to carry an instruction sheet with me since I can’t remember everything after some days of not accessing the configuration mode.

And from time to time I build lights for some narrow friends and - even if they admire the multiple capabilities - they mostly prefer a much simpler interface. So I’m probably going to add a lock mode to my full featured firmware: after configuring the UI to what the user wants a lock can be applied (and released ) by using a 3 (or more) digit password (typed in with multiple switch clicks). I’m using a password already to lock some security related configuration aspects (for instance temperature limits) so I know it’s doable.

Just out of curiosity - what’s the simple interface you have in your mind?

You definitely have a short in the black emitter wire or that same circuit on the driver.

It’s not the battery or the programming in the light. The side switch is functionin normally and doesn’t know there is a problem. So there is a short before the driver circuit.

Try taking it apart and looking it over.

You clearly have not met my wife. :wink:
She can take any flashlight, and immediately put it into some program state where it becomes unusable. The Q8 is no exception. I’ve even accidentally put it into some obscure mode a couple of times myself.

I can look up the Narsil cheat-sheet and do a factory reset easy enough. My wife would probably just throw the flashlight away.

The Q8 is a very flexible light, and I like it for that. But, I wouldn’t give one to someone that just wants a basic flashlight.

The Q8 was not designed with a ‘muggle mode’ set, like the BLF X5 and X6. In those lights it works simple and well and it is pretty hard to exit it. Fhe FW3A will probably again have a muggle mode set.