I imagine you folks know this but I traded emails with Sofirn and they couldn’t have been more responsive and helpful. I provided a video and we tried some basic trouble shooting. In the end, they are sending out a replacement. Thanks again for all of the help here.
Sounds good.
Good going, Sofirn.^
So I finally managed to check the connections and everything seems to be nicely attached. I didn’t see any scorch marks or anything obviously amuck.
I decided to pick up another light to test and it won’t light either. I’m guessing that there’s a problem with the batteries or that I have two dud lights, which seems pretty unlikely.
I checked all four batteries on a meter and they all read around 357 or slightly higher.
Any better way to test the batteries without another light?
Any other ideas?
I’m thinking of picking up a new set of batteries but am trying not to spend a fortune just trying to get it working.
Hopefully I can get up to speed and learn a few things along the way.
Thanks everyone!
Do you mean 3.57 volts? That should be sufficient to light up, but not on the highest outputs.
Have you access to any other known to be working light that you can try a cell in?
Sadly, it’s the first (and only) 18650 light that I own.
I’m not even a novice with electrical. Computers, printers and gadgets, heck yeah but once it gets to the nuts and volts, I’m pretty clueless.
I was measuring DC and I think I had it set to 2000m.
What kind of battery charger do you have?
Are you inserting them with the correct polarity? Button tops against the big brass ring?
If you have a digital multimeter set it to DC voltage. If you have to choose a voltage range, use 10v to 20v. Verify it’s working by measuring some AA or 9v battery. Something you know is not dead. Fully charged they should be 4.20 volts or close. The lowest they should ever get is 2.5v. The Q8 flashlight gives a warning at 3.0v and will turn off power at 2.8v.
Any videos or pictures might help us. Your issue seems very strange so it might be something simple that’s being overlooked.
I think we are on different wavelengths here…. not sure you have the multimeter set for DC volts…. I have no idea what the “2000m” you mention is. Can you post a picture of the meter set the way you are using it?
2000mV FS, and if so, that means 0.357V, which is kinda scary.
No wonder it doesn’t turn on.
Move your meter to the ‘20’ setting for DC voltage and try again.
Here’s a quick guide to using a non ‘auto-ranging’ meter like yours.
I guess I’ve been badly spoiled by my autoranging meters. 
Good morning!
I’m attaching some photos to help clarify.
Here’s a shot of the batteries positioning in the tube.
Here’s a shot of the driver/contacts.
And a shot of a battery on the (cheap) meter.
Also. I dont have a picture of it but I’m using a nitecore four slot charger.
pics are too small, I can not read the setting on the multimeter, but i guess that you are at 0.355 V
The funny thing is that I have a nice autoranging meter and just can’t find where I put it.
I (with the help of a good tutorial) was testing a couple electrical outlets back before Christmas.
I guess it’s good that I have a cheap backup.
I’ll change the settings and report back in a bit.
At 20 DC, I’m getting 0.35.
Sorry about that. They were supposed to link.
I’ll fix them in a bit.
0.35V basically means that your batteries are dead, too much discharged to be considered safe, even if they do charge up again.
I wonder how that could have happened inside a Q8? When the light is switched on it has a low voltage protection and will shut off with the batteries still at 2.8V. When off, the green indicator light will drain your batteries lower because of the small drain/MCU not powered, the LVP will not work (at least that is what I have understood), but that green led uses so little power that it should drain the batteries in years, not weeks.
Yes, don’t try to charge them. Keep them at a safe place and dispose them properly.
battery at 0,35V ? wow… that is kinda insane low… all individual give those kind of readings ? thats not even half a volt if thats true…. i havent seen anyone post such a low voltage….
I wonder if those batteries are even legit and not some garbage cells…
Really toss these batteries its just dangerous to try them in a light and turn them on, dont charge them either!
Unless you used the batteries in some device that ran them way way down, you recieved bad cells. You should contact the company you bought them from and explain that they never worked and you just now bought a multimeter and measured their voltage at 0.35v so they are ruined. See if they will send you replacement cells.
The first thing you should check when buying new batteries is the voltage. They usually get shipped around 3.4-3.8v. Never fully charged due to airline safety rules. If they arrive to you below 2.5v then they are ruined. Once a lithium ion cell goes below 2.5 volts it forms crystals inside which screws up the chemistry. If you put it on a charger it can get dangerously hot and possibly vent or catch fire. So mark those batteries as ruined and don’t use them. It’s not worth the risk.
If you dont have a warranty, usually Banggood has good prices on button top 30Q. I got 4 for $20 shipped a year ago, but at the moment they seem to be $29 shipped.
Illumn.com has them locally for $22 plus shipping.
IMR Batteries has them for locally for $24 plus shipping.
Hopefully you can get them replaced at no cost.