DQG 18650 EDC--World's Smallest 18650 Flashlight

I might wait until a second batch of these has been made and original problems are rectified, as I’m pretty hopeless at troubleshooting and fixing stuff.

Finally received mine today. :smiley:
Was able to track it for the last week or so, once it got through customs apparently.

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Like the light on the whole.
Couple relatively minor complaints echo others…

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Ano color on my titanium doesn’t match between the head and body. Couple shades off. I am really picky about this kind of thing, so kind of disappointing for me. :frowning: Some people might not be too bothered by it. For the price it’s acceptable I guess.

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Had to do the o-ring swap, but no big deal. I appreciate the heads up from Ric on it. No flickering with mine, thankfully. Totally understand, this being the first run and pre-order and all that.

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Mine works well with my flat top/nub top (not button top, but not totally flat) NCR18650A’s from fasttech. Modes change fine, but the threads feel a little gritty. Arrived bone dry. I am using some nyogel.

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Mode spacing seems well done for typical EDC applications:

Low could be lower… but I am one of those guys that always says that… :slight_smile: Its still a good, perfectly useable low for close-up work in low light. By no means anything approaching firefly or moonmode. Probably not the best bedside light.

Medium is very useable. Probably the 75%-of-the-time mode. Bright enough to use in partial sun. Bright enough to shower to. :stuck_out_tongue: Bright enough for most tasks at night (if not right in your lap). Gets warm with time, but manageable.

High is good n bright. Maybe not as bright as 2.8A 18650 lights, but I totally understand the max high setting how it is. This light is damn tiny!! It doesn’t have material to move the heat. High is for short bursts. Cools pretty quick once turned off, FWIW.

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Tint is good for a 3C. Pretty much neutral white. Mine is not green. Mine is ever the slightest bit cooler compared to my 3C XinTD, and other XML 4Cs. My XinTD is a tiny bit more yellow than the DQG… My 4Cs are even more yellow and warm than that. On the other hand, the nichia 219s are very similar warmth to the DQG, but slightly rosier and maybe slightly tan in comparison. Relatively speaking. These are all subtle differences amoung different neutrals. The 219s and 4Cs definitely have better CRI than the DQG, but that is no surprise.

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Don’t mean to sound overly critical. All in all I am satisfied with the light and the purchase. I understand the circumstances and the risk involved with pre-order and first batches. For the price paid - quality is on par, acceptable FnF, performance is good, tint is acceptable… so OK by me.
:smiley:
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I will probably keep an eye out for later versions and refinements. With a little more tweaking this could really be a winner: Better ano. Better threads. XML2 4C & 7C, XPG2 4C & 7C options. Optic options… etc.

No sign of mine either. Ric had said it was normal when I asked and that it would arrive, but no sign of it.

Some quick measurements (T6 3C):
Low - 12 lm
Med - 140 at start, 131 at 30 seconds
High - 395 at start, 296 at 30 seconds
Throw - 4.1kcd after 30 seconds
I would like to see how the emitter star is thermally connected to the head. I suspect the sag is not just because of the low thermal mass.
A reverse-mounted star would be transferring heat through the dielectric layer twice (emitter to star, top of star to head).
I’m not ready to take mine all apart yet. Not sure how long I can hold out though… :wink:
Edit: Oh, no star, emitter is on a PCB! Just took another peek at the part of the ‘star’ you can see and it is the driver PCB.
I guess that’s the sacrifice made for “the world’s smallest 18650 light”. Fair enough.

Got mine today. I have waited ages for this. Since the first Dqg aaa came out there was talk of a DQG 18650. Opened it up. No O rings on the body. Stuck a protected Tf flame in as its the first battery I put my hands on. Worked fine although the threads were drier than a …. never mind. Lubed it up put both black o’rings on. Won’t work. Started to work but intermittently. A bit disappointed but will keep playing with it. Might just leave the o’rings off it. Its the first light I have purchase for months. Overall I will be happy with it once I iron out a few kinks.
Update: Tried an unprotected and it works much better

My protected green 3100 pano’s work fine as well.

I’m not very happy with my DQG 18650. The problem is the bottom of the battery tube seems too narrow. Most of my 18650s go in fine until the last few mm where they get completely stuck…. so much so that I had to solder a handle onto one cell and then use pliers to pull out the cell.

The only cell I have that works in the DQG is my 1600 mah AW IMR 18650. But this isn’t a good solution. First, the advantage of the DQG was it’s long battery life. But being forced to use a cell with half the capacity of others destroys that. Secondly, the rather narrow IMR cell rattles around in the light, which makes the light feel very flimsy in the pocket.

I like the neutral tint of the 3C and the beam pattern. Other than that the beam doesn’t really wow. As expected it’s far dimmer than the much smaller, but much brighter pocket rockets I normally EDC.

I checked SingPost again today…

Item No. Posting Date Status Date Status Description
RF136159193SG - 12-05-2013 INFORMATION RECEIVED
(This is not an acknowledgment of the physical receipt of the stated Registered Article)

Hopefully this is the start of the journey… does not show up on CanadaPost. As far as direct response from Ric since last Friday… noop…

fingers crossed!

Do yourself a favor and get some NCR18650A 3100’s from fasttech HERE They fit excellent both width and length. I am sure there are others that fit.

Exactly what brands/models have you tried? It might be helpful for others to list them here.

I think most unprotected cells are going to fit. I have tried a few and all worked.
I have tried two types of protected and none work.
TF Flames would not go in, mostly due to a bump (18.77mm diameter) where the protection strip runs up the side. Length (69.24mm) may have prevented light-up anyway.
Panasonic NCR18650 (2900mAh grey) protected from FT will go in, but will not light up (69.58mm long).

Mods: I have copper braid on the spring, cleaned and lubed the threads, fixed the head O-ring, added a body O-ring.

Other than the slightly green ano tint on the head, I am now satisfied with the light. I have a hard time justifying a $30 price tag though, let-alone the $35 regular price.
I see this light as a solid $20-$25 light if delivered fully and properly assembled.

I figured out a way to get a decent shot of the head colour. Anyone else notice this on their black DQG?

Wow that sure is not black. The difference with my titanium one is not nearly that dramatic. Actually looks kind of cool… But I understand your disappointment.

I agree with your overall critique relic. Forgot to mention mine did not have either body o-ring installed. I put on both, along with fixing the head arrangement. I can forgive these quibbles on a pre-order first run unit, but I think you have a point on pricing. $35 might be a tad high.

If the whole light was that colour, I think I would be OK with it. It’s a little less obvious in hand, The shot seems to bring it out a bit more.
In any case, I’m going to ask Ric for a replacement head that is black.

Or a green tail? :stuck_out_tongue:

Got mine today, Ti color NW tint. Head ano is just a tiny tad lighter, tint is about on par with the neutral on my EagTacs. Did all the same o ring and lubing business as everyone.
For my first budget light, I’m impressed, would buy it again. Was a little worried that my protected 3100mah wouldn’t fit but they do :slight_smile:

Glad to hear it. Enjoy :slight_smile:

Ok, found a bad thing. That tail spring is bad, really bad, but luckily it was easy enough to remove and stretch out some, my longer cells smooshed it down so then the unprotected ones turned it into a DQG strobe…
Time to find a locally stocked feasible replacement, not waiting for another month of Sundays to get a spring…

Hi,

Are you looking for a spring CONUS?

Would this work for you?

http://www.lighthound.com/HDS-EDC-LED-Flashlight-Spring-ONLY-for-2-x-123-Battery-Case-or-1-x-17670-Battery-Case_p_615.html

Jim

.15 for the spring and $3 for shipping :stuck_out_tongue:

Got mine today. Like it. Only "problem" is you need to turn head pretty much open to eliminate "push flash". And head is more glossy and lighter color.