The position of the vertical machining “stripe” on the battery tube relative to the button will most likely be different. If you have a luxmeter, a ceiling bounce test will distinguish the two as well…
If I recall correctly, heat was a problem as well. If the the light gets hot, the springs get hot as well and you lose some prestress…
True, but I also want a white one… well, because I want a white one, lol. I think it looks nice. If another run of white is made I’ll get one then. I’m extremely pleased with my grey 80+ and it will see a lot of use.
It’s a very impressive colour; it’s more like silvery white. It’s very elegant and not quite the same as what you see in pictures.
Mine did as well. :sunglasses:
+1
Guys if it has a boost driver, isn’t it better to just use GAs rather than 30Qs?
For runtime, yes, but not for extended turbo output. The boost converter is limited on how much input current it can source without blowing up. As the input voltage drops (sags under load) that current increases, then once the current limit is hit the output necessarily has to decrease. The high drain batteries have a lower internal resistance and therefore sag less under load.
Thanks for the info RMM. 30Q it is.
On another note, it’s a little frustrating how some lights only use flat tops, some lights only use button tops. It would be great if there was a small addon that could be attached to make flat tops into button tops. And no, not magnets, that’s not safe/secure enough.
so, i imagine doing a spring bypass on this will void the warranty, even tho i hear a few people talk about the springs getting warm and flattening out 
The springs flatten because they are copper beryllium . They can handle the current just fine and are an excellent choice for low resistance. The springs are listed here.
It’s got a nice description of the physical aspects of this spring. This also explains the requirement of the button top GA instead of the standard GA with raised top… Although I’m interested how the long term behaviour will be as well… Perhaps it just stabilises…
DUMB question, but in programming the switch button to flash, do I have to worry about battery drain at all? Or would it last for a decade?
What are these raised top batteries please?
Sanyo NCR18650GA. They are flat-tops, but the flat part is raised, so it works in some “button top only” lights.
I understand.I have seen these type of batteries for the first time,yesterday,when I received two 18650 30Qs to put in a Nitecore,which demands button top.Fortunately,they work in this light.
I wonder why there is this type of batteries,as there are flat top and button top ones.
I don’t think the 30Qs have a raised flat-top like the GA batteries. The GA batteries have a flat-top that is raised above the wrapper. If you look at post #157 in the photo the red battery is the GA, and the pink is a standard flat-top.
I don’t know why they are made this way, but I like the design.
The GA is considered a wide button top, though the majority are called nipple button tops.
The total no-function drain is 20uA, so called stand-by drain, which is very low by all standards, while on flashing the base changes to 25uA and then all kind of consumption get detected in a sort of cycle per each flash, current level per flash always going in a certain ascending way.
Hard to tell exactly how much the cells get drained on this type of cycle and flash (under 1 second flash at each 5 seconds), but surely mine stayed
like that for 1 full month and the cells (LG HE2) where still in the 4.1X voltage range. Haven’t not used it for more months.
You should not worry about it at all.