The Q8 seems to turn out beeing a really great light. Unfortunately not available with high CRI LED:s, so it’s not for me.
Are you back home or still at the hospital?
How do you know this before it’s even released?
Just wait till its out and see what’s offered. We may have to wait until the GB is over and its for sale to the public.
One small step for Dale, one big step for Dale-kind. Okay, maybe it’s a big step on both counts. Are you recovered enough to tell if it helped?
Maybe next time they can get the USB ports installed, so you can plug in and go “Whoa. I know kung-fu.”
I was under the impression that it was decided very early on NOT to offer a high CRI version. If that changes, I’m definitely in.
If I understand correctly, and if it works like previous projects, the BLF batch will have one specific configuration and then the OEM can do pretty much whatever it wants with future batches. What is decided in this thread is not necessarily the same as what will be offered to the general public later.
Nope high CRI is a mod
Edit, yeah of course we don’t know what will happen afterwards so who knows 
DALE! Good to read something from you.
It is still Dale right not daldroid 
Would those who got samples please start a modification thread, suggesting what’s going to be worth improving?
Maybe even show us what you can make of these things, to encourage the manufacturer to prepare to make them better and more profitable.
The “BLF Group Buy” is always going to be something like a “Version 0.9”
Hunting up the best mod parts could take some of the pressure off the waiting here.
Not a whole lot to be changed really, the shelf / reflector / mcpcb mounting setup could be better but that obviously won’t be changing.
Dual mcpcb would be a massive improvement but once again not going to happen.
Switching to 4S cells and LED’s would allow you to use a buck driver that would improve efficiency, run time and even total output.
With said higher voltage you could swap to xhp35’s or xhp50.2’s. with up to 15k lumens. The 50.2’s could produce ~10k lumens for the same amount of heat that the current XP-L’s make ~6k lumens.
I doubt that we will see any of these come to life from thorfire though, they don’t seem that interested in enthusiast level light building.
The only real practical mod for the Q8 for most people will be swapping to 219C or high CRI XP-L2’s and bypassing the springs.
Next easiest will be an xhp35 conversion. After that if the xhp50 mcpcb is made that will be the only other real mod option for these lights.
My experience is that with every next BLF light there is less that can still be improved. Thinking of the Q8 there’s not much that you can do as a modder, the usual stuff like removing resistances, improving the heath path and upgrading the leds is already done (I think that the XP-L V6 3D is still the best led for the Q8, if you look for the best compromise of beam, tint, output and throw, but leds are always debatable). Real improvements would be stuff that is not easily modded: better quality reflector, AR-coated lens, well-implemented USB charging, a well designed lantern conversion. (my perfect addition would be a side-emitting warm white flood night light).
This statement seems strange. By same heat you mean operating at the same wattage? Is the efficiency so different?
Correct, at the same ~80w the xhp50.2 should put out around 10k lumens vs 6k for the XP-L.
The XP-L’s are not efficient at all at that output, only around 75lm/w with back of the hand math. Vs the 50.2 should be around 125lm/w at the same wattage. Or you could reduce the output of the 50.2 to 6k lumens and it should never overheat.
Yeah, I’m waiting for someone to figure out how to paint COB phosphors into the grooves on flashlight tubes so they can light up …
You can always mod it
There are already a few threads for other MCPCB’s and changing leds should not be to difficult.
Otherwise, just buy a noctigon meteor with nichia for just 3x the price
When I do a comparison taking voltage and output and into account of a XP-L V6 at 5A with a XHP50.2 J4 at 2.5A (not exactly the same wattage, but I compensate for the voltage difference in the calculation), I see an efficiency improvement of 1.58 which is 9.5K and not 10. But this assumes no losses in the buck driver yet (the Q8 is at complete direct drive at 6000 lumen so there’s hardly any driver loss there).
I already have a Meteor with 90+CRI 219B, bought over 2 years ago.
and a MK34, also with 90+CRI 219B
I guess you can call me a collector… :innocent:
Well reflowing high cri LEDs seems to be the way to go for you
But regarding the inefficiency of the Q8 at all but the lowest currents, an improvement would still be a triple channel driver of course, with a regulated 12A current (=3A/led) as the middle channel.
Yeah, I didn’t look at the exact numbers to figure out what it would be exactly, just knew it would be around ~10k.
I have read this over quite a few times sparkyDK & I hear ya’.
In my younger year I stuttered, and I mean really bad. On a scale of 1 being low & 10 being really bad…. I was about a 25…. seriously.
Second grade I transferred to a new school & the torment was terrible. The teacher tried to intervene, but with very limited success. :person_facepalming: So most days at recess, after school, or both… there was at least one fight. I happened to be a bit bigger than the others so I usually won.
Well after about 6 weeks of that program I had earned the “respect” of those guys & was one of the group.
Several months later a new kid transferred in. Literally he was a little pip squeak. He began to laugh at & make fun of me with a vengeance. Well his second day when recess time came I figured it was fight time again. BUT, I could not find him on the playground. I did bot see any of the other guys either.
This was way back before the time of nice fences around groomed playgrounds… it was basically a huge field with some big Oak trees and swings…. with a bunch of woods at the back.
After several minutes I saw the group of guys coming up out of the woods. I asked them what was up and they said they had “talked to Gary” about some things. That was it.
Well, about 10 minutes later “Gary” staggered up out of the woods and looked like he had been in a fight with a chain saw. Dirty, cut, bleeding, crying, shirt ripped all up…… you name it. They had beat the ever living crap out of him… almost literally.
He walked up to me and apologized for what he had been doing & said he would never do it again. And he didn’t…… we remained friends till the day he died.
I guess I said all that to say this. To me…….
- respect is earned.
- True friendship is freely given & does not have to be earned.
If I have to earn someones friendship, to me it is really not friendship. There are numerous people willing to give unconditional friendship basically from the word go, and they do understand what it means too.
BUT……. is the object of the friendship they are offering, me or you; ready or willing to accept it
As far as people seemingly giving you “the eye” when you are running you RC Trucks…… who cares?
If they give you a hard time just give them the two word greeting…… … … and go on with your fun. :+1:
And yeah, the friend system on FaceBook & others social things is really/or could be somewhat misleading maybe.
But there are different levels of friendship also. They range from that of acquaintance all the way to that of a brother… someone you would die for.
Just a few thoughts…………