Another thing: do not be under any illusion that even the most premium torches are perfect, its just that their problems are not so well publicised as here.
For example I have a very expensive Nitecore torch that has unacceptable parasitic current drain, batteries are drained in less than 2 weeks standby, worse still no under-voltage cutout so I have ruined two brand new cells before I discovered it.
Now THAT is a problem.
And I discover that this is not a one-off, plenty of others have the identical thing, but first thought it was an isolated thing and they were just very unlucky.
Nitecore don’t accept that it is an issue, so I have no redress. As far as I know they are still selling them, without any improvement.
This is a serious issue for me, what’s worse is the torch is a cherished gift, so I couldn’t just send it back for a refund, the person who gifted it to me would be disappointed if they heard that it was no good. Meanwhile I just have to remember to take the batteries out, and have had to buy new protected cells for it, which I otherwise have no use for.
Edit: worse still, the “Ultra Low” mode on the Nitecore has also stopped working. One day, when I have the strength, I’ll take a look inside, but Nitecore don’t make this easy.
In all honesty, the indicator blinks seem confusing. 99% of users probably don’t care when they are on the 7135 or the fet. I know someone, maybe Tom E?, put a lot of effort into adding the 7135 and fet blinks, but I think it’s a bit much.
I think I’m just going to wire the switch lights to constant power like I did my other lights. Maybe that is how the stock lights should be?
So far my Q8 has worked flawlessly I have left the switch on for days now and there is no apparent problem in brightness or functionality, it works as designed as far as I can tell, maybe a little too bright but I am using the switch as a night light, there is enough light to not bump into things but is dim enough to let you sleep.
The only user problem I have is probably just me, how do you select a dimmer moonlight (BTW it reads “monnlight”)? I press the ramping for 8 seconds blinks and goes to settings, I understand that it scrolls through each of the settings with a delay of 3.5 seconds between each setting or I can click and hold to speed it up, here is where I get lost, how do I go to setting 2 which is the moonlight setting, and is set by default to “3” how do I select 2 or 1? Long press? Short press? how?
I can now recreate my switch issues at will and it definitely is down to how fast I click.
There seems to be an almost imperceptible timing difference between the two torches when registering a "single click" and a "click & hold", so if my click is a micro-second longer the controller thinks I'm adjusting the ramping and rather than switching off simply increases/decreases the output at a level that can hardly be noticed.
Now that I'm aware of the behaviour I can adjust accordingly and it's no longer an issue.
I can report that both SW led's have shown no further issues.
I have to say that every time I play with use this torch I'm evermore impressed, cheers guys! :)
Jumped straight in and drilled the driver board screw holes, took the spring PCB off and scraped/sanded off (using a small screwdriver and 1200 grit paper) the grey/white deposit from the battery holder. It’s weird stuff, seems more like a mineral deposit than glue.
The driver screw heads were slightly stripped, but not bad enough to prevent reusing them. The spring PCB screws were all perfect.
The contact ring was a bit dirty, so I sanded that with 1200 grit too.
It seemed to be a bit brighter after the changes, although that’s to my uncalibrated eye, so possibly not a good data point…
The brightness of the switch LEDs is slightly uneven, but they both seem to be working so far, I’ll see if they keep doing so.
All-in-all, this a fantastic light, even more so if you can carry out the small fixes!
Thanks to everyone that brought this together and to the people that have found the fixes.
Although I have never been rude to anyone on here nor ever given anyone else a rude mark I am now racking up rude marks
My first ever, pathetic
If I genuinely thought that a poster was being directly rude to me I would mention it either openly on here or more probably via PM.
In fact I posted earlier that I thought a post by Jason was rude to me but when he explained that the post wasn”t aimed at me I immediately apologised to him openly on the forum.
I would suggest that whoever you are that thinks my posts are rude why not openly state it on here or via pm as I genuinely don”t think that I have been rude to anyone so giving out rude marks is not making me any the wiser as to who I am being rude to, but I suppose it is easier to do it from the anonymity of being behind a computer screen isn”t it.
Pathetic.
So you can keep them coming whoever you are as I won”t ever stoop as low as to give other members rude marks back so feel free to fill your boots :+1:
And this after I had bowed out of this thread specifically stating that I didn”t want it to get nasty :person_facepalming:
I’ve got a video showing how to use the menu settings.
Once you press and hold for 8 seconds you see the 2 fast and 1 slow, wait for the 2 fast and 2 slow. Now do a regular click of the switch 1 or 2 times depending on which level you want. Now you can let the menu cycle out or you can press and hold until you see the 4 fast blinks that means your out of menu mode.
Also keep in mind that you can’t ramp down to moon mode. It’s only accessible when off. You press and hold and it will come on in moon mode.
Funny, a buddy at work signed up, got the order in on time for the first 500, got it - very happy, but for that darn switch LED! His worked fine and wanted it disabled, I showed him how to disable in Adv Config, did it, and now he is a happy customer! Go figure....
Jason, thanks for spelling out the steps required.
I’m one of those old farts who, unlike youngsters, doesn’t learn well from videos, but having the steps spelled out as text is hugely helpful.
I”m not going to bite hank so please feel free to carry on with what you obviously see as your sparkling wit & insight.
We both know that where the Cometa was concerned your views were completely wrong which was backed up by the fact that in the end CPF Italia negotiated a full refund for everyone :+1:
I didnt, but the thought crossed my mind. You just seemed to go on and on to the point it was annoying and some of your facts were wrong and you were basing your opinion on these wrong facts, etc… You were also getting the Miller all worked up. That’s not cool.
Maybe we need a button labeled Counterproductive. Now that one I might have clicked. Lol
AlexGYlT when settings brings ypu to moon setting just click the number you want to test so two clicks sets moon 2 instead of the default 3.
Loneman, after playing more I can relate, it is a timing thing, press too long and the light does not switch off.
We asked for an extra rubber switch booth with full nub (idk if production Q8 lights have that nub shortened, but if it is cut you can replace with the included new one to get a more direct control.
Chooma, yes we knew when the first proto reached Tom, and it worked fine, so do all the S70 and S70s lit switches, so we did not debate it further and were happy with this gift/bonus. It is clear now that a 2 series input , on when light is on lit switch is something else then a 1series switch that is on when the light is off. So behind the scenes DEL, Djozz and Tom are specifying the parts to make it right and make sure that the rare combination of unmatched SMD LEDs and not 100% good soldering can’t either not happen or not cause the issues by going for 2 resistors (needing to be specified taking into account what is widely available (just upping it to 30K is a lot harder to source then going for more commonly used 33K but will that have an impact, and so on)
Ian, you said “all I get is, live with it” which is not true, it doesn’t matter what others say, noe that we have stepped over the threshold of actual production it matters what I say (look at me little old dictator ) and I say that we want all issue fixed and are working on it.
After seeing it in action in a video, I’m wondering if maybe it should be wired to straight power and not the indicator function. Then it stays on continuously. You always know if it’s locked out or not.
All of the on off and blinking seems a bit much. No offense meant as I’m sure it was a lot of work getting it to do its blinks and stuff.
Upping to 33k? I thought it needed to go down to about 10k or 5k to each led. I guess if they start all over with different leds, then the resistor values will all change as well.
“Ian, you said “all I get is, live with it” which is not true, it doesn’t matter what others say, noe that we have stepped over the threshold of actual production it matters what I say (look at me little old dictator Wink ) and I say that we want all issue fixed and are working on it.”
Thank you Wim for that reply :+1:
I wasn”t & didn”t say that either yourself or Thorfire were or had said I had to “live with it”, that is what other posters had said.
Maybe my expectations where Chinese lights are concerned are to high but I have always expected something to be as specc”d/advertised & to work exactly as claimed.
Maybe I am wrong but that is how I am.
I come from an industry where everything had to be exactly 100% & if it was not then not only would the client not pay the HSE (UK Health & Safety Executive) would prosecute & issue you with a large fine.
I am now self employed but still the things I install/build have to work/be 100% as advertised/I have stated or I don”t get paid.
I will look forward to the resolution to the switch problem that you, the team & TF are working on.
Again thanks again for the reply & please do not think that I meant to be rude towards you :+1:
) and I say that we want all issue fixed and are working on it.