You got too much AR coating while I got none at all on either of the 2 x Q8`s I bought !
Quality control does not seem to be a big factor here !
REGARDLESS - I love the Q8 it just needed a OLED display with so many modes and groups / if that was possible ?
It wasn’t supposed to have any AR coating. The change in lumens is imperceptible, but the change in tint is not.
There are good ways to do anti-reflective or super-clear lenses… but coating it with translucent purple goo is not recommended. I’d be much happier with a plain piece of glass.
The flashlightlens.com people seem to know what they’re doing though, and the Emisar D1S has some new type of AR coating which doesn’t kill the tint. I’m not sure what it does differently, but diagonal reflections off its lens look amber instead of purple, and it doesn’t make a weird halo, and the beam looks nice.
Thank you for clearing that up.
REGARDLESS - I love the Q8
Remove the AR with cape cod cloth mate, works on watches should work on a lens too
Received my 2nd batch 2nd Q8. Ordered 26th September, it took 1 month with Turkish post. Flawless, button Led little bit weaker, upgraded driver screws, tail pcb screws are M2.5 x 6 mm and I think it is a little bit brighter.
Only had to smooth out the battery tubes contact edge with a 600/800 grit paper. It is so easy, only put the grit paper on a plane board and turned the tube slowly around until it smooths out. Also rounded off the inside edge. Used a wet napkin / vacuumer to get rid of the dust, also then cleaned the threads a bit. Eventually first unscrew the tail pcb.
Now I will order brass screw and a tail pcb board with upgraded springs soldered on it, if that exists.
Can I ask that for mode group 6 - TK BLF A6 7 modes - what is the approx % output in each mode?
@TK- seems like I read somewhere on here, a long time ago, that most of the cheaper AR coatings are removable. A simple home chemical (can’t remember what, maybe nail polish remover, or ISP?) did the trick. Anyone know?
Where did you get the d-ring adapter? My BlackRapid adapters are way too big, and most of what I see online doesn’t look like it would work as well.
It's pretty clearly spelled out on the BG listing page: https://www.banggood.com/BLF-Q8-4x-XP-L-5000LM-Professional-Multiple-Operation-Procedure-Super-Bright-LED-Flashlight-p-1194351.html?rmmds=search
You want to know percentages as well?
Here's the snippet of code for mode group 6:
// 6 modes - copy of BLF A6 7 mode set
PROGMEM const byte modeFetSet6[] = { 0, 0, 7, 56, 137, 255};
PROGMEM const byte mode7135Set6[] = { 20, 110, 255, 255, 255, 0};
So calculated,
mode 1 is 20/255 of the 7135, ~13 lumens = 0.26%
mode 2 is 110/255, ~69 lumens = 1.4%,
mode 3 is 7/255 of the FET, so (7/255)*5000 + 160 = ~300 lumens = 6.0%
and so on...
This is assuming the 7135 max is 160 lumens as BG/ThorFire measured.
Or you can take what BG/ThorFire actually measured, and calculate the percentage based on 5,000 lumens max.
I went over to the dark side, and checked my tracking again.
Its in the country - which is a start! But not clear what Flyt express turns into in the UK so I can track it further, just waiting for the doorbell now…
Miller - mine was a “next day” after the email overnight order so still a few floating around out there in post zone somewhere…
No complaints though, I don’t have time to keep up with this thread AND play with a new awesome Q8 so at least I can keep pace with the thread 
You may want to check your local lighting store out. For ideas.
Hurricane lamp globe … it almost fits. Just needs a collar. This one’s frosted glass, so probably not practical. If I could find one made of plastic, would be better for outdoors.
A couple Q8 related updates:
As i’m a bit short on BT high drain cells these days (still expecting some in the mail…), i’m currently running my two Q8s on just one 30Q flat top each… and it works quite well! The funny thing is it does not always make contact after screwing the tube and i have to bump the light in the back to turn it on. My spring bypassed Q8 puts out as much as the XPL Emisar D4 - same emitters and battery, but does not become scorching hot in seconds. What’s odd is the D4 doing as good as the single cell Q8 without any bypass and a much smaller head…
I just ordered an extra Q8… same GB price, code still works…
I will advise against using batteries with deformed BT. One of my Keeppower 18650 3500 mAh had some pressed in plus pole. When I opened Q8 again, there were a lot of brass metal chips/splints inside that had been scratched from the brass ring. Not good if that gets inside the battery through the ventilation holes, would I guess.
Well the D4 uses high quality springs here I believe, and short LED wires so should do well, but I'd guess the Q8 could get more amps from one cell with the 18 AWG wires and bypassed springs. Not sure if it's easy to guess on lumens output between TIR optics and a 4 reflector light. You got very different beam profiles there.
Q8 arrived.
Perfect in every way.
My thanks to Miller and all who put in so much work to make this happen. I have the greatest respect for your efforts. Many, many Thanks.
Just a quick question. My second batch Q8 could be here anytime. I have 4 brand new 30 Q cells to put in it. What lumens should I expect? 6500?
5300-5700 right out of the box i believe.
For stock batch 2's, that's a bit too high. I measured on the same Q8 BT cells two stock batch 2's at 5800/5900 at start, 5400/5500 at 30 seconds.