Every single hotrod light is inherently a fire hazard if used improperly. For now, people know the very specific conditions that can cause an issue with the D4v2 and simply shouldn’t use muggle mode (at least not while unattended}.
Not wanting to make a drama out of it, but …
The D4V2 is one even if used properly 
.
Yes, people that haven’t ignored an E-Mail with subject “order update” on a flashlight they already received.
I want to say something to the problem, too:
Im the guy from german TLF who was linked in post 634 by @Terry Oregon. I accidentally put my D4V2 into muggle mode, because i thought it was lockout, like in my older D4 (better had checked the new UI more precisely 
). I laid it down on the sidebord and go away. As i come home again (luckily my home wasn´t on fire :D) i want to play around with the new light, when i mentioned the optics and holster were melt, the switch jumped off and one cable was cut off (which probably was my luck, dont know how long it was on until that).
At first i was confused about it, wrote a message to Hank if he had an explanation, and thoght it was my fault because the holster was too tight (indeed, it was my fault, because i don´t check the UI correctly… ).
Then i heard about the bug and my confusion give way to anger.
After some reading and thinking about the whole thing i must say, Toykeeper and Hank do a great job anyway. I like the light (even after it tried to kill me in a flaming inferno 
just joking) and i look forward to get a pogo pin to fix it myself. Hank was very polite and offered me to repair the light, (because it has to be soldered together and the switch was loose, as well as my optics were burnt) but it would took so long, i take care of this myself (with help out of german TLF).
I totally agree with post 750, Hank and TK do a great job for the world of flashaholics and im happy to get new lights from Emisar in the future (hoping on a D1sV2 with white flat 
).
I learned that i always take the battery out of my high power flashlights if they lay around without observation, and at least get the UI correctly in my brain.
Hope you can understand my broken english cheers
But it seems that not all buyers of this lamp have received a corresponding email with the warning and do not read regularly here in the forum.
I didn’t get an email and as I read, other buyers have already described it here too.
I couldn’t resist 
I have two D4v2’s and both switch on in muggle mode when the battery is less than 3.8v. Because I am quite risk adverse this means that I will not be happy leaving the battery in these flashlights when they are not in use. Good practice for flashlights generally. However, this will also include pocket carry and night stand use. And for me this means they will not get used. I am happy to have a go at reflashing as and when a kit becomes available as it will be useful to learn how to do it. I don’t believe we got a discount on these flashlights (correct me if I’m wrong) so we didn’t get a special price as compensation for being the first users of a potentially faulty product. I understand the economics of the situation for Hank, so don’t really expect a refund. I know other people have mentioned Paypal but I probably won’t go that route. For me, what I have learned is that, unless the discount is really good, it is better to wait until a product has been thoroughly reviewed and all the problems noted. For me this will be easier said than done
This situation will not put me off buying more Emisar products. And I love Anduril.
That’s right BurningPlayd0h, we as end users have responsibility. The very power source this light demand has it’s own level of end user responsibility, totally up to us to be safe within the parameters of the tools we purchase.
And now y’all know why I’ve never been eager to build lights on request. The sheer power of an unrestricted hot rod, especially a small quad, demands a respect I just don’t see coming from the thousands of new members. We once were a family of enthusiasts, pushing boundaries and making things happen. When we started getting manufactures to build “Custom Hot Rod” flashlights, well, our membership level flooded and the problems arose. And we have lost many a solid member in the process, tired of dealing with the inevitable growing pains.
If the early adopters learning phase were still present we would be golden, but the entitled masses are ruining the spoils. I feel it strongly myself, as one of the people that has pushed limits here for years. After spending so much time building test drivers and hot rod lights, and sharing the process openly so others could find the same results, it is very discouraging to see all the whining and carrying on over such a simple development as a bug. Y’all apparently never spent personal funds on Knucklehead PCB’s and the ensuing component list, or worked hours building experimental drivers for this forum only to have to buy the next revision and start over. Stuff happens, get over it.
I have never understood the desire for a built hot rod and a muggle mode to throttle it down for babies to play with… pretty sure I built one of the first 3000 lumen + quads, and it ran on a AA sized 14500 cell. It was promptly used to run a bear out of camp. Safe? What’s that?
If you buy a hot rod, you have the responsibility to control it. If that means Not using a mode, then don’t! All of the electronic switch flashlights exist in an open power environment, one tiny failure and they’re ON. I can’t count the number of glitchy e-switches I’ve replaced. If ultimate no brain safety is required, use an inherently safer light with a mechanical switch and either alkaline cells or protected Li-ion’s. No simple muggle mode is going to protect an idiot from himself.
I have my light and email.
All I want is someone/somewhere to buy a programing key.
Is it necessary to calibrate the temp sensor in this light? Is there a simple few lines that explain it.( is it the same as the D4V1?) I have been keeping up with this thread but must have missed it.
TIA
Chris
3 clicks from off to enter blinkies, 2C (sunset), 2C (beacon), 2C (temp readout - check if it is necessary to calibrate), 4C (config), light blinks once, then flashes rapidly. While it does, click as many times as ambient temperature is in degrees celcius.
3 clicks from off, then you’re in blinkies mode.
Than, each double click gives you the next mode within the blinkies.Press until you’re in tempcheck mode.
Now press 4 times to enter temp settings.After that the lamp flashes 1 time and then begin to strobe.You do nothing(here you can set the current temp) until the lamp flashes 2 times, when it begin to strobe you press the switch 30+x times.For example if you want it to set to 55°c you press 25 times(30+25)
I don’t think a bug in Windows is likely to cause your computer to overheat and burn. IMO, any Windows bug comparison to the problem we face with these lights is totally different. These lights have a software defect that could result in hardware destruction or worse. Would you agree if the flashlight destroyed itself, that you would then have a claim of a defect? Or perhaps,you might argue that the light destroyed itself because of a short circuit in the way it “thought” ,rather than a short circuit in the way it was wired?
Having said this, I appreciate all the hard work that Hank and TK put into this light. If there wasn’t a danger to life and property, I would have little concern. I appreciate their taking responsibility to fix this problem. However, I am concerned that all buyers have not yet been notified. I haven’t but fortunately know from frequenting BLF. What about those who who don’t know? Buyers beware?
I think the emails must still be going out. I pre-ordered two D4V2 lights, but I placed the orders for them a week apart. I got an email about one of my orders two days ago, which was a day or two after people started getting them. This morning I got an email about my other order. My guess is that it’s a semi-manual process and it is just taking a few days to get through all of the orders.
A couple of hundred posts ago I expressed my feeling that for me personally Anduril does overcomplicate my EDC workflow as well as AUX leds being another part not relevant to me that can be a cause of problem. I got ridiculed at first by people who clearly did not understand my point or did not want to understand it, accusing me to want lights only be produced the way I want. I am not gonna lie, I was pretty mad at first and my answers were thus… very direct. However only then people seemed to understand that I don’t want to trash talk the light or TK’s work but point out the issues why this light isn’t for me and why D4 v1 was. In fact, TK was one of the people there to tell others that it is okay to not like Anduril.
I still stand to the negative points I wrote there. Like the BLF community being overly enthusiastic and very hard to accept critique with a tendency to take it as an insult.
However, as for the recent critique of TK’s work and it even coming from Neal too (if I got TK’s post right) I have to say this: You have to understand that with rising complexity of projects the possibilities for errors rise exponentially. This is something that so many people not concerned with software development seem to not understand. It’s not a mistake by TK. TK in fact does a really great job in providing stable versions of Anduril and testing it, given its complexity and given that the development is still a one-(wo)man-show. Even given a bigger team with dedicated testers you would be hardpressed to find bugs like the 15min off muggle mode bug. And your fancy light would cost 2-3 times more. It’s just part of the nature of stuff getting more and more complex. An option would be to find more people willing to test the light for 2+ weeks before it is shipped to customers.
One other negative point I want to add though is the community’s “well then just flash it!”-attitude. While this might be a viable option for many of the BLF members, it is not for a shipping-ready consumer product. And this is what people buy from retailers. Reflashing a flashlight is not something I would expect when buying a flashlight on some random online store if there is nothing there telling me that is a light mainly for enthusiasts. A text stating that updates and bugfixes will probably be provided, but require flashing which has to be done by yourself with a link to an in-depth tutorial would be a very good idea too.
If it means any help to the community I could use my Google sharepoint to upload and host relevant hex-files, manuals and anything else. Subsequently, everyone would be able to download some kind of summarized information and the actual firmware. So far, I use this sharepoint for providing Sofirn manuals to the community.
But maybe there’s no need for it as Toykeeper already hosts all relevant information on Github? I don’t know but I will try to help as much as I can.
I’d like to learn to update firmware but unfortunately I don’t speak or read clingon ,I guess I’m muggles in that department 
Thanks for the help this is why I’m here so much
You’re welcome ,
Hardware shipped with bugs and undocumented quirks that get triggered by software, leading to destruction of the device, is actually a fairly common problem. Three big examples that come to mind:
- Intel released an untested driver that essentially ruined the BIOS of many devices, and when some Linux distributions included that driver their users ended up with ruined computers.
- The infamous Samsung “”Brick Bug”“:https://www.xda-developers.com/hard-brick-bug-on-galaxy-s-ii-and-note-leaked-ics-kernels/, a hardware quirk that usually got triggered by users installing custom ROMs on their devices (although even official Samsung ROMs could also trigger it).
- Running a fairly standard (albeit risky for your data) command in Linux lead to permanent damage of the UEFI system and thus a bricked computer.
I think there are some interesting parallels with the D4V2 in those three cases, because there were definitely some weird quirks in the hardware that got shipped. But a lot of people got mad at the Linux distribution maintainers and the custom Samsung ROM creators that freely released their work to the community, which unfortunately triggered those catastrophic bugs that the hardware shipped.
I appreciate everyone being patient and understanding and keeping calm while Hank and TK work through these issues. They are ingenious people, and they’re on our side. Thanks a lot!
gortsch chaq d4v2…