Quark AA high mode flicker! (problem now solved)

[burntoshine]

hey. i love my new quark AA! but i've noticed that it sometimes flickers in high mode (the forth level with bezel loosened). it's completely erratic. sometimes when it does it, it eventually stabilizes; other times it continues for a while. it only does it every once in a while. if i had to guess, i'd say about 1 out of every 20 times i put it in high mode, but sometimes it does it again right away if i cycle around through the modes and back to high.

i thought it was the battery and it made sense because the battery (a eneloop) was low. so i put a freshly charged eneloop in and it still does it, but only every once in a while. it was flickering a lot more before as the first battery was dying, but why would it do this on a fresh one? haven't been able to replicate this problem with an alkaline or lithium yet.

any thoughts?

 

[Badbeams3]

Re: Quark AA high mode flicker!

Maybe loosen the head far enough to expose most the threads...and clean them. Along with any other threads and contact points. Might be a good time to lubricate also. Might work :)

 

[Vox Clamatis in Deserto]

Re: Quark AA high mode flicker!

any thoughts?

Check the tailcap. I have had issues with twisty heads that were solved when the tail cap is tightened. Sometimes you inadvertantly loosen the tail when operating the head. Hope that's all it is...

 

[burntoshine]

Re: Quark AA high mode flicker!

nope, everything clean and properly tight. brand new and freshly charged eneloop. did it again today.

 

[LightWalker]

Re: Quark AA high mode flicker!

Why don't you just exchange it for a new one?

 

[1anrm]

Re: Quark AA high mode flicker!

i thought it was the battery and it made sense because the battery (a eneloop) was low. so i put a freshly charged eneloop in and it still does it, but only every once in a while. it was flickering a lot more before as the first battery was dying, but why would it do this on a fresh one? haven't been able to replicate this problem with an alkaline or lithium yet.

any thoughts?

You haven't replicated from an alkaline or lithium is it because you have none? or it doesnt at all because if not it's gotta be your eneloops. What charger are you using on your eneloops and how old are you eneloops? Maybe your charger is killing your eneloops? how do you charge them?

 

[burntoshine]

Re: Quark AA high mode flicker!

i emailed 4sevens; might just do that.

 

[Lightcrazycanuck]

Re: Quark AA high mode flicker!

:popcorn:

 

[burntoshine]

Re: Quark AA high mode flicker!

You haven't replicated from an alkaline or lithium is it because you have none? or it doesnt at all because if not it's gotta be your eneloops. What charger are you using on your eneloops and how old are you eneloops? Maybe your charger is killing your eneloops? how do you charge them?

i have put a lithium and an alkaline in it, but of course it behaves when i'm trying to reproduce the problem. i keep the light on my nightstand. what i've been doing is every so often turning it on to high to see if it does the flicker. i'm going to leave the duracell that it came with in there and see if it continues to do it.

my eneloops are brand new and i charge them with the sanyo charger they came with, plugged directly into the wall.

it doesn't do the flickering very much. it's not consistent at all. just when it wants to. when it decides to flicker, it is constant and erratic. it never stabilizes on it's own.

 

[Marduke]

Re: Quark AA high mode flicker!

Which charger?

 

[1anrm]

Re: Quark AA high mode flicker!

What model is your Sanyo charger? When you charge your eneloops how long do you leave it in the charger after it's been charged?

 

[choaticwhisper]

Re: Quark AA high mode flicker!

Just a quick thought maybe related to the charger over charging.
At what voltage does the quark start to try to up the amperage to the 170 lumen?
You said it settles, after the voltage has drop enough, maybe?

 

[burntoshine]

Re: Quark AA high mode flicker!

Model: NC-MQN06U

looks like this guy

the first battery (eneloop) that created the flicker, i used right out of the package.

not sure when it was manufactured. here's the thing, i purchased it off of ebay and the person had about 90 quantity of them. it was the multi-pack; 8AAs, 2AAAs, C&D spacers and charger. i had a feeling my eneloop package was probably sitting around someone's house for quite a while. that's why i didn't think much of it at first. figured the battery was low, which it was.

not exactly sure how long i left this particular battery (flicker creator eneloop #2). i charged them all, but i know one group of batteries was left in the charger for a while after they were done.

curious, is there maybe something to the eneloop batteries/charger that may cause this? ..leaving charged batteries in the charger?

like i said, it doesn't flicker very often. but when it does, it goes crazy. i've left it on a few times on high for stretches of time like 5 minutes, 10 min. no problems. if it's good and stable when i turn it on, it won't give me any trouble. if it's going to flicker, it will start up right away and never stabilize.

 

[burntoshine]

Re: Quark AA high mode flicker!

Just a quick thought maybe related to the charger over charging.
At what voltage does the quark start to try to up the amperage to the 170 lumen?
You said it settles, after the voltage has drop enough, maybe?

i'm sorry. i'm not quite sure how to tell what the voltage is. it doesn't settle on it's own. it only goes to 90 OTF lumens. it's an AA quark. some of the other quarks go to 170 OTF lumens, not mine.

my light doesn't (or hasn't) flicker on max, only on high.

 

[Marduke]

Re: Quark AA high mode flicker!

Do you charge the cell with other cells of similar state of charge? Or by itself or with cells of different states of charge?

A DMM is used to check voltage.

 

[burntoshine]

Re: Quark AA high mode flicker!

multi-meter? i've been meaning to get one of those. yeah, i always charge batteries of a similar state.

i talked to 4sevens and they're pretty sure it's a bad contact due to dirty threads. "...the issue lies in threads that are not clean. Essentially the light is getting a poor connection and the buck and boost circuits cannot figure out who should be regulating the output..." i think some silicone grease got around in there. the grime was difficult to see. i had cleaned them, but i guess not good enough. i didn't think that would be the problem because i've had flashlights for much longer that have dirtier threads and never acted this way. anyhoo, i cleaned them very thoroughly this time. the problems hasn't recurred since, so i think i'm good.

i'm happy now because i love this flashlight!

4sevens did an amazing job with this one!

 

[alfreddajero]

Re: Quark AA high mode flicker!

Glad the problem was solved......with any new light, i like to clean the contacts and threads first before turning the light on.

 

[burntoshine]

Re: Quark AA high mode flicker!

Glad the problem was solved......with any new light, i like to clean the contacts and threads first before turning the light on.

:)

live and learn.

 

[Lightcrazycanuck]

Good to see it was something simple.:D:D:D


lovecpflovecpflovecpflovecpflovecpflovecpflovecpf

 

[dieselducy]

Re: Quark AA high mode flicker!

multi-meter? i've been meaning to get one of those. yeah, i always charge batteries of a similar state.

i talked to 4sevens and they're pretty sure it's a bad contact due to dirty threads. "...the issue lies in threads that are not clean. Essentially the light is getting a poor connection and the buck and boost circuits cannot figure out who should be regulating the output..." i think some silicone grease got around in there. the grime was difficult to see. i had cleaned them, but i guess not good enough. i didn't think that would be the problem because i've had flashlights for much longer that have dirtier threads and never acted this way. anyhoo, i cleaned them very thoroughly this time. the problems hasn't recurred since, so i think i'm good.

i'm happy now because i love this flashlight!

4sevens did an amazing job with this one!

i am having a similar issue,, rotating the head stops the flickering for a little. what did u use to clean the threads?