Quark mini 123 to good to be true

[recDNA]

Put an IMR 16340 in it. I have noticed that when underdriven the XP-G's are super green. Then when pushed hard and whallah, the tint turns white.

Be carefull if the IMR 16340 pushes it too hard then, you can tell if its too much because the tint will turn blue. Once it turns blue you know that is not the cell you want to use. Then you have try an AW CR123 li-on.😀

Good tip. My mini is white with 16340. I wish it worked on my bigger ti models.

 

[Bort]

I have both the mini AA, and 123 lights, and love both of them. I run them on AW li-ion cells, and have not had any problems with either of them. I prefer the minis as EDC over clicky single cell lights, due to the compact size. The twisty activation is consistent with other lights that I have, with a similar price point.The emitters are perfectly centered.To each his own.

 

[futz]

... I've been extremely happy with my mini123 and the other 5 I've owned and given away...

no thread play, no reliability issues, no greenness issues. Great little light for a fantastic price.

I'm a happy customer...

Mine has some thread play, but it's not too bad. If it's within 1/2 turn of ON I can light it up by pushing sideways on the head or by pushing head/tail toward each other. It's not loose enough to be a problem though, and I am a happy customer.

To prevent it coming on in-pocket I just have to back it off 1/2 turn from ON. At 1/2 turn it's still well engaged with the O-ring and doesn't unscrew itself further in-pocket.

 

[DM51]

Poor quality loose threads. Falls apart in my pocket. Mode bouncing, and very unreliable. I don't know what I was thinking. I Spent $39 for a light that is not even worth a battery change. I should have know better then to waste money on such a cheap light. I would have purchased the Titan t1a if it was not so heavy. I was worried it may hurt the ignition switch on the car.

I am shocked any person can recommend this light from this forum. All this light has going for it is brightness. If you can get the correct mode to work. And I do mean IF!!!

Lots of people wrapped the threads in Teflon tape to try to fix the slop and mode bounce. These defects are not isolated cases.

Yet these people rave about how great this light is. I just don't understand how any flashoholic can recommend such a sad flashlight. I threw mine in the trash can.

I would have been embarrassed to have sold this POS. It was also my second mini replacement. The second was even worse then the first.

007Runner... you have been banned twice before for anti-4sevens trolling. I don't know what made you think you could get away with it again. The bans will become progressively longer until you abandon your negatively-obsessed agenda.

Edit: I have just checked, and in fact this is your 4th ban for this. If there is a next time, it will likely be permanent.

 

[4sevens]

I'd like to jump in and specify what exactly is our standard when these ship from us. When the light is on, an untwist of 1/4 to 1/3 should complete lock out the light. If after a 1/3 turn and the light still turns on then we will be happy to replace the light. We've found very few that fail this test.

The fact is this is the nature of a twisty light AND people have different standards of who should lock out the light - some people cannot accept a 1/16 turn and have the light come on by jiggling the light. EVERY twisty light has a threshold.

It does not help when people say "mine's loose" or "mines tight" because it's subjective and not measurable. Whats tight for you is loose to another and vice versa. And what inevitably happens is all these "tight" and "loose" reports get folks worried and obsessing over their light.

Well, I've spelling out our specification for the qmini's - keep it simple. If it passed, rest assured that your light is fine. If it doesn't pass, contact us and we'll make it right. Easy?

 

[jtivat]

I'd like to jump in and specify what exactly is our standard when these ship from us. When the light is on, an untwist of 1/4 to 1/3 should complete lock out the light. If after a 1/3 turn and the light still turns on then we will be happy to replace the light. We've found very few that fail this test.

The fact is this is the nature of a twisty light AND people have different standards of who should lock out the light - some people cannot accept a 1/16 turn and have the light come on by jiggling the light. EVERY twisty light has a threshold.

It does not help when people say "mine's loose" or "mines tight" because it's subjective and not measurable. Whats tight for you is loose to another and vice versa. And what inevitably happens is all these "tight" and "loose" reports get folks worried and obsessing over their light.

Well, I've spelling out our specification for the qmini's - keep it simple. If it passed, rest assured that your light is fine. If it doesn't pass, contact us and we'll make it right. Easy?

I have the opposite problem while there is a lot of play in the threads there is no chance it will come on even with a 1/16 turn. I have to turn mine very hard to get it on. This make changing light levels hard. It is then hard to unscrew the head and it skips modes. I am not trying to bash anyone and the quality of the light is what I would expect out of a $39 light. My problem is after reading all the praise I was expecting more.

 

[ky70]

I have the opposite problem while there is a lot of play in the threads there is no chance it will come on even with a 1/16 turn. I have to turn mine very hard to get it on. This make changing light levels hard. It is then hard to unscrew the head and it skips modes. I am not trying to bash anyone and the quality of the light is what I would expect out of a $39 light. My problem is after reading all the praise I was expecting more.

Is it possible that the battery you are using is too tall? I know my qmini123 would not work with a trustfire RCR123 battery as it was too tall and I couldn't tighten it all the way. No such problems with the AW RCR123 and LiFeP04 but the trustfire battery is 4mm longer than the AWs and my panasonic 123 primaries.

 

[4sevens]

I have the opposite problem while there is a lot of play in the threads there is no chance it will come on even with a 1/16 turn.

these lights are designed for primary (one time use) lithium cells. If you're using rechargeable not only will some will not fit but the voltage is wrong as well.

If you are using the supplies standard cells and it's doing that then you need to contact our customer service.

 

[michaelmcgo]

Come on you guys, you're bumming me out!

I am quite disappointed in a lot of you for assuming the threads are all crappy and were unintentionally made loose. I own a Mini 123 and it has the "loose" threads you guys are all talking about and see no problem with it. Sure if I sit there and wiggle it and push on it, I will get flashes and other bright lights. If I EDC it and use, I will get exactly what I bought: An inexpensive, well-made light that is smaller and brighter than ANY of my other single cell lights (including an XP-G modded RA Clicky)! This is like white wall hunting to the extreme (which the Mini excels at in spades :twothumbs)! This light really is cutting edge small, and has a ton of performance to boot! As a machinist, I am amazed by this little light and the remarkable machining that went into making something with such thin walls and multi-staged lathe operations! To cut threads on a thin wall part like the Mini is darn near impossible, these are not the standard threads you see on your 6P or HDS. To reliably machine male and female threads that are so shallow and reliably engage each other every time is remarkable! A little clearance is necessary, otherwise you would need to machine head and body in tandem, and keep tool wear, tension, and adjustments identical on many separate machines. You just jumped out of the $39 price bracket.

Don't get me wrong, I am a picky consumer, but I understand that cost is a significant factor in everything that is made. Manufacture cost is translated directly into consumer price. I unscrew my Mini about half a turn and it never turns on in my pocket (of which it has several solid weeks of EDC time on it). To get to high, I simply screw in, unscrew, repeat, repeat. I've jumped levels once or twice, but it didn't affect my life too much to get to high on the second try. On my multi stage lights I miss level I want sometimes too when I am click-click-clicking through the menu. If you go looking for a problem (pressing on it to see if it jumps levels etc.) you're going to find one anywhere.

On a side note, if it turns on momentarily when you put pressure on the head, doesn't it turn right back off when you release the pressure? Isn't this problem much worse with the 90% of flashlights that have a clicky tailswitch because they stay on in your pocket when unintended pressure is applied to the tail?

 

[michaelmcgo]

but the Ti AA did not have enough threads to make contact with the head. It went in the trash.

Lol, that was pretty silly of me, but I was ticked off and flustered at the time. It felt great slam-dunking that light in the trash, but I should of sent it back. The things we do in the heat of the moment!

Yeah, I'm calling BS on that one:thumbsdow. Real life trash is like the Recyling Bin on your computer: you can take stuff out after a while when you realize you shouldn't have thrown it away. I don't think anybody would throw away a $70 flashlight (that has a valid problem covered by the warranty) because they are frustrated with it

On the other hand if you really did that, then based on your decision making skills, I do not take your opinion with any kind of validity...

P.S.
If Flyflash is responding in the first person to 007Runner's posts, doesn't that mean that Flyflash = 007Runner? So via the transitive property...

if Flyflash = banned
and Flyflash = 007Runner
then shouldn't 007Runner = banned?

 

[jtivat]

these lights are designed for primary (one time use) lithium cells. If you're using rechargeable not only will some will not fit but the voltage is wrong as well.

If you are using the supplies standard cells and it's doing that then you need to contact our customer service.

Sanyo CR123A's I will try some Surefire and Duracell to confirm.

 

[joshconsulting]

Sanyo CR123A's I will try some Surefire and Duracell to confirm.

I know exactly what your describing; it's what happened to mine when I tried to fit Trustfire RCR123s. Try the included primary that came with your light; I had no problems with that and AW RCRs.

 

[AnAppleSnail]

I know exactly what your describing; it's what happened to mine when I tried to fit Trustfire RCR123s. Try the included primary that came with your light; I had no problems with that and AW RCRs.

David (4sevens), it may be worth the trouble to add a note to the MiNi123 product page that:

"The MiNi123 is not compatible with incorrectly-sized CR123 cells."

That would cover funky primaries, and clarify to flashaholics that protection circuitry is often tacked onto the end of a right-size cell. I've heard of other flashlights (often multicell ones) having trouble with certain brands of rechargeables because of the size issue. With a MiNimum-size light like the MiNi, wrong-size batteries makes the light unusable. Erm, not that I dictate site policy, but it seems like it'll save some headache, and make sure nobody maligns your good name. I rather like my two Quarks, and (ab)use them daily.

 

[jtivat]

I know exactly what your describing; it's what happened to mine when I tried to fit Trustfire RCR123s. Try the included primary that came with your light; I had no problems with that and AW RCRs.

Tried all SF Duracell and the battery that came with it all the same. I have contacted CS.

 

[joshconsulting]

David (4sevens), it may be worth the trouble to add a note to the MiNi123 product page that:

"The MiNi123 is not compatible with incorrectly-sized CR123 cells."

That would cover funky primaries, and clarify to flashaholics that protection circuitry is often tacked onto the end of a right-size cell. I've heard of other flashlights (often multicell ones) having trouble with certain brands of rechargeables because of the size issue. With a MiNimum-size light like the MiNi, wrong-size batteries makes the light unusable. Erm, not that I dictate site policy, but it seems like it'll save some headache, and make sure nobody maligns your good name. I rather like my two Quarks, and (ab)use them daily.

Except that the site already states that you shouldn't use RCRs. I've never heard of primaries that don't fit specs. jtivat's problem sounds like grounds for replacement, but it's the first I've heard of someone experiencing it. It could be a threading issue, but I'm sure 4sevens will take care of him.

 

[recDNA]

It would be if you could keep it that small and put in a side clicky to cure the mode skipping problem and make operation one handed.

 

[Unforgiven]

Customer service questions and answers belong at the market place, not CPF proper. Take further inquiries there or other private means to avoid thread removal or closure.

 

[HarveyRich]

Originally posted by 4 Sevens:

I'd like to jump in and specify what exactly is our standard when these ship from us. When the light is on, an untwist of 1/4 to 1/3 should complete lock out the light. If after a 1/3 turn and the light still turns on then we will be happy to replace the light. We've found very few that fail this test.

The fact is this is the nature of a twisty light AND people have different standards of who should lock out the light - some people cannot accept a 1/16 turn and have the light come on by jiggling the light. EVERY twisty light has a threshold.

It does not help when people say "mine's loose" or "mines tight" because it's subjective and not measurable. Whats tight for you is loose to another and vice versa. And what inevitably happens is all these "tight" and "loose" reports get folks worried and obsessing over their light.

Well, I've spelling out our specification for the qmini's - keep it simple. If it passed, rest assured that your light is fine. If it doesn't pass, contact us and we'll make it right. Easy?

I feel compelled to be one more person to the defense of 7 Sevens. I have 3 different Mini's and they are all perfect. There is a LITTLE play in the threads of all of them, but 1/4 turn off locks them out so you can't rock the tail back and forth to on anymore. The color of the beams in all of them is a nice white and they are amazingly tiny, IMHO. I use RCR in all of them with no problems. If you have a problem with excessively loose threads, as defined above by 4 Sevens, his company is amazingly responsive.

I sent back a Fenix l2d2 that I bought almost 4 years ago because I put the batteries in backward accidentally--late at night after some wine. Not only did they replace the head with a rebuilt one, but did it in a month and didn't charge me for either the replacement head or the mailing. Customer service doesn't come any better than that, and I've had some really negative experience with one other "custom flashlight" maker to compare it to.

If anyone has a problem at first, contact 4 Sevens and I'm sure you will be happy. Just posting a thread about how much of a POS a new flashlight is not only nearly unethical, but is bound to force people on both sides of the issue to post. Most of the Quark series have been very good reliable lights and 4 Sevens corrects whatever issues may arise. I would continue to buy from 4 Sevens his or other lights because they have been well made and because of his incredible commitment to service

 

[psychbeat]

^^^^^WOOORRRRDDD!!!!!

whats wrong with a little play?!:devil:

 

[jefierro]

It's not the play that bugs me on my Ti mini123, the false contact is what's driving me crazy jumping from one mode to another in a flash, also this is new, it turns off on it's own, forcing me to jump to the next level and have to go all he way around to get the level I need. This one is staying put, it's not worth the $ trouble of international shipping, nor the useless unregistered & unsecured standard shipping, this will be my reminder that not all lights are made the same.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L27qW81TC9Y