flashing led in the the new iq switch for minimag

ringzero

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Jun 11, 2006
Messages
1,316
is it easy or has anyone disabled the flashing blinking light on the iq switch "the find in the dark blink" cause it will eventually drain the battey right

Unless you've loctited the head of your MiniMag, you should be able to just twist the head and break the circuit which will disable the "find in the dark blink."

Do that before storage or transport of your light and there should be no battery drain or accidental activation.

.
 

RebelXTNC

Enlightened
Joined
Feb 8, 2006
Messages
433
Location
North Carolina
Exactly correct ringzero! If you tighten the Mini-Mag head to the normal OFF position, the flashing red LED under the switch cover goes out.

I bought one of these kits last night since it got a good review on here the other day. My Target has them for $18.99 through 6/11/07.
My kit had a good, bright beam with a warm tint and the switch works well. I installed it in a virgin Mini-Mag that would have probably never been unpacked and used otherwise.

The timer on my switch for allowing the next click to be OFF instead of going to the next mode is pretty fast so you can't hesitate for long if you're cycling through the modes.
I also think the slow strobe is a little too slow, but otherwise I'm pleased.
There isn't much focus range either, but the beam is very clean with no artifacts so it doesn't really need much focus anyway.
I think it's superior in usefulness to a stock 2AA Mini-Mag LED.
 

TORCH_BOY

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Jan 25, 2004
Messages
4,242
Location
Australia, Vic
If the head has been glued down, the only option is to remove one of the batteries if the light is not going to be used for some time
 

qip

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Jan 10, 2007
Messages
1,503
Location
u.s
well i dont think the head would help as i have a drop in and washer spacing so if i back the head off it would accomplish nothing so im thinking cut out the led in the switch itself but would that have an effect on the switch is my concern
 

RebelXTNC

Enlightened
Joined
Feb 8, 2006
Messages
433
Location
North Carolina
qip, what kind of switch do you use now? If tightening the head won't turn your Mini-Mag with drop-in OFF then I assume you're using some type of tailcap switch already.

One other note, when I turn the head back to the ON position but don't activate the switch, the LED doesn't blink. It only starts blinking again after the switch has been activated once. So you can have the light ready to go with a simple press of the switch but not have the LED blinking, as long as you have a way to temporarily interrupt the circuit somewhere else, like the normal OFF position of the head.

I guess someone will have to do a runtime test for the blinking red LED but I imagine that could take many months unless the switch and timer are draining more power, like was the case with some Streamlight models with the 2-mode switch and un-documented strobe feature. Some of those could substantially drain the batteries after 2 or 3 months and they had no beacon LED.
 
Last edited:

derfyled

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Jul 29, 2006
Messages
1,058
Location
Canada
I think you don't have to worry about draining the batteries.

I owned a special edition of the live album "PULSE" from Pink Floyd witch have a red blinking led on the side of the cover. On 2 fresh AA batteries, it has flashed for almost 2 years.
 

qip

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Jan 10, 2007
Messages
1,503
Location
u.s
5ex and im using the terralux clicky , i figure nitize would be nice with the multilevel
 

Monocrom

Flashaholic
Joined
Aug 27, 2006
Messages
19,859
Location
NYC
is it easy or has anyone disabled the flashing blinking light on the iq switch "the find in the dark blink" cause it will eventually drain the battery.

Found an easier solution to the problem....

Instead of buying the 1 watt bulb and I.Q. switch together, I went to a ****'s Sporting Goods store and bought just the 1 watt bulb. They also sell the $10 combo 3 LED / regular tailcap switch kit. (But I had one of those at home). Took the 1 watt LED bulb, and combined it with the regular tailcap switch from the combo kit! Works great! Problem solved! :D

Okay, so I still have the 3 LED bulb housing from the Nite-Ize kit. You don't need the tailcap switch to make them work. But I have heard that the constant on / off twisting on a mini-mag without the tailcap switch could cause the tiny connecting rods to break off. :sigh:

Oh well.... Another solution is just to buy the 1 watt bulb seperately, like I did, then just buy a regular Nite-Ize tailcap switch seperately as well. Then just put the two together.

But if the multi-level option is really important to you, you could just learn to live with the red light. I doubt it'll drain the batteries to any great degree. If it did, Nite-Ize would have probably caught that problem during R&D.
 
Last edited:
Top