Perfect Fenix P2D Q5 - No flash. Is Q5 vf still high?

Just got a Fenix P2D Q5.

Question: Are all Q5 still high Vf in general? Asking because battery life is important.

Anyways, compared to three other P2D Rebel 100s, the Q5 is:

1. SEEMS a bit brighter on Turbo, but dimmer in low. I did the ceiling bounce test and I thought that the Q5 is clearly brighter by a tiny bit.
2. Looks to be perfectly white. REALLY white. Obviously cooler coloration than the Rebels which may give better depth perception. Still, the 'white' is great.
3. No color tint shift whatsoever in all four brightness stage. Rebels all have some tint shifts from low to high - some worse than others. I found one Rebel that is very minimal shift but it is still there.
4. No flash whatsoever on low. Interesting.
5. The primary drawback - the Q5's beam is no where as smooth as the Rebel even with OP. Rebel just seem perfect beam spill - no rings whatsoever.

In wonder if Fenix fixed the Flash and made the low lower?

Thanks,
Mo

4Sevens says that Fenix has pretty much fixed the flash on low, so you probably got a newer one.

The high Vf seems to be fixed(according to what I've heard), still a bit higher then a Rebel but not by much.

I've got a P2D-Q5 and have the flash when turning on in low. I've had mine around 2 months. So maybe if you have the latest it is fixed. Mine had just come in when I received it so yours would have to be really new.

Anyway I'm glad to hear it is probably fixed.

Just drained my first battery in my P2DCE-Q5 last night.
Died without warning.. wouldn't even power up in Low mode (12 lumen), it turned on real faint and faded to nothing in 3 seconds.
I measured 2.76 Volts with a multimeter; Energizer e2 cr123, expiry date 2012.
A fresh Energizer e2 was measured at 3.24 Volts, expiry date 2016.

Q1. Would that be any indication of Vf? (2.76 Volts on the "dead" batt ?)

The battery lasted me ~40 days of nightly use.. ~5 minutes putting away livestock every night.. mostly Low mode.. a little bit of High.. and a handful of Turbo mode.. not very scientific i know..

But my Dorcy 1AAA used to last Months(!) doing the same chores.. ~6 mos iirc. Gonna try using only Low mode on my P2D-Q5 and see how long batt lasts.


Pretty white tint on mine.. also a noticeable dark Halo around hotspot.
My previous P1D-Q5 seemed a bit brighter with no dark halo.

Q2. What causes that dark halo?
..distance from emitter to reflector?


No turbo flash when turning on.. but it does flash when changing modes from SOS to Low.
I've found if you hold down button for > 2 seconds.. it'll goto Low mode w/Out the flash.

The P2D should be able to run the battery under 1v, it uses the same head as the L1D which is a 1AA light.

It might be an indication of a bad light.

What should be the V of dead cr123 primary from P2D-Q5 ?

Gunner12 said:

The P2D should be able to run the battery under 1v, it uses the same head as the L1D which is a 1AA light.

It might be an indication of a bad light.

Click to expand...

Ugh..
So the P2D's head doesn't "change over" to a 1.5V circuit when used in a L1D body?

In that case.. my "dead" 2.76 V batt should definitely have some more runtime left(?)
It's an Energizer e2 lithium.
I'll have to check it out when i get home tonight.


Question to Other P2D-Q5 owners...
What Voltage are your dead cr123 primary batts from your P2D-Q5 ?

Re: What should be the V of dead cr123 primary from P2D-Q5 ?

tony22r said:

Question to Other P2D-Q5 owners...
What Voltage are your dead cr123 primary batts from your P2D-Q5 ?

Click to expand...

Good question

Re: What should be the V of dead cr123 primary from P2D-Q5 ?

2.76v on a lithium CR123 battery is dead. Try measuring it under load. Li battery voltage measured open circuit is a very poor indicator of charge.

Re: What should be the V of dead cr123 primary from P2D-Q5 ?

cave dave said:

2.76v on a lithium CR123 battery is dead. Try measuring it under load. Li battery voltage measured open circuit is a very poor indicator of charge.

Click to expand...

Thanks cave dave,
Good to know it's not my P2D-Q5!

What is a good way to measure charge? (with a multimeter?)

I understand it's important not to mix different charge cr123 batts in a 2xCR123 flashlight.. i've read about explosions, etc.. so i'd like to learn some good ways to determine charge.

So far, with my P2D-Q5 and a multimeter just measuring Volts.. I've found that:

3.24 V = fresh Energizer e2
3.03 V = same batt above, after just a few days
2.76 V = dead, won't power up in Low mode


I used paperclip trick to bypass switch.. same results, so switch is good.

Re: What should be the V of dead cr123 primary from P2D-Q5 ?

tony22r said:

Thanks cave dave,
Good to know it's not my P2D-Q5!

What is a good way to measure charge? (with a multimeter?)

I understand it's important not to mix different charge cr123 batts in a 2xCR123 flashlight.. i've read about explosions, etc.. so i'd like to learn some good ways to determine charge.

Click to expand...

Because Lithium primary cells have a flat discharge curve under load (ie the voltage stays the same) it is virtually impossible to tell the state of charge except for the very fresh and the very dead batteries. See chart below:

I would never mix two batteries that have been used separately. I always use fresh batteries in multi cell lights.

Some people here use a ZTS battery tester. I use the less expensive model on new cells to weed out odd ones. It my opinion the ZTS tester produces very inconsistent results so I wouldn't rely on it to match used cells.
http://www.lighthound.com/sales/zts_battery_testers.htm

I have also used a Micropuck and a old Lux emitter wired up so I can test voltage and amperage under load.

Some also use flash amps - but frankly I don't recommend it as it can damage your battery and seems more dangerous than just taking your chances.


Borrowed this chart from Silverfox. As you can see under load the CR123 hovers around 2.75v at a 280mA load for most of the run. So even if you measured 2.75v under load what would that mean? The battery could be 90% full or only 20% full.

Re: What should be the V of dead cr123 primary from P2D-Q5 ?

cave dave said:

...Borrowed this chart from Silverfox. As you can see under load the CR123 hovers around 2.75v at a 280mA load for most of the run. So even if you measured 2.75v under load what would that mean? The battery could be 90% full or only 20% full...

Click to expand...

Excellent chart!
Ah.. that explains everything, thanks for posting : o )

No more flash?

Happy days are here again!

Is this true of the new Rebel 100 P2Ds as well?