Quark Tactical QTA Arrives with a mind of its own!

My brand new Quark Tactical QTA just arrived complete with a new AW 14500 battery. I am so disappointed I could cry. The light seems to have a mind all its own. IF it comes on and that never is a given, 7 times out of 10 it seems to prefer SOS mode. Not too handy. Once in a blue moon it may go to moon light when you loosen the head. Usually it turns off and does nothing. It has NEVER went to program mode. :-( I'm going to give them a call in the AM, I'm hoping the customer service is better then the light. Seriously I tried to research this and it was supposed to be a good light. I HOPE I got a lemon and 47 can get this all fixed up. In the mean time does anyone have any suggestions?
TY

Try cleaning all of the contacts. Also, make sure the retaining ring inside the tail cap is tight.

Ok I tried that and it helped a little. It did go to program mode once or twice?? It then blinked like I was expecting after 10 sec. Now I think I'm doing that right. The program didn't hold. The light still comes up if at all in a random mode. You can be honest with me, shouldn't the light be more solid then that? If I my research failed me and these lights are less then I expected, well that's my bad. I was assuming the light would be at least solid.

^^ +1, another common Quark "Quirk" is the screw down collar for the pocket clip... If it is loose, it prevents the tail cap from tightening down all the way.

Lastly, you could remove the tail cap and bridge the batt tube edge to the neg batt terminal with a paperclip and see if the head is at least operating normally. Clicky or paper clip, both are merely on/off switches.

Ok the light always comes on with the paper clip. It comes on sometime and in some mode with the Clicky :-( so I'm saying it's a problem with the tail cap. Does that sound about right? I'm not happy about this. I don't have much tolerance for EDC equipment that is not 100%. Guess I'll see what customer service has to say tomorrow. Am I expecting too much from this light? I know there is junk out there that just does not work. I have other lights that DO work, I just wanted to try out a 14500 battery and this light seemed to have good reviews. I was hoping this was the ONE! LOL

So with the paperclip, it works, and you can program it normally right? If so, yes the problem is with the clicky.

- You sure the screw down collar for the pocket clip is tight?
- You sure the tailcap retaining ring (silver disk with 2 indentations surrounding the spring) is tight? Needlenose pliers should work.
- Gonna ask the obvious, but have another battery too?

If sure about both, and it still doesn't work, then call 47s tell them what you've tried so far, and they will absolutely take care of you.

FWIW, I've purchased well over a dozen Quarks for myself, friends and family and only ever rec'd 1 DOA (immediately swapped by my dealer) and not a single other failure. (The lights have some unique quirks though)

The paper clip will turn the light on when the clicky will only turn it on sometime. I have not tried to program it that way. Pocket clip ring is tight. Retaining ring is tight. Yep several batteries. I have had the light go to program mode, but not what I would call reliably. I have never see strobe mode of example. I'm not sure when they say "loosen the head x 4 or more then stop in tight or loose" Are they calling the head the connection between the body and the LED or the connection between the LED and the reflector? I haven't been able to get it to program enough to tell. Hay buddy the FWIW is worth a LOT! I'm not going to go postal or anything. I was just hoping for a good solid light that would take a 14500. If 47 has a history of getting things taken care of I'll be happy. Everyone has a dud once in a while.

I just received my QTA the other day, it was DOA out of the box. Shorting the tail out did nothing, Foursevens has been very helpful though. New light is in the mail.

They mean to put one hand on the body and the other on the head. Twist like a pepper grinder, from loose to tight, several times. Now stop with the head loose. Wait a bit.

If the light turns off, you have a contact problem. If it goes flashy then moonlight-dim, you're in programming mode. Click off/on to Low, Med, High, Turbo, Strobe, SOS, moonlight... Stop on, say, Low. Wait until it blinks. Now when the head is loose, the QTA should come on in low.

Do the same stuff, but stop with the head tight. Select Turbo, wait, and now tight = turbo. Youtube has videos of this process to help guide you. Good luck with the switch! They'll take care of you.

I have watched the youtube I got the procedure. My light mostly goes out. There are 2 joints at the "head" one between the body and the LED and one between the LED and the reflector. ?? I can turn them both like a pepper grinder. Maybe I'm not supposed to be able to, that may be part of the problem.

Just as a follow up, I did just get the light to cycle through all of its modes. I set it to "turbo" with the head loose. left it on for 10 seconds it flashed and went back to turbo. I turned the light of. Wouldn't turn back on. Finely came back on SOS tight or loose?? I think this light has issues. Like I said it seems to have a mind of it's own! Will have to call 47s tomorrow. Thanks for the help. BTW I'll let you all know how this works out. It will somehow turn to a reliable light or it will wind up in the junk pile. (LOL It wont be lonely there.)

Yeah, head sounds mess up, my heads seem to be 1 piece, or glued together, with the only useable threads to connect the battery tube. Call them up, send it in, and get a new one. Foursevens does have a very good customer service reputation.... they will take care of you.

Sorry to hear two of you guys got bad examples out of the box.

SOS mode? Maybe the light is trying to tell you something.

Foursevens has the best customer service.

Just a quick update. I just got off the phone with 47s and they confirmed I was not supposed to have 2 movable joints at the head of my QTA. Honestly, when you people said they would take care of it, I believed you but I was not looking forward to the process. I was afraid after explaining my light had I mind all its own, they were going to have me put it through a few simple test. Like you know turn on the light, raze your right foot, slowly raze the left and turn off the light. LOL Then I was fearing the we will send you a new light after you send us the old one notarized by anyone between the ages of 43 and 43 and a half by next Tuesday. You get what I'm saying. BUT NO! Soon as I explained he said he would test out a light and get it out to me PRIORITY mail along with stickers to send the old one back! Looks like you were right 47s has great customer support!

So far Foursevens has been great to deal with, I cannot say the same for Fenix Tactical though. My LD12 stopped working right (mode switch lost turbo mode). And I have sent countless emails to them and they will not help me without a purchase receipt even though I bought it along with batteries and a charger from their own online store! I will probably not deal with Fenix anymore just because of that. Foursevens was great, 2 emails and it was sorted out.

Yes 4Sevens customer service is very helpful, I recently had a very good experience with them.

Final Update: New light arrived over the weekend. (Now that's some fast shipping!) It functioned just as I was expecting! Thank you 4Sevens for the fast, courteous, and efficient customer service! Apparently, I just got a dud out of the box. It happens. All's well that ends well and 4Sevens took good care of it. I'm off to enjoy me new light.

Nice to hear - they'll take care of you for many years to come. Aside from the out-of-the-box problems with some samples of their lights, I've found them very durable/reliable and have never used their CS for a repair.

Yep... 4Sevens has some of the best customer service in the industry.