Disappointed in QIII Runtime

I've been very pleased with the brightness and quality of the light from my Nuwai Q-3, but I'm finding that I get less than 45 minutes of runtime from a fresh battery. At this rate it's going to be too expensive to keep feeding it and too frustrating when the light suddenly goes from full brightness to almost nothing in a couple of seconds with no warning. Argh!

what kind of batteries are you using?

also, I found a couple of my Q3's didn't go into "moon mode" but shut down soon after dimming instead. So I cleaned the contacts and tailcap threads with a metal brush and then contact cleaner. This seemed to make them act like they should.

I'm only on my second battery. The first one came with the light, and the second was an Eveready Lithium. This one went into 'moon' mode for a short while, but the first one just went 'sputter-sputter-poof!'

I'll try cleaning the contacts; that's a good suggestion.

Batteries seem to make a bunch of difference with the QIII. The originals seem to flicker and die; I went with a SL and had a smidgen of moon mode, but I'm sure glad I was near spares when it started fading. .

Sounds like you've probably got a high vf star in there. Swapping for a "J" should give you a more usable moon-mode.

Peter

I just checked the second battery and it measures 2.7 volts at no load. It probably still has enough energy to run something, just not my Q3.

With a "J" Vf star, mine will run 90 minutes before it appears to start dimming. It ran for another 2 hours in moon mode before I quit the experiment. And that was with the original CR123.

People wanting the brightest possible light shouldn't be surprised that it sucks power from its battery as fast as it possibly can.

Yup, same experience, my Panasonic pack battery just went poof. I put in a Tekcell that I got from CC and there is a moon mode so I happy as a clam. Runtime is good imo considering the size to brightness ratio.

Agreed with Gorlank. The Panasonic 123 it came with died on me without even going into moon mode all of a sudden. I measured the Panasonic to be at about 2.8V or so, IIRC. Popped in a used Batterystation 123 and it came on in moon mode, no problems.

Ditto Stanley's comments, with a couple hours moon mode......

Mark

My QIII is drawing .98amps from rechargeabe lir123a (3.6v 580mAh) and gets very HOT!!! My ARC's only draw .46?? Maybe I need to get one with a 1 watt

Put a TxxH or even just a common TxxJ in there and you'll have good runtime. I second the thought of the problem being the Vf of the luxeon. Might even be an "L".

If it's an ***L binned star, a rechargeable 123 ought to /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/buttrock.gif where a disposable 123 just flat out stinks.
#1 take out battery.
#2
Break out your gloves and a good hairdryer on maximum heat, and heat it up until the Q3 head loosens enough to come off.
#3
Use needlenose pliers, or large scissor blades to remove the black plastic star retaining ring like this /\ and turn counterclockwise.
#4
Remove star circuit board assembly and look under the star and tell us the numbers you find under there.


Option#2:
send it to me for a full and thorough investigation.
I have investigated over 100 Q3's so far this year.

Remember that measurement of 123's have to be done under typical load; open circuit measurement is generally only useful for confirming a cell is bad. Even if it reads 3V open circuit, it doesn't necessarily mean it's good. Stick a 5 ohm power resistor across it and see what it shows then.
I had cells that wouldn't evoke the dimmest glow on a Legend LX incan, but popped them into an X0 LED light, and it still worked quite well. Sounds like you could use the spent cells from this and put them in a lower draw light for additional light duty.