BLF Q8 Narsil Operation

2017-04-03 T.E. – Narsil v1.3

The user interface’s design goal is to be fast and simple, but with many advanced features to support the latest innovations,
and allow the user to configure the light’s operation to his/her liking. The configuration settings are stored permanently. There
are two choices for primary use: Ramping or Mode Sets, Ramping is defaulted.

Summary of Features
• Ramping – smooth 150 level ramping, simple click&hold ramps, 1 click ON to last level, 1 click OFF, direction of
ramping will toggle unless you remain at a level more than 1.2 seconds
• Mode Sets – quick access to lowest and highest modes, 1 click OFF
• 12 mode sets to choose from, 1 to 8 modes per set including optional moon mode
• Moon mode level can be set, modes can be arranged for low to hi, or hi to low
• Multiple strobe and beacon modes can be accessed, total of 5 special modes (16 Hz strobe, police strobe, bike strobe,
2 sec beacon, and 10 sec beacon)
• Low Voltage Protection (LVP) – output is decreased starting at ~3.2V, shut off at ~3.0V, both with blink warnings
• Timed or Thermal stepdown can be selected or disabled (works for high output levels in Ramping too)
• When power is applied, 2 blinks indicate it’s ready
• An Indicator LED (SMD LED) is supported as a locator LED and low voltage indicator
• Battery and Temperature Check – blink out voltage and temp in C (ex: 3.7V would be 3 blinks, pause, then 7 blinks)
• Lock-out feature for the side switch – enabled and disable by a special click sequence
• 20 second button press safety lock-out feature (engages lock-out after 20 secs being held)

Configuration Settings Summary

1. Primary mode setting of Ramping or Mode Set
2. 12 sets of modes to choose from with 1 to 7 output levels
3. Moonlight mode can be optionally added (enable/disable), and the moon output level custom set
4. Set the mode order, default is low to hi, hi to low can be enabled
5. Enable or disable mode memory
6. Enable/disable turbo timeout and sets the length of time from 30 secs to 10 minutes
7. Enable/disable the Locator LED feature (locate the flashlight in the dark)
8. Set the moon mode brightness from 1-7 (3 is recommended, but 2 may work, and 4-7 used to make it brighter)
9. Configure where Battery voltage level blinks - both on the Indicator LED and primary LED, or just the Indicator LED
10. Enable/disable the Indicator LED – disabled it if it’s not wired up or to disable it’s use completely
11. Enable/disable a power tail switch for switching modes with memory. An OTC (Off Time Cap) is not needed, but may
not work with all hardware designs.

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Ramping Operation
• From OFF, click&hold ramps up with a pause at moon level -- click to turn ON at last level
• From ON, click&hold ramps up or down, toggling direction unless paused for at least 1.2 sec – click to turn OFF
• Double-click from OFF or ON to turn on max level (the max level does not override the last level)
• Triple-click from OFF or ON to engage Battery Check mode
• 4X-click from OFF or ON to Lock-Out the light
• When at max level, a double-click will turn the 1st Strobe ON
• When in Strobe, clicks without pausing will skip to the next special mode (strobe or beacon). The special mode
navigation works just like normal mode set operation: click&hold goes to the previous special mode, paused in a mode
will lock it in
• In Battery check mode, a double-click blinks out temperature in Celsius, another double-click blinks out the firmware
version # (v1.3 is 1 blink followed by 3 more)

Mode Set Operation

• From OFF, a click goes to 1st mode, while a click&hold (~1/3 sec) goes to last mode
• When ON, a click goes to next mode, while a click&hold goes to the previous mode
• if paused in a mode (over 1.2 secs), the mode locks in and then a click will turn the light OFF
• If you are locked in a mode, a click&hold will still work to go to previous mode, and the lock-in cancels
• in any mode, including OFF, a long hold (over 1.1 sec) will turn the 1st Strobe ON
• When in Strobe, clicks without pausing will skip to the next special mode (strobe or beacon). The special mode
navigation works just like normal modes: click&hold goes to the previous special mode, paused in a mode will lock it in

Low Voltage Protection

With the light ON, when the battery voltage falls below 3.2V, it blinks three times, then drops the output level. This will be
repeated until it’s at the lowest output level. If at the lowest level, and voltage falls at or below 3.0V, it blinks 8 times, then
turns the light OFF.

If the Indicator LED is enabled, it blinks three times as well every time the modes are dropped down, and will also blink twice
every 8 seconds while the light is ON. Once the light is turned OFF after low voltage has been detected, the Indicator light will
continue to blink twice every 8 seconds for 6 minutes after being turned OFF, then the light goes into power saver mode. The
Indicator LED will be turned OFF if the battery voltage is below 3.2V prior to going into power saver mode to save battery
charge.

Note: When the 3.2V level is reached, and amps are reduced, the cells partially recover some voltage, so the output will stay
there for a while before the next drop. If you have cells on the bench that read below 3.2V, chances are it will go thru several
drops one after another, at 5 second iterations.

Battery Check
To Activate, Mode Set operation: from OFF, do a click quickly followed by a click&hold and keep holding for 2.5 secs.
Ramping operation: triple-click. The voltage reading of the cell will be blinked out continuously – 1 click will terminate the
voltage reading. For example, a 3.7V reading will results in 3 blinks, short pause, then 7 blinks. This pattern will continue
forever until a click terminates it. This mode can double as a long term beacon.

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Lock-Out Feature
Often a light will be carried in a pocket, bag or holster where the switch might be accidentally engaged. To avoid accidental
activation, sometimes the tailcap can be loosened to break the battery connection. For lights that don’t work that way, or
another method preferred (avoid wear and tear on the threading), you can enter a special sequence to lock-out the light as
follows:

• Ramping operation: From OFF or ON, 4 clicks in quick sequence. The light will blink 4 quick times to acknowledge
Lock-Out has been engaged, then the normal operation of the switch should be disabled.
• Mode Set operation: From OFF, 2 clicks in quick sequence followed quickly by a click&hold. The light will blink 4 quick
times to acknowledge Lock-Out has been engaged, then the normal operation of the switch should be disabled. If you
see strobe instead of the 4 quick blinks, you know lock-out did not get set (you probably were too slow).
• To restore normal operation, do the same Lock-Out sequence. The 4 quick blinks should appear to acknowledge the
action.

For both Ramping and Mode Set operation, lock-out will automatically be activated after 20 seconds of the button being
held. This is meant as a safety precaution if physically stuck, but can also be activated manually.

Indicator LED
When enabled, the Indicator LED can be used for the following:

• to locate the flashlight in the dark (Locator feature)

• to blink out the battery level and temperature
• as a secondary indicator of blinking when the main LED blinks
• in Ramping, when you ramp to a new level, the Indicator LED will blink once to show only the 7135 is active (lower
modes, high efficiency under 180 lumens), or blink twice to show the FET is active

When the Locator feature is enabled, the LED can be temporarily turned OFF

• Ramping operation: from OFF, click&hold and as soon as moon mode goes ON, click quickly to turn OFF – the
Indicator/Locator LED will turn OFF
• Mode Set operation: from OFF, 1 quick click followed by a click&hold til the main LED goes off. To toggle it back on,
repeat the same procedure (OFF -> quick click, click&hold)

Note: the locator feature is turned OFF when the light is in Lock-Out.

Mode Set Definitions

Mode Set Order Mode Count Mode Percentages Notes
1 1 full only (full is always max FET, no 7135)
2 2 10-full max 7135, max FET
3 3 5-35-full 5=1/2 7135, 35=mixed
4 4 2-10-40-full 10=max 7135, 40=mixed
5 5 2-5-10-40-full 10=max 7135, 40=mixed
6 6 TK BLF A6 7 mode 6 well evenly spread
7 7 1-2.5-6-10-35-65-full 10=max 7135, 35=mixed
8 3 10-25-50 10=max 7135
9 3 2-20-full 2=1/5 7135, 20=mixed
10 3 2-40-full 2=1/5 7135, 40=mixed
11 3 10-35-full 10=max 7135, 35=mixed
12 4 TK BLF A6 4 mode 4 well evenly spread

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Configuration UI Operation
For Ramping, hold the button for 8 seconds, and for Mode Sets, hold the button for 2.5 seconds to activate the main
Configuration UI settings. The light blinks 2 times quickly, and once slowly to indicate Configuration UI mode is active. As
listed below, you can change or leave any of these settings – there’s no need to set each one. Clicks choose the value for each
setting, and each click will blink the light to acknowledge the click. If you disable Ramping, then the next setting will be #2
under Mode Sets, and visa versa. If no clicks are entered in 3.2 seconds, the light jumps to the next configuration setting
indicated by 2 quick blinks and slow quicks of the number for what setting it is (ex: 3 slow blinks means the 3rd setting). You
can bypass the timeout by doing a click&hold to skip to the next setting. If you continue to hold it, it will exit configuration UI
settings mode altogether, indicated by 4 quick blinks.

For thermal stepdown, the main LEDs will go to max output, if you click in under 5 secs, the set temperature will be
unaffected, but more than 5 secs, the current temperature reading will be recorded as the new temperature to use for the
stepdown – be sure you set it high enough – light should be hot enough to barely hold, or even hotter. Factory default
temperature is 52C, but calibration will vary from unit to unit.

When timed stepdown is chosen, it will blink, prompting to enter the choice of time, 1-7 clicks as described below.

Configuration Settings – Ramping

Setting # Function Clicks Defaults
1 Ramping Mode 1=disable, 2=enable 2
2 Set Moonlight Level 1 - 7 (PWM value) 3
3 Thermal/timed stepdown 1=disable, 2= Temperature, 3=timed 3-4
Timed: 1=60secs, 2=90secs, 3=2 mins, 4=3 mins,
5=5 mins, 6=7 mins
4 Blinky mode 1=disable, 2=one strobe, 3=all strobes/beacons 3

Configuration Settings – Mode Sets

Setting # Function Clicks Defaults
1 Ramping Mode 1=disable, 2=enable 2
2 Choose Mode Set 1-12 (1-7 is # of modes) – see Mode Sets 4
3 Moon Mode 1=disable, 2=enable 2
4 Mode ordering 1= sets lohi, 2=sets hilo 1
5 Mode Memory 1=disable, 2=enable 1
6 Set Moonlight Level 1 - 7 (PWM value) 3
7 Thermal/timed stepdown 1=disable, 2= Temperature, 3=timed 3-4
Timed: 1=60secs, 2=90secs, 3=2 mins, 4=3 mins,
5=5 mins, 6=7 mins
8 Blinky mode 1=disable, 2=one strobe, 3=all strobes/beacons 3

Advanced Configuration UI Operation

The Advanced Configuration UI settings is activated from Battery Check mode by doing a click& hold for at least 1.1 seconds.
The battery voltage reading will be interrupted, then the light will blink 2 times quickly, and once slowly to indicate the Adv.
Configuration UI mode is active. There are 5 settings summarized below, and operates the same as the main configuration UI.

Setting # Function Clicks Defaults

1 Locator LED feature 1=disable, 2=enable 2
2 Battery level Indicator LED 1=disable, 2=enable 1
Only
3 Indicator LED Enable 1=disable, 2=enable 2

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