I have a bunch of these lights and I was experiencing the same problem. First, the light will time out after 4 minutes so while you can drain your battery over time it should not happen after a single incident. If it keeps happening, however, it is an easy fix to return it to signal mode. Press the button until you get to strobe mode. Press and hold the button for 10-15 seconds while in strobe mode. The light should blink three times after 10-15 seconds indicating that it is in signal mode. To return to steady on, from off, simply press and hold the button for 10-15 seconds (the light will be on while you are pressing and turn off after 10-15 seconds indicating steady on mode).