FW3A Troubleshooting / FAQ

Thank you Lexel, so if we gave up the ability to reflash (easily) we could gain another pin to use by getting rid of the reset fuse. But, not practical for mass production, and not much memory left on the Attiny85 with Anduril to utilize said pin.

I worked in a remote bush camp many years ago where the rule was, anyone who complained about the food immediately became the cook.

In my opinion, this flashlight is flawless! :smiley:

There isn’t currently anywhere to attach an aux LED board in the FW3A, unless it was on all the time with no ability for the user to control the aux LEDs. Here’s the MCU pin layout:

/* BLF/TLF FW3A driver layout
 *           ----
 *   Reset -|1  8|- VCC
 * eswitch -|2  7|- optic nerve
 *     FET -|3  6|- 7x7135
 *     GND -|4  5|- 1x7135
 *           ----
 */

However, if you cut pin 7, it could be used for this purpose. Basically remove the capacitor and resistor it’s attached to, put on a different resistor (optional), and attach it to an aux LED board instead. Flash new firmware with support for aux LEDs, and it should work.

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Discovered an issue today:

Several times now after inserting the battery at the head and then screwing closed the light I’ve noted that the head sometimes stops screwing down a couple mm before it should. This appears to be caused by the inner switch contact tube being slightly off-center and hitting the edges of the narrow driver retaining ring. When this happens the inner tube does not make contact with the driver and the light does not work.

If this occurs, the light can still be screwed down by unscrewing and then rescrewing the head in several times until things line up right. But that doesn’t solve the problem and is frustrating to do. This issue occurred with both my FW3As.

Analysis and Solution:

The problem appears to be caused by the driver retaining ring not being screwed tight to the driver at the factory. If you encounter this issue, use tweezers to turn the driver retaining ring so that it is flush against the driver. Once the retaining ring is snug, this problem goes away completely.

Whew, that’s a relief. I think even my feeble modding skills can handle that.

Standard procedure for any new flashlight is to make sure all threaded parts are tight. Things tend to loosen during shipping :wink:

its not the shipping its the boss telling their worker: “assemble faster or you get fired”

Most likely…. :wink:

I also encountered the same problem.

In addition to tightening the retaining ring.
Also align the 2 notches shown in the figure below.

Thank steel for the additional advice & photos. That step is invaluable to know also…… :beer:

You and Firelight2 have save people a ton of annoyances by your postings! :+1:

If they will only read them that is…. :person_facepalming: . :smiley: . :smiley:

Thanks for posting about this and including pictures!

That confirms the driver isn’t glued, and it also confirms the driver fit issue is completely fixed.

Also, if someone doesn’t know there’s a notch in the driver, it can be easy to miss… and then it’ll be confusing to figure out why the light doesn’t fit together quite right.

How the heck is she supposed to catch up on new YouTube videos, sip her coffee and discuss the latest Game of Thrones episode? Wow!

A big thanks for troubleshooting the retaining ring and pointing out that notch. I’ll check mine when it arrives.

One of my 2 FW3A is not tightened.
This ring is very thin and the structure may not be very strong.
Maybe bring the retaining ring out when disassembling the battery.
But the chances should be small. Because it is not easy to disassemble.
Some retaining rings may have Burr.
You can take it off and trim it, or grind it with sandpaper. (Observant)

Alright, so what do I have to do to run three red XP-E2’s (max 2.5-3.0A/led) safely in the FWA3?

I was hoping somebody would run 3xXHP50.2 3V in there :smiley: But I haven’t seen any triple MCPCBs that would fit.
The end result would probably be a hot light after 2 seconds.

Disable or take the FET off…run off the 7135’s……

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Will the UI work with a removed fet?

I don’t know on this FW3A, but I have blown FET’s on FET+1 7135 drivers and the lower modes still worked………

Take one for science… :smiley:

That would work, but keep in mind that without the FET the driver will only supply 2.8 amps. That’s less than 1 amp per LED which is well below the rated max that you described of 2.5-3.0 amp.

If you want something closer to the max possible output of a red XPE your best bet is to modify the firmware or download firmware someone has modified. Wasn’t TK working on a lower amp firmware for LEDs like this and Oslon white flat?