FW3A, a TLF/BLF EDC flashlight - SST-20 available, coupon codes public

[ToyKeeper]

FWIW, the recommended cells for this light are the highest-mAh cells, like a GA cell or 35E — Panasonic/Sanyo NCR18650GA and Samsung INR18650-35E. The LG MJ1 should be good too. Basically, anything from a reputable brand with 3400+ mAh.

The downside is that turbo won’t be quite as bright, but it’s not really noticeable without a lux meter. The upsides are longer runtime, less heat, and less risk of heat issues.

[djozz]

@TK

The downside is that turbo won’t be quite as bright, but it’s not really noticeable without a lux meter.

Even use a luxmeter and you may be disappointed, the top high drain cells compared to a GA or lower drain may get you higher output for 5 seconds, then nose-diving under the output with moderate drain cells because of the extra hot leds.

The FW3A performance makes for the perfect usable EDC, what stands out is its small size yet still impressive output and good efficiency up to 3A, but as an extra has the BLF-touch of a short FET-blast when people need to be wowed.

[Firelight2]

Swapped in a Noctigon triple with 3x SST-20, 4000K 95 CRI. The results are about what you would expect:

• better color rendition than the stock 3D XPL HI
• noticeably dimmer than XPL HI
• slightly greenish at lower modes
• I tried installing some Lee 279 filter as a test. The filter reduced the green and produced a beautifully rosy tint. However, the filter reduces output 14% and makes the tint warmer so may not be worth it.
• gets hot insanely faster than XPL HI due to the lower vF emitter. That’s not a good thing as it means less runtime in turbo. And because of the lower output I’d probably want turbo more often.

I’m not sure the benefits of tint and CRI outweigh the large loss of lumens and turbo runtime compared to XPL HI. When I sit this light side-by-side with my resistor-modded Jetbeam TCR-01 triple XPL HI, the stock FW3A appears brighter at 2.8 amp mode. When I do the same with the SST-20 modded version with Lee Filter, the hotspot appears dimmer. I have to go to FET mode if I want it brighter.

I suspect I’ll end up swapping this light back to XPL HI of some kind. It just seems to be a more practical emitter for small triples with minimal heatsinking.

[cabfrank]

Thanks!

[teacher]

@Firelight2

Swapped in a Noctigon triple with 3x SST-20, 4000K 95 CRI. The results are about what you would expect:

• better color rendition than the stock 3D XPL HI
• noticeably dimmer than XPL HI
• slightly greenish at lower modes
• I tried installing some Lee 279 filter as a test. The filter reduced the green and produced a beautifully rosy tint. However, the filter reduces output 14% and makes the tint warmer so may not be worth it.
• gets hot insanely faster than XPL HI due to the lower vF emitter. That's not a good thing as it means less runtime in turbo. And because of the lower output I'd probably want turbo more often.

I’m not sure the benefits of tint and CRI outweigh the large loss of lumens and turbo runtime compared to XPL HI. When I sit this light side-by-side with my resistor-modded Jetbeam TCR-01 triple XPL HI, the stock FW3A appears brighter at 2.8 amp mode. When I do the same with the SST-20 modded version with Lee Filter, the hotspot appears dimmer. I have to go to FET mode if I want it brighter.

I suspect I’ll end up swapping this light back to XPL HI of some kind. It just seems to be a more practical emitter for small triples with minimal heatsinking.

Thank you for the detailed report Firelight2. It seems to verify to me what ToyKeeper has said all along …
……. the XP-L HI is the superior LED for ’this light’.

I’ll get a STT20 if it get’s made, but only to use a host. The SST20 has far to many downsides to be of any value to me in this light. Thanks for your report verifying that to me.

[BurningPlayd0h]

@JasonWW

@djozz

I do not agree, the 30Q is a very high current cell, fine for that short full blast but when aimed for a “nice compromise”, it is not needed for the FW3A.

It’s just a matter of opinion. If you want to think of the 30Q as a very high current cell, then that’s fine. It’s a 3000mah cell with a 15A CDR.
I tend to think of a cell like the Sony VTC4 2100mah with a 30A CDR as a very high drain.
No biggie.

Although that’s what the 30Q is rated at, many drain tests show that they can achieve nearly 20A CDR in reality without any temp issues.

[M3CSL]

Found this site via a search, I am apparently too late for this groupbuy - will there be another groupbuy for this light or will there be another/newer/different variant of it?

Thank you!

[Klayking]

@Firelight2

* Or maybe I should try LH351D. Checking my parts bin I actually have a 20mm triple star with LH351D 4000K 90 CRI already on it.

Not asking you to spend time on anything you’re not planning on doing already, but after hearing about your SST-20 swap, I am quite curious to know if the LH351D could be an acceptable middle ground between XP-L HI and SST-20. With the floodiest optic available, it could make for one heck of a portable photography light.

Thanks for posting your SST-20 findings by the way. Really useful info.

[delusional]

M3CSL, this is not technically a groupbuy at BLF. You might want to try the other forum, if you know what that is.
I started there, but like this one a lot better.

[M3CSL]

Thank you. I am not in an urgent need of a new light, but google gave me the link to this thread. I am happy to wait for the next version of this light, if there is one. Otherwise I will look to the other 2 forums I found.
Thanks.

[djozz]

@M3CSL

Thank you. I am not in an urgent need of a new light, but google gave me the link to this thread. I am happy to wait for the next version of this light, if there is one. Otherwise I will look to the other 2 forums I found.
Thanks.

Apart from the FW3A, you may like to stick around here, there’s much more flashlight stuff to enjoy. We’re full of people who are “not in an urgent need of a new light”, that attitude fits right in. Welcome to BLF

[JasonWW]

@M3CSL

Thank you. I am not in an urgent need of a new light, but google gave me the link to this thread. I am happy to wait for the next version of this light, if there is one. Otherwise I will look to the other 2 forums I found.
Thanks.

I would check on Nealsgadgets.com Ask about the $36 price. It might have gone up a few dollars. I’m sure there will be coupon codes. It’s just all sold out at the moment.

[M3CSL]

You guys will help me develop another addiction Recently I got rid off my knife, car parts/tuning and R/C hobbies! My credit cards are starting to get anxious again…

(full disclosure: I have several Maglites and also recently purchased another light on banggood)

Thanks for all the links, will look into them.

[KevinZA1988]

@M3CSL

You guys will help me develop another addiction Recently I got rid off my knife, car parts/tuning and R/C hobbies! My credit cards are starting to get anxious again…

(full disclosure: I have several Maglites and also recently purchased another light on banggood)

Thanks for all the links, will look into them.

Welcome to the bottomless pit!

[idleprocess]

@EnlightenMe

It appears to depend on what you ordered and whether you paid for expedited shipping. The wait list arrangement is not an indicator of shipping order.

And surely independent of my mutterings I have a shipment notification this morning.

[EnlightenMe]

Same here. I tried tracking it at 17track.net … no dice

[abhinit90]

I’m still holding out for the SST-20 version, the coupon code will be valid by then, right?

[oweban]

Got my shipping email, locked and loaded into Postal Ninja.

Thanks to Firelight2 for the analysis, I’m sure most everyone here is very appreciative for your efforts

[bushmaster]

I too was notified of my flashlight shipping this morning. My number on the “new” list was up around 990, so I fully expected that it wouldn’t go out until after May 8th. The notice was a very nice surprise to start my day.

[EnlightenMe]

I was able to find (what appears to be) reliable tracking info at parcelsapp.com