FW3A Troubleshooting / FAQ

there is no need to disassemble the tailcap...

if a repair will be necessary on day its good to know upfront to look at a small part not to disappear.

otherwise :leave it as it is and stay happy ;)

Best advice so far…… :beer:

You don't have to tell me twice!

:open_mouth: common sense prevails once again…. :beer:

I just removed the clip because I plan to holster it ( of course, bezel side up while doing it), and aside from the usual black o-ring, there also was a thin, white o-ring placed in front of the clip (facing to the head) presumably to prevent the clip from rattling.

What do you guys think, put back the white o-ring back when the clip is off?

Today in FW3A news: Big feels for little nubs.

That O-ring is there to keep the clip from rotating when the tailcap is tightened. If you don’t use the clip, it may be a good idea to take the white O-ring off too… and replace it with a thicker one to fill the gap. It doesn’t matter for waterproofing, but putting something in that gap gives it a better tactile feel.

I had a lose Driver retainer ring on my flaschlight. I could hear it wgile opening for inserting the battery.

I experienced the same issue with the driver not sitting against the keyed section properly. It's fixed for now, but it took some effort for two reasons:

  1. The retaining ring has loads of slop in relation to the threads, and can come extremely close to the inner contact ring.
  2. No one bothered to blow my sample out after machining, and there were tiny aluminum chips trying to short circuit whatever components they could.

Hopefully it's fixed now and I didn't miss any stray chips that are waiting to cause more trouble.

I hope this is the right place to ask. I have never modded a flashlight in my life, nor ever used a solder. But I couldn’t wait any longer and ordered one in XP-L HI 3D. I hope to replace the LEDs with LH351D 4000ks. How difficult will it be to do this mod? I assume it’s best to replace the entire MCPCB and I know Kaidomain and Mountain Electronics both sell triple LH351Ds pre-mounted. Will I just need to buy one of those boards and a solder gun? I apologize for being a total muggle but any information would be much appreciated.

In theory, yes. However, some Kaidomain triple boards need different optics. The ones I have don’t match with Carclo optics.

Who has triple LH351D 4000K 90CRI pre-mounted Carclo compatible is L4P.

https://led4power.com/product/3x-samsung-lh351d-4000k-90cri-led-sphwhtl3da0gf4t0q6-20mm-3xp-20mm-dtp-copper-mcpcb/

Ooopsss… It seems to be SOLDOUT. The BUY button disappeared.

I chuckled at the “nut roaster” comment in the manual. The clip is stronger than I expected which was a nice suprise. And it tailstands, which was also a nice suprise. I have finally found a ramping e-switch light I can live with and actually carry. Kudos to the team here and at TLF for putting this together, and for Lumintop for building it! I’d love to see an 18350 tube, and different finishes a’la the Emisar lights.

You should watch a lot of videos on soldering. Try to get an iron with some good power like 45w or more.

Even though I’m not very good at it, I can say it isn’t that hard. Get a board, pre-mounted, and some thermal paste. It is only two wires that way. Maybe practice a little on something else first.

You don’t need paste, just rosin core solder. Yes, practice removing and reattaching wires to junk electronics.

For the FW3A you are removing 2 wires, swapping a board, then reattaching the 2 wires.

The only tricky thing about it is the mcpcb is a big heat sink so your iron needs to be pretty hot to melt the solder.

That was thermal paste, not solder paste

/\ +1, like cabfrank said……
Thermal Paste.

Okay, I see what what you mean now. There should already be thermal compound under the mcpcb. Just reuse what is there. You only need a super thin layer to fill the microscopic gaps.

If you want to be on the safe side and have plenty for future use, I’d buy this tiny size Arctic Silver 5 from MTN E for $6. That should last you forever, plus it’s top on the line and reusable.

Personally, I will be using brand spanking new Thermal Paste (Arctic Silver 5 to be exact :+1: ); especially after reading THIS & seeing the associated pictures.

I’ll be doing that with any change of MCPCB & may do it on the ones left stock to just be sure.

Cleaning off all the old thermal paste & applying new just makes sense to me…. ymmv