it looks like progress in getting what we like. Thanks TA and maukka for the effort.
Indeed. I so wish it will be generally available in the near future….It negates the biggest issue with this otherwise-great LED.
Great, thanks for the test results maukka! Glad these are not flat out lies like the “FA1” that turned out to be FB4.
Djozz your samples should not be far behind (sent samples to both of you since it was only a few extra bucks and I knew you would both be interested).
Far as ordering them, sadly that is not possible for us normal people, it was from some wholesale distributor in china. I have spent the last few months talking to luminus and everyone else I can find to track these down. Ended up that these popped up at some distributor Mateminco knew and they snatched them up.
That said I am trying to get my hands on some of them and if that is possible I might run a group buy if there are enough to go around. There are only around 800 FA3 in the world that I could find but there are more FD2. Not sure how many I could talk my way into as they don’t even have enough for the MT18 they are planning to put them into.
I will update you once I know more about availability.
I suppose that’s supposed to be aren’t, since to me these seem to land where they should? 
lol, good catch.
Thanks TA and Maukka! Finally some good 4000k 90+ CRI emitters. The FA3 is further below the BBL whereas the FD2 is still mostly above the BBL so I think the FA3 should have much better tint especially when used in mid and low output. It could be just the random sample though. Hope we can get a group buy for these soon to be extinct good tint SST-20.
Huh, guys I just noticed.
The SST-20 4000k is now available on Mouser.
Will ask for the tint bin.
Might be good like the 3000-3500k, but I really doubt it.
For some reason the WW (sub-3500k) and CW tint (5700k+) SST-20 are available below the BBL but the NW mid range tints are basically impossible to find. They have 100k FB4 tint bin LED’s ready to go though lol
All the 3000k on the market are good. However, didn’t the 3500k group buy you organized that Mouser said was GA3 tint bin unfortunately tested out to be above the BBL and likely a GB4 tint bin?
No, it was a GA3, right on the BBL. That’s what Mouser told me anyway.
The problem for these LEDs is that they tested very slightly below the BBL, or on the BBL.
That means while an LED might pass Luminus’ binning tests, it might not for us flashlights.
Actually it is slightly above BBL even without reflector or optics. Once you add the reflector or optics and/or run it on low output, it will always be above the BBL, so it is not like the 3000k HD2 tint bin that is always below the BBL. GA3 tint is supposed to be entirely below the BBL.
This is really useful data.
I was really hoping the FA3 bin would be below BBL even at low power, but it looks like it still isn’t. Great tint at higher power though. I should put some on a MCPCB to see how it looks during use.
Would it be safe to use SST-20 with a FET driver in 18650 light?
They are unobtainium apparently. TA keeping his stash secret for production lights 
A single SST-20 fries at about 7A, so triples or quads are your best bet when using them with a FET. Otherwise with a medium drain cell like NCR18650GA and a light that isn’t SUPER low resistance a single one should be fine, people have been using them in the D1S and other FET lights.
Texas_Ace had his supplier send me a few, totally out of the blue. I’m not sure why. I don’t have good test equipment like maukka does, and I’ve never actually reflowed LEDs onto a MCPCB. But perhaps it’s time to start.
Based on what I have seen in maukka’s review for CRI and output, the high CRI SST-20 is best used at around 1.5-3.5A as max current. Under 1.5A, tint is not pushed enough to or below the BBL, above 3A, but especially above 4A, color rendering for deep red (R9) starts to get somewhat worse (still above 60), and regarding efficiency, my choice is also max 3.5A, because when the current is raised above that, the gain in output is not really perceivable, but both heat production and battery runtimes go linearly worse - and above 5.5A, probably LED will degrade much faster during usage.
So if a FET is considered, a single emitter configuration will probably fry the emitter, unless other specific circumstances get the current down enough.
(But I would happily take a look at those posts, which confirm, that single emitter FET thrower builds are possible).
Thanks to those of us who actively attract regulated drivers there are now more of them. I recommend you to stop the anathema of FET drivers and start thinking higher. Believe right, there are no limits.
Well, I was worried that SST-20 and FET were not a great combo. But it was at the edge of my understanding of the stuff so I was not sure. Thank you all for the confirmation.
Yeah, that’s right.
FET+SST-20+low resistance circuit = poof. Magic smoke is released.