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 
); 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
Okay, it looks like Lumintop is using some not so great paste that dries out quickly. I don’t like that kind of paste. Replacing it with something better is a good move. :+1:
Yep… sadly it looks pretty crappy & not spread very well. 
Has anyone else run into the issue where holding the switch just produces a low level fast strobe? ToyKeeper said it’s probably a short causing the driver to continuously reboot, or something to that effect. One of my FW3As does it on and off, and bmengineer and vinh (skylumen) have both had the same problem.
I think it’s from the inner tube not making good contact. Clean all the tube ends and contacts, then tighten up the tail first, snugly, then tighten the head. The tolerances on this light design are quite tight.
When will these manufacturers learn? This seems to be a very common ‘shortcut’ that seems to happen over and over again from a lot of companies. Not like it’s a half hour job or would cost any more, and if it did I think it’s safe to say we’d all be happy to pay $0.50 more to have it done properly so we don’t have to.
You would think they know by now there would be backlash, particularly when it has been designed by enthusiasts - it’s kind of a given that the first thing a good portion of these people will do is strip it down! :person_facepalming:
I just think it makes them look sloppy, when there is zero need for it really - bad press for the sake of it.
Yeah, it’s not that much more expensive to do it properly. At least Lumintop applied that paste in a “good enough” way, covering a decent area.
I recently opened my S2+ SST-20 and Convoy had used thermal paste that looked good but it covered only maybe 30% of the area.
I’m splitting hairs here but in my opinion “a dab + press it in” is not good enough. Surely you could just spend the couple of seconds it would take to twist the MCPCB back and forth a couple of times to spread the paste. These are not some CPU/GPU coolers with a decent amount of mounting pressure that actually spread the paste when you screw them down.
And adding a teeny weeny bit more to make sure there is enough to fully take advantage of the surface area doesn’t hurt and won’t cost that much more…
P.S. I personally use Arctic MX-2 for everything as it’s cheap, available in large tubes, offers good performance and it’s lower viscosity makes it easy to work with and spread easily without needing to warm it up.
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maybe 2+ years wasn’t enuf time to get all the details right.
My understanding is thermal paste should never be reused. To get best thermal contact you should always clean off the old thermal paste and apply a fresh layer anytime you remove the star.
@ GOOSE … Yeah, I know what you mean. If it wasn’t so sad it would be almost funny. Why not just do it 100%… or at least 99%.
There is a knife company very close to where ai live… they do the same thing. They build a very decent knife but the fit n’ finish is most often 90% - 95%. My buddy & I just look at each other & shake our heads.
All it would take is just a very, very tiny bit of extra effort or attention and it would make all the difference in the world…… instead of being “just good enough”. 
I don’t know what the experts say, but for me I never reuse it.
I do just what you said… clean it all off and start with fresh new thermal paste.
Seems easy on the paper but this is the difference between a big name and a random inferior brand. The hardest is to achieve this last percentage closer to perfection. But not anyone can do it or can afford to do it.
Yep… as far as performance these knive are not inferior, they preform well. It’s just the last little bit of fitment of handle slabs, one more tap on a pin to close a tiny gap, etc., etc.
But like you said, that seperates the men from the boys. And it also seperates price points.
Maybe they are where they want to be in the market place???
Yeah lol, or maybe we are just fussy moaning old gits! :disguised_face: But I don’t think so really, it’s not a big ask to have it done properly, I would expect it on a $10 light for the masses, but a $35 for enthusiasts… well maybe not.
/\ … I am a somewhat picky old fart, but I don’t even think things like this is being picky. It’s just like you said… do it right. The first time…
Expected results: lamp turns on/off, smooth ramping of light level from floor to ceiling. (very similar to the Q8 behavior)
Actual results: lamp turns on, switches between ceiling, and turbo mode. lamp will not shut off without removing the battery.
Now, I purchased two FW3A lamps, one works exactly as expected, the other lamp does not function like my Q8. It could be that the lamp is in some odd mode, but it does not function as expected.
Battery used: Sanyo UR18650NSX, also tried LG HG2 - no change.
Has anyone got any advice on further troubleshooting?
This worked for me. Thanks. My symptoms were, I would just get a blink as I was tightening the head on but other than that the light was unresponsive. I had taken both ends off a few times when I was trying to figure out what was going on. But nothing worked until I followed these instructions.