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

[KawiBoy1428]

I’ll take a Clear, Orange and Blue please…. the FW4A has a bit more Candle/Lightning volume than the triple, so your diffusers will come in handy, me thinks…thank you!

[RobertB]

@KawiBoy1428

@RobertB

@ToyKeeper

@RobertB

It locks out by a quarter turn on the head. No need to remove the head completely

A quarter turn of the head does not actually turn the light off. It only loses power when the head is almost completely off.

However, the standby drain on FW3A is about 0.02 or 0.03 mA, which is lower than a cell’s self-discharge rate. It should last over a decade in theory… or about as long as if the cell were just sitting on a shelf.

Standby drain in lockout mode is the same as the regular “off” mode, so it should be pretty safe to lock the light and leave it in storage. But for the health of the cell inside, it’d be good to drain the cell to about half full first.

And also probably a good idea to make sure the contacts are clean and there’s nothing extra inside the light. If there’s a stray strand of aluminum where it shouldn’t be, it could drain the battery much faster. I haven’t had this happen, but I think one person reported an issue like that… and one person had a similar issue with a ROT66.

So it should be fine, but I’d recommend checking just to be sure. Trust, but verify.

Strange. A quarter turn of the head, turns mine off completely. So it’s not supposed to do that?

https://youtu.be/jt24LINO0l0

Hmmm breaking contact with the springs…what battery are you running…

Just a standard LG HG2 flat top. This is what my battery tube looks like.

[hank]

Strange. A quarter turn of the head, turns mine off completely. So it’s not supposed to do that?

Hm. Thanks for the investigations, y’all.

I like to use a paint-stick marker to put dots on my lights to make it easy to see when the parts have been turned in “on” and “lockout” positions.
So figuring it out for sure is helpful.

[KawiBoy1428]

@RobertB

@KawiBoy1428

@RobertB

@ToyKeeper

@RobertB

It locks out by a quarter turn on the head. No need to remove the head completely

A quarter turn of the head does not actually turn the light off. It only loses power when the head is almost completely off.

However, the standby drain on FW3A is about 0.02 or 0.03 mA, which is lower than a cell’s self-discharge rate. It should last over a decade in theory… or about as long as if the cell were just sitting on a shelf.

Standby drain in lockout mode is the same as the regular “off” mode, so it should be pretty safe to lock the light and leave it in storage. But for the health of the cell inside, it’d be good to drain the cell to about half full first.

And also probably a good idea to make sure the contacts are clean and there’s nothing extra inside the light. If there’s a stray strand of aluminum where it shouldn’t be, it could drain the battery much faster. I haven’t had this happen, but I think one person reported an issue like that… and one person had a similar issue with a ROT66.

So it should be fine, but I’d recommend checking just to be sure. Trust, but verify.

Strange. A quarter turn of the head, turns mine off completely. So it’s not supposed to do that?

https://youtu.be/jt24LINO0l0

Hmmm breaking contact with the springs…what battery are you running…

Just a standard LG HG2 flat top

Weird, both mine need the head almost off before they cut off. The tail cap shuts off at a slight turn which would be normal. Is your driver spring off center or maybe the first coil cantered where simply turning it runs the spring to the shoulder of the battery, breaking contact…

Edit: My tail cap spring is soldered on, off centered and the whole spring/coil leans to one side, thats why I wondered about your driver spring?

[RobertB]

@KawiBoy1428

@RobertB

@KawiBoy1428

@RobertB

@ToyKeeper

@RobertB

It locks out by a quarter turn on the head. No need to remove the head completely

A quarter turn of the head does not actually turn the light off. It only loses power when the head is almost completely off.

However, the standby drain on FW3A is about 0.02 or 0.03 mA, which is lower than a cell’s self-discharge rate. It should last over a decade in theory… or about as long as if the cell were just sitting on a shelf.

Standby drain in lockout mode is the same as the regular “off” mode, so it should be pretty safe to lock the light and leave it in storage. But for the health of the cell inside, it’d be good to drain the cell to about half full first.

And also probably a good idea to make sure the contacts are clean and there’s nothing extra inside the light. If there’s a stray strand of aluminum where it shouldn’t be, it could drain the battery much faster. I haven’t had this happen, but I think one person reported an issue like that… and one person had a similar issue with a ROT66.

So it should be fine, but I’d recommend checking just to be sure. Trust, but verify.

Strange. A quarter turn of the head, turns mine off completely. So it’s not supposed to do that?

https://youtu.be/jt24LINO0l0

Hmmm breaking contact with the springs…what battery are you running…

Just a standard LG HG2 flat top

Weird, both mine need the head almost off before they cut off. The tail cap shuts off at a slight turn which would be normal. Is your driver spring off center or maybe the first coil cantered where simply turning it runs the spring to the shoulder of the battery, breaking contact…

I don’t know what normal is supposed to look like. Everything looks centered to me. I’m certainly not complaining, and use the 4 click lockout myself. Love the momentary moonlight in lockout.

[teacher]

@KawiBoy1428

Weird, both mine need the head almost off before they cut off. The tail cap shuts off at a slight turn which would be normal. Is your driver spring off center or maybe the first coil cantered where simply turning it runs the spring to the shoulder of the battery, breaking contact…

With a 30Q BT it takes just over 3 full turns to disconnect the battery on mine. FT IS 1/4 turn less.

The head is about to fall off, it has less than 3/4 turn before comes off the tube.

Tailcap of mine takes about 1/4 turn to lock out.

On this light:

• Head is not a viable option for mechanical lockout

• Tailcap will work but is not a good option at all imo

Solution:

• Use Electronic lockout

The end… :+1:

[KawiBoy1428]

Makes me wonder if the driver is losing contact now… I would think the light should stay on as long as contact between the springs is made and the bare non anodized threads…the tube is just a signal sender… me thinks… as long as the battery is in contact with the springs the MCU should be powered, just not receiving the signal, with the loss of contact from the tube, like in my case?

[Creeker18]

Hey guys. Just got my lights. Sweet little package! Is this battery cool to use?
Efest imr 18650 3500 mAh 20A 3.7V

[Album] FW3A Battery

Thanks!

[BlueSwordM]

Yes, it will work well.

However, it is a 3500mAh 10A cell, not 20A.

[Streamtronics]

RobertB is definitely somehow cutting power to the driver (you can tell by the blip it does when getting connected to the battery again).

On another note, frankly I’m too tired right now to look through the code, but is the fancy lock-out moon mode implemented in this version of Anduril? As in, doing a “tap-hold” while in lockout?
I turned that on for my customized version of Anduril for my D4 and while true moon mode really only is useful to me when it’s otherwise pitch black, the second level is really useful when quickly wanting to look into a bag for example

[RobertB]

@KawiBoy1428

Makes me wonder if the driver is losing contact now… I would think the light should stay on as long as contact between the springs is made…the tube is just a signal sender… me thinks… as long as the battery is in contact with the springs the MCU should be powered, just not receiving the signal, with the loss of contact from the tube, like in my case?

I checked the retaining ring and it’s tight. The light works perfect. I guess I got a special mode… lol

[RobertB]

@Streamtronics

but is the fancy lock-out moon mode implemented in this version of Anduril?

Yes, it’s very handy

[KawiBoy1428]

@RobertB

@KawiBoy1428

Makes me wonder if the driver is losing contact now… I would think the light should stay on as long as contact between the springs is made…the tube is just a signal sender… me thinks… as long as the battery is in contact with the springs the MCU should be powered, just not receiving the signal, with the loss of contact from the tube, like in my case?

I checked the retaining ring and it’s tight. The light works perfect. I guess I got a special mode… lol

Mmm K… Now I want one!

[Firelight2]

@teacher

@KawiBoy1428

Weird, both mine need the head almost off before they cut off. The tail cap shuts off at a slight turn which would be normal. Is your driver spring off center or maybe the first coil cantered where simply turning it runs the spring to the shoulder of the battery, breaking contact…

With a 30Q BT it takes just over 3 full turns to disconnect the battery on mine. FT IS 1/4 turn less.

The head is about to fall off, it has less than 3/4 turn before comes off the tube.

Tailcap of mine takes about 1/4 turn to lock out.

On this light:

• Head is not a viable option for mechanical lockout

• Tailcap will work but is not a good option at all imo

Solution:

• Use Electronic lockout

The end… :+1:

… or just lock it out at the head with a 1/8 turn.

A 1/8 turn at the head is all you need to disable the switch making the light safe for pocket carry. Technically, this isn’t a true physical lockout, because the driver is still powered so there is parasitic drain. However, TK mentioned that the parasitic drain on the FW3A is extremely low. Low enough to take 10+ years to drain an 18650 and lower than the self-discharge of an 18650.

In short, a 1/8 turn at the head can be treated for all intents and purposes just like a true physical lockout.

[teacher]

@KawiBoy1428

Makes me wonder if the driver is losing contact now… I would think the light should stay on as long as contact between the springs is made and the bare non anodized threads…the tube is just a signal sender… me thinks… as long as the battery is in contact with the springs the MCU should be powered, just not receiving the signal, with the loss of contact from the tube, like in my case?

Yeah, that’s what’s happening at 3 turns… driver spring is loosing contact. Switch quits working aw soon as the inner tube looses contact. Light will stay on till driver spring looses contact.

[RobertB]

@Firelight2

A 1/8 turn at the head is all you need to disable the switch making the light safe for pocket carry. Technically, this isn’t a true physical lockout, because the driver is still powered so there is parasitic drain. However, TK mentioned that the parasitic drain on the FW3A is extremely low. Low enough to take 10+ years to drain an 18650 and lower than the self-discharge of an 18650.

In short, a 1/8 turn at the head can be treated for all intents and purposes just like a true physical lockout.

Look at my video again. It blips when the head is screwed back down. The driver is being re-powered after disconnecting.

[teacher]

@Firelight2

@teacher

@KawiBoy1428

Weird, both mine need the head almost off before they cut off. The tail cap shuts off at a slight turn which would be normal. Is your driver spring off center or maybe the first coil cantered where simply turning it runs the spring to the shoulder of the battery, breaking contact…

With a 30Q BT it takes just over 3 full turns to disconnect the battery on mine. FT IS 1/4 turn less.

The head is about to fall off, it has less than 3/4 turn before comes off the tube.

Tailcap of mine takes about 1/4 turn to lock out.

On this light:

• Head is not a viable option for mechanical lockout

• Tailcap will work but is not a good option at all imo

Solution:

• Use Electronic lockout

The end… :+1:

… or just lock it out at the head with a 1/8 turn.

A 1/8 turn at the head is all you need to disable the switch making the light safe for pocket carry. Technically, this isn’t a true physical lockout, because the driver is still powered so there is parasitic drain. However, TK mentioned that the parasitic drain on the FW3A is extremely low. Low enough to take 10+ years to drain an 18650 and lower than the self-discharge of an 18650.

In short, a 1/8 turn at the head can be treated for all intents and purposes just like a true physical lockout.

1/8 turn will not give true & techinal mechanical lockout. I am talking about “Mechanical Lockout”… True & Technical.

It either is mechanically lockedout, all systems shut down…. or it’s not.

I was not referring to half measures.

[Creeker18]

Thanks! Says 20A is that not the xase?

[JordanZHP]

Mine arrived today! Thank you everyone who helped create this light. Awesome size for EDC with an amazing UI.

With the default settings out of the box, my brand new VTC6 fresh off the charger hit 3500 lumens at 1s and ~850 lumens at 30s. (XPL Hi 3D 5000k)

I had to tighten the driver retaining ring as others have mentioned, wasn’t getting consistent power before that.

[teacher]

@Creeker18

Thanks! Says 20A is that not the xase?

Is this the one??

If it is, it good for 10A continuous & 20A Pulse discharge.