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

BLF Special Edition Products
10655

My FW3A arrived today!

First interesting thing - the box had a return address of Cranbury, NJ and appears to be shipped by USPS (US Postal Service). I see no typical Chinese markings on the outer box.

I googled the address and found a company who’s web site states:

So maybe Lumintop is shipping cases of lights to NJ and this company handling shipping within the US.

10656

I know, right?

Well, maybe not 5D, but perhaps 5A. Or 4D.

The proto4 sample I got appears to be a 5A, and it’s really nice. It’d probably be even better as a 4D though. It’s just a touch warm for my taste. The 3D production model seems colder than I was hoping though, and the tint isn’t as good as some other 3D lights I have.

I asked Neal a couple times to do 7A, 5A, 3D, and 2A/1D. I provided data on the relative quantities to make too, to match the poll data. Now there’s 7A, 3D, and 1A… but he didn’t want to do a “5” tint because it was too similar to the SST-20 model. And that’s fair. But it sure would be nice if other people could get one like the 5A proto4 unit I have.

So now my favorites are 219B sw45k and XP-L HI 5A… and it’s hard to decide between the two. Maybe someday I can get some 4D emitters to use as a tie-breaker. :slight_smile:

10657

I placed my order on the 28th (3625, 2x 3D + 1x 7A) and haven’t heard anything beyond the order confirmation e-mail either. Just figured that an update would come when it comes (sooner rather than later being preferable, of course).

10658

Mine’s saying the same thing. It’s interesting to see just how synced several deliveries from the same place at about the same time to the UK can be.

Mine’s coming to Devon.

10659

they don’t have plan for this tint now

10660

sorry
the shipping delayed because of the baby birth and the led out of stock

Now my baby is already back home. and the lights are arrived today.

I will ship all the orders in group buy this week.

Regards
Neal

10661

I got my FW3A today and have been screwing around with it for about 2 hours. Literally screwing around; screwing the head, screwing the tail, screwing the head, screwing the tail, etc.


It worked for a short while (2-3 minutes) with me turning it on/ramp/off/on/off/on/ramp, and so on. But then it stopped working. Time to trouble shoot.

  • Check battery - 4.2 v, good.
  • Loosen head, loosen tail, tighten tail (really good), tighten head. - no luck.
  • Check and tighten driver retaining ring. done - no luck.
    • While I had the head off I noticed one of the chips had a wart. That is odd. Using tweezers I removed it. It looks like a nubbin from the tail switch. Time to check the tail.
  • With the head pointing to the ceiling and the tail on the table, remove the body tube from the tail. Remove the switch. - the nubbin is there. Looks like I have an extra nubbin.
    • Since I have the tail off I decide to remove the clip. I generally don't keep clips on my lights. Hmmm, between the clip and the body tube is a white o-ring. Oh, that is suppose to be around the inner tube. Edit: it should be there. see posts below.
  • Remove the inner tube there is the white o-ring. Looks like I have an extra o-ring too.

The problem is I have now exhausted my ideas for troubleshooting and my light still doesn't work.

Additional info:

  • When I screw the head on I get the momentarily blink others have described.
  • Typically the light doesn't work after tightening the head. I click the switch but it doesn't turn on
  • Maybe 10% of the time the light comes on when I tighten the head and ramps all the way to high. I click the switch but it doesn't shut off. I have to unscrew the head to get it to turn off.
  • When I press the switch I can hear and feel a good "click".


Any suggestions what I should try next.

10662

It sounds like the inner e switch tube isn’t making contact. You might want to try tightening the driver retaining ring so the body tube tightens lower and makes the switch tube contact. That white o ring is meant to be above the clip by the way; it stops the clip rotating.

10663

Because it sometimes automatically ramp, another possibility is that the switch always makes contact, not just when you click it. You can check that by trying to use the light as a twisty: see if you can get the UI working by tightening/loosing the head instead of clicking the switch. If it does that, the switch is always “on”. (the switch plate may be soldered crooked, bridging the outer and inner ring on the tail PCB)

10664

I find the notches easier to see from an angle rather than looking straight down at the driver. (Hope it shows up in this picture. There is some glare.)

10665

Yeah, the white O-ring by the clip is there to keep the clip from spinning freely. It’s not for the inner tube.

Something else which might help is to take out the driver retaining ring entirely, wiggle the driver around to make sure it goes into the slot it’s meant to be in, and then tighten the ring again. One edge of the driver is flat, so it can only go in one direction. Be careful not to twist the wires off though. Without de-soldering the wires, the driver can only move a little bit.

10666

Good idea. I previously tightened the driver retaining ring, but I didn’t think to check that the flat spot on the driver was aligned with the tube.

Re: white o-ring. My first thought was that it was to keep the clip tight. But then I noted in CRX’s review that the o-ring was around the inner tube.

It seems I have a white o-ring around my inner tube too and between the clip and the body.

10667

Yes, there are two white O-rings… one to separate the inner tube from the outer tube, and one to provide friction for the clip.

10668

I think it is working. At least it is better.

I failed to follow the rules of debugging and only change one thing at a time. I did three things….

  • Per TK’s suggestion, I removed the driver retaining ring. The driver appeared to be seated correctly with the notch. I tired to remove the driver but couldn’t. I didn’t want to risk deforming the spring by pulling too hard. I used a little stick (the ones I steal from my wife. Orange stick?) to press down on the driver and make sure it was down all the way around.
  • I also disassembled the tail switch and reassembled.
  • I also cleaned all of the threads, head and tail.

I’m going to let it rest over night and check it again tomorrow when I have a fresh brain.

Thank you thisnameisvalid, djozz, and Toy Keeper!

10669

You probably already did it, but don’t forget to put the ring back in.

Yes, I’m one of those people who notices when someone in a movie fails to close a door behind them… and then it bothers me for the next few minutes and distracts me from the story. :stuck_out_tongue:

10670

10671

Just fyi, the triple 5D Hank offers at $15 is a pretty good deal: https://intl-outdoor.com/noctigon-3xp-parallelonly, considering buying the 3 5D's bare is $18. But unfortunately he doesn't have 5A's.

Whoa da -- he's got V4 3C's listed now, wow!

Hank has the highest binned XPL HI ever, that's legit. Look at what KD offers - an XPL HD V4 3C, or XPL HI V3 3C, though I don't trust KD's claim on bins -- they've bene proven wrong on tints and bins before.

Also Hank has a pic of the official CREE V4 3C label here: https://intl-outdoor.com/cree-xpl-high-intensity-v4-3c-bare-led-p-900.html

10672

Received my light and after installation of a fresh 30Q battery, the light will immediately ramp to full output and will not react to switch input. The light can only be shut down by completely removing the head from the body. I have disassembled the switch and reinstalled with the same results.

Any suggestions … :open_mouth:

10673

Make sure that the insides of the light are fully at room temp. Let it sit maybe 30 minutes or more. Once the ambient temp is set and reading correct, it should not need any more adjusting.

10674

The majority of people are in the same boat. You cannot expect all 2000+ lights to be shipped at once. Most are not even made yet. The assembly line is cranking them out and they are being built, boxed and shipped as fast as they can. Your light might take several more weeks before you get a shipping notice. Everyone just needs to have patience.