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

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.

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.

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.

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!

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:

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

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:

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.

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.

If this starts happening before you completely screw down the flashlight then look for a ‘short’ in the driver.
Open it up as much as you can and blow some air to it.

As was just discussed, remove the driver retaining ring to make sure the notch in the driver is aligned with the notch in the head, then retighten the driver.

See below.

Thanks for this info. I gotta learn to reflow.

Mine was suppose to be delivered tomorrow according to yodel, but is here today.

I had the same problem. See the series of posts on the previous page.

Driver board is keyed in perfectly to the notch in the head and the retainer ring is tightly secured … same results … ramp to full imediately.

the driver looks not centered?

somehow shifted to the left shorting the switch contact to the retaining ring?

The photo is angled. The driver board is perfectly centered and keyed into its machined position. I believe that this one is defective.

Your symptoms sound very similar to mine. I’m not sure what finally got mine to work.

I see you’ve already disassembled the tails switch. Two more things to try -

  • Clean the threads in both the head and tail.
  • Use a small tool to press the driver into the head before tightening the retaining ring.

I have done as suggested. The light will blink once to indicate contact and then ramp to full. The head needs to be removed completely to power off.