I think I need some time alone with my light too. It’s cold today, and if I squint hard enough, that beer and thumb looks almost like a soapy bath and a candle. :partying_face:
Maybe I’m just stupid, but it looks like my light just doesn’t work. When I put a battery in, the light give a small flicker but I can’t turn the light on normal mode, turbo mode or really any mode. Also, the tailswitch and spring just fall out when I unscrew the back to remove the battery.
Check out these two threads, they might be helpful in your case….
1) FW3A Useful Information.....
Oh BTW, you’re suppose to only loosen the head assembly to insert the battery and not the tailcap.
Good luck!
Personally… I have no animosity toward “muggles” ( newbies, the untrained, whatever you may call them) at all.
We were all one at one time or another.
But that being said, you don’t….
Just jump in a Funny Car to make your first pass.
Or let your completely untrained buddy do a test run (or any run) with your Top Fuel Dragster and a newly built 11,000+ horsepower engine….
Or decide one day to quit your job flipping burgers at McDonalds & get your super rich Uncle to buy you a Grand National Car so you can go race at Talladega next weekend…
And I have never seen “training wheels” in the Tour de France.
You use or do what your skill level allows you to. If you want to do more… you learn, starting at the beginning; and work your way up to where you want to be…. you learn.
If you want to fly a F-18… you don’t punch a switch 6 times and start with ’beginner mode’…… :person_facepalming:
You start at the beginning & work your way up.
There is no need at all IMO, to loan a “beginner” a hot rod light they are not qualified to use & have no earthly idea how to use; just because it is a cool looking light… maybe even ‘Tacticool’. 
. :person_facepalming:
And very likely they have no interest in learning in the first place.
There is an abundance of lights with a simple UI, many even have ramping; that will suffice just fine & be much more ‘newbie friendly’…. without turning the FW3A into a 240 lumen light on Max. :person_facepalming:
YMMV…. MWN. 
Ohh. I didn’t realize you are supposed to be inserting the battery via the head. I cranked the tailcap on down and it’s working now, thanks for the help 
Sure thing!
Glad your light is working....mine is still in deep deep sleep.
Muggles? Or MUD BLOODS!
Shame on you for that mental image :person_facepalming: I hurt myself laughing
My FW3A is in my current home town...
It'll probably be delivered later today! 
Please people, some 2 years have elapsed between the first announcement of this light and the PM with an invitation to order it. Would it hurt to take 5 more minutes to browse the manual or read the card where you were asked to insert the battery from the head?
I know you’ve read this somewhere and everywhere before, but nevertheless will repeat it here, in this order:
- Open the tail-section, beware of the number of parts that emerge, clean every bit, and reassemble. Because this sequence does not have to be repeated in the foreseable future: do this with some force.
- Remove the bezel, lift the optics, blow all dirt out, clean the smudges form the lens, clean every bit and reassemble. Also with enough force that will prevent things from accidental loosening.
- Between body and head, loosen the retaining ring a bit, blow out the debris, re-assure yourself that the driver is properly alligned en fasten the retaining ring again. With some force.
Last but no least: screw back the body with MODERATE force. DON’T give it an extra yank. In my case: that triggers havoc.
Looks like the eagle has finally landed: my 7A arrived to Finland yesterday using the cheapest shipping option.
If anyone cares here’s the events:
29.4 ordered
8.5 fulfilled
9.5 shipped
10.5 left from China
20.5 arrived in Finland
My concern was less about “muggles” than it is about flashaholics that get into a state they don’t know how to get out of. We’ve seen several posts in this thread about people thinking their light is broken, when it seems they just got stuck in muggle mode after playing with the light.
The issue is how to get out of it easily. Yes, it is pretty easy: 6 clicks. But, that’s apparently not easy enough, at least not without reading the cheat-sheet and understanding the meaning of it. There’s a lot of modes, and that makes the UI a bit confusing.
Everyone knows how to change a battery, and that’s generally what most people will try if their light is acting funny. I just thought that a battery-change should revert the light from muggle back to normal mode, like it does when cancelling momentary mode.
Finally mine arrived today, Nice to see that the box is marked so u didnt have to guess what u ordered. Really a great looking light well made, so far no issues love the warmish tint and floodish beam, looks awesome hard to believe this light is finally in my and many others hands after so long production but worth the wait, so thanks to all involved you all did great job on this ! i hope this light will sell for many years.
I printed up a couple of diffusers in yellow, a new color that is not translucent.
You are lucky, I ordered 3D and 7A, and I received two 7A today. :person_facepalming: :person_facepalming:
My XPL HI arrived yesterday and the spring at the head is messed up and I think it needs to be replaced. I can’t solder this kind of thing…
Some have said that it’s futile to try to get a warranty replacement form Nealsgadgets. Is this true?
What’s the best way I should proceed to try to get a replacement?
I emailed Neal and haven’t heard anything back after a day, which may be normal. Maybe someone here can tell me what to expect, or best way to try to get this resolved…
Image: Imgur: The magic of the Internet
At least now you have two lights below BBL
QFT
I really don’t see any need for a “muggle” mode on this flashlight. While this is a specialized device with a sophisticated Anduril UI, it can be used simply. Click on, click off. Put it in step mode for simplicity. It can get very hot on high, yet thankfully it has thermal protection to step down. All you’d need to tell the user is “don’t rapid click the switch, as it can change into a programming mode that would be very confusing.” If you’re going to be giving it to someone who may not follow those directions or forget them, don’t give it to them. If you’ve got a kid around and you want to be sure they don’t use it, simply do an electronic lockout. So if they turn it on, it’ll be dim and momentary. It won’t delight, so they’ll stop using it in short order. Electronic lockout is essentially “No muggles please.” 
And yeah, if a muggle wants to play with a light, give them something of less value and having a simple UI.
Btw, proposal of a reset at removal of battery would be a disaster. Losing memory would require redoing your ramp config, thermal config, etc. What a PITA.
While it’s distressing to see TK say about the UI, “It’s a mess,” I’m expecting that should be qualified as the source code only, and that we don’t have to worry about programming glitches in the operation sense.
That shit is embarrassing. Does it even work like that? No idea how that passed QC. It'd take some careful soldering to fix that to avoid melting the tops of the 7135s.