Yep, it looks to be about ’medium-well’.
Woohoo!
I received my FW3A today...
(I think it was delivered yesterday, but we didn't get the mail.)
This thing is really small!
It is much shorter than my Convoy S2+ Triple.
So far, I really like it, but I've only played with it for a few minutes.
Thanks to everyone that made this awesome little flashlight possible!
Lagittaja:Like others have said I can’t stress enough how important it is to clean this thing before use. The switch and most importantly the head.
That’s the business end of a tooth pick covered in metal shavings and whatnot after running it through the threads of the head. Notice the long strand of metal and the other pile of metal stuff…
Could this have anything to do with why my switch has gotten stuck at least twice (and started ramping up to full brightness immediately).?
Yes. It’s probably caused by something like that, something physically out of place inside the light. I found similar metal shavings inside an earlier prototype, and sent Lumintop a bug report about it.
I eagerly await momentary candle mode.
Just a quick update…
There should be a new batch of drivers soon, and I’m working on firmware updates. So far I’ve got the following…
….
The main thing is better thermal regulation.
Awesome! Thanks for keeping up the good work.
Have you thought about/ would it be possible to incorporate a configuration lock for ramp config, ie the settings for mode numbers, max ceiling & floor can’t be changed unless a code is entered like the H17F or preferably like the LD4Power drivers?
Nope, I don’t have any plans for that. It’s easy to access, but that’s on purpose.
Wow, the FW3A heats up really fast on turbo...
I won't be using that anymore!
I'll test out the flashlight more when it gets dark.
Overall, I'm really impressed.
This was posted on the ‘Lumintop Family’ FB group:
“FW3C sample?who knows? ”
Nice color!! :+1:
Wait, that doesn’t look like machined copper.
That looks like electroplated copper.
It’s easy to see since the knurling has some black imperfections, meaning copper didn’t deposit well on the light.
Wait, that doesn’t look like machined copper.
That looks like electroplated copper. :heart_eyes:
It’s easy to see since the knurling has some black imperfections, meaning copper didn’t deposit well on the light.
… or it’s just dirty.
It happens sometimes.
Can copper get that dirty?
I though it only gets oxidized/patinad.
I obviously got too excited for my own hype.
Can copper get that dirty?
I assume if you take your copper light and roll it around in some mud you can get it quite dirty. :smiling_imp:
Lagittaja:P.S. Regarding the tint: looks good indoors but I’ll reserve my final judgment until after summer when it’s dark again.
I was scratching my head at this until I noticed where you were from LOL!
I’m facing the same issue; very little use for the light for the next 3 or so months. Apart from that and the fact the light seems too nice to carry and get scratched up, everything’s looking good.
Thank you team, mfg, everyone. The FW3A is even cooler than expected - in warm white of course.
Oh, the threads on mine were apparently dirty and loose on arrival causing the symptoms described by many others. Cleaning and reassembly fixed that.
Wait, that doesn’t look like machined copper.
That looks like electroplated copper. :heart_eyes:
It’s easy to see since the knurling has some black imperfections, meaning copper didn’t deposit well on the light.
As CRX and Teacher said, it’s probably been taken apart and baked. This changes the gray to orange.
It does not look like a different metal construction .
/\ …. …
The issue was head tightness. Once I applied a little more torque to the head, it stopped doing that. What’s the physical dynamic at hand when this happens? As I understand it, with the inner tube not completely seated the emitter shouldn’t have current. So sufficient tightening makes for a solid connection and the light functions. Is there some “in between” state possible, where the inner tube has contact, but not fully, and thus there’s some kind of weak voltage issue?
Let me correct you here. The inner tube does not carry any led power. It only carries the very tiny switch signal.
The emitter gets current through the outer tube when the head and tail are somewhat threaded together. This is why you see the leds blink as you are threading them together.
It takes the precise tightening of the tail first, then the head, for the inner tube to make good contact and allow the switch to work.
The only in between state I can think of is the inner tube not making good contact which means the switch won’t work.
CRX:Have you thought about/ would it be possible to incorporate a configuration lock for ramp config, ie the settings for mode numbers, max ceiling & floor can’t be changed unless a code is entered like the H17F or preferably like the LD4Power drivers?
Nope, I don’t have any plans for that. It’s easy to access, but that’s on purpose.
Ok, I just thought that once these levels were set up that people wouldn’t be changing them very frequently.
Just a quick update…
There should be a new batch of drivers soon, and I’m working on firmware updates. So far I’ve got the following…
- Fixed the bug maukka found — hold-from-off then release-and-hold in stepped ramp wouldn’t work until it had been on for a full second.
- Made candle mode slightly more calm but also able to burn a bit brighter sometimes.
- Beacon mode duty cycle is 100ms now instead of 500ms.
- Made muggle mode do smaller thermal adjustments.
- Rewrote most of the thermal regulation code. It should significantly improve pretty much anything related to temperature, except for the lack of factory calibration. (still in progress, running tests right now) It takes a while since I need to test basically every supported light, but the ones I’ve tested so far have all waited a sane amount of time to heat up, dropped quickly to a sustainable level, and then just … stayed there. None of this oscillation nonsense from earlier versions, and so far it has managed to step down at a point which is neither too early nor too late.
Also planning to do some other misc updates, as many as I can squeeze in before the deadline. Not sure which other tasks will get done in time. The top tasks are making “hold” auto-reverse in strobe modes, making momentary do the last-used mode instead of just the last-used brightness (so, momentary strobes), and generally making muggle mode a little nicer. Also debating whether to add ten-clicks-from-off as a shortut to thermal config mode. But I wouldn’t count on any of these things.
The main thing is better thermal regulation.
Is it possible to know when to order to get the updated firmware? Like a specific date where all FW3A’s shipped have this firmware? Thanks for all of your hard work updating it TK!
It's now mostly dark here.
I was afraid that 7A would be too warm, but it's fine.
I like warm tints.
Superb flashlight!