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

A little birdie told me they paid $1 US extra to have them all cleaned, lubed, inspected, tightened, & pre-tested before theirs shipped.
Not a bad deal… :+1:
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...if it were actually true.... . :wink:

You mean 5$US?

hopefully a F3WB = brass comes together with the F3WCopper… I wanna see what the light looks like with both metals haha…

Naah…. $1. They got a special deal. :wink:

Naah…. $1. They got a special deal.

It averages about 1.7 mA on moon, and a 30Q cell has 3000 mAh, so that’s 3000 / 1.7 / 24 = 73.5 days.

The 35E cell is probably a somewhat better choice for this light though, especially if you want to use low modes a lot. It should last about 85.8 days on moon.

Great lights! Many thanks to the team.
3D and 7A came in the same box with VTC6 on Thursday, but got them outside tonight for the first time. It is difficult to believe such small lights perform so well. They look great- no complaints about the clip. Both worked right out of the box. So glad I found BLF for these and for the outrageously bright A6. You guys are the best!

Yes, if true, that would be a great few dollars spent for almost everyone.

Yes, that would have been a really good investment :money_mouth_face:
If such an offer had existed…

No, Same issues in Germany with the FW3A :frowning:

/\:+1:

Yes, most are fine with cleaning and tightening.
The only not working light I know is from Nagonka.

im using hg2 fits fine, but its kinda pointless having a 20A battery in this kind of light, even 30Q is overkill so i will stick with samsung 35E that has like 3400mah or something…

NCR18650GA fits fine and performs really well.

Managed to get the shorting light working after several disassemble, reassemble cycles and careful driver positioning. The second light is still dead with what looks like a bad connection on the driver () side. Driver is free to spin as if only connected at one point, and multimeter reads an open circuit between the () MCPCB and the square head threads.

Yes, but with something like a Zebralight (boost driver), it will use a voltage right down to 2.8v. With a fully charged low-drain cell, that’s a 1.4v drop the battery could be experiencing. That means a third of the power is going to internally heating up the battery. So if the light is using 10 watts, the battery is generating 5 watts of heat.

I agree with that. Also, FET drivers (like the FW3A uses) tend to be somewhat current-limiting with low-drain cells.

Most likely, yes. But I’d still rather use a cell that has a current rating at least as high as the light. Going above the current rating for a cell might damage it in ways other than heat. In all probability, that might just cause it to give you less cycles or raise its IR a bit. Still, the manufacturers give current ratings for a reason, some of that is based on safety.

With a good name-brand cell, you’re probably safe even if you do go above the current rating. With a knock-off cell, I wouldn’t risk it.

Has anyone measured the maximum current of the FW3A? I suspect it’s probably under 8A, even with a high-drain cell. So, the 35E cell should be fine. Besides, it has a max 13A rating for brief periods (I’m not sure how long that is).

It would have to be a large light. The BLF Q8 will operate on a single cell, but its max output drops by about half. I’m not sure that’s enough to heat up a cell to above 70C or 80C. Stick a boost driver in a BLF Q8, and maybe.

It looks like from test results on the Samsung 35E cell, that using a 10 amp discharge current will heat it up by about 45C. At 25C room temperature, that would get it to about 70C before it runs out of energy.

I came back because I am so excited for this light! Its very exciting. When will the new TK firmware be made, and will the SST-20 or an LH651 be put in? Neal said it they are still adding it? Hope to get one with the new firmware, SST-20 or LH651 soon!

Welcome “back” Lick! Where’d you go??

Curious as to why beacon is not in the strobe modes.

TBH, no particular reason. Things just kinda grew that way. The strobe group was originally just the two strobes. And the blinky group was just battcheck and tempcheck. Beacon seemed like more of a blinky than a strobe, so it went in the blinky group. Generally if I want a light to blink forever like a beacon, I find battcheck is sufficient… but people also seemed to want a dedicated beacon mode, so I put one after tempcheck.

Things could perhaps be moved around a bit now that there are more modes. Do people often want instant access to beacon mode? I got the impression it was something which isn’t used often, so it may be best left in the blinky group where it’s not in the way.

Not used often. I think it’s fine where it is. Thanks!