FW3A Troubleshooting / FAQ

[Atom00]

@ToyKeeper

About the wires getting ripped off by rotation, I’m guessing that isn’t usually an issue for people who change the optic, since the thermal paste is already stiffened up by the time they open the light. It might be an issue at the factory though, when the paste is still fresh and moves freely.

@Atom00

When i perform click, click, hold ……it just respond by one dim flash/flicker and goes off.

The last Group 2 mode i used was lightning storm.

It might just be that lightning storm mode doesn’t feel like making any big flashes right away. After the dim flash, try leaving the light alone to see if the lightning continues. Or, after the dim flash, try to click twice to see if it goes to the next mode.

I did try to wait but nothing happen so i try to click twice and it goes into turbo.

[cabfrank]

Lightning mode > sliced bread.

By the way, how does one adjust the party strobe to “freeze” things, such as falling water and ceiling fans? Is it just trial and error? I don’t mean how to button press to make changes, i got that part, I mean what frequency works, slower/faster.

[wle]

@cabfrank

Lightning mode > sliced bread.

By the way, how does one adjust the party strobe to “freeze” things, such as falling water and ceiling fans? Is it just trial and error? I don’t mean how to button press to make changes, i got that part, I mean what frequency works, slower/faster.

ceiling fans look good at many different speeds, you just have to try them all…
falling water, hard to say

[ToyKeeper]

@cabfrank

By the way, how does one adjust the party strobe to “freeze” things, such as falling water and ceiling fans? Is it just trial and error? I don’t mean how to button press to make changes, i got that part, I mean what frequency works, slower/faster.

… just change the speed until it looks good? It’s not a science; it’s more of an aesthetic thing. As a general guideline though, typically the ideal flashing speed correlates to the speed of the thing being viewed. Faster-moving objects tend to work better with faster strobe frequencies.

[hank]

Unscrew the head and screw it back on just in case.

[cabfrank]

Thanks TK. Kind of what I thought, trial and error until it looks good. Really cool at any rate.

By the way, you skipped part of the quote; lightning mode>sliced bread.

[wle]

i mean it would be different if the flashlight had some way to tell you its strobe speed, then you could tell the speed of rotating objects, but it doesn;t do that, so anything ‘works’ - it’s just fun and games

wle

[JasonWW]

@Atom00

I have double check to make sure i’m not in muggle mode.

I’m unable to go into Group 2 now.
When i perform click, click, hold ……it just respond by one dim flash/flicker and goes off.

I’m able to go into Group 2 the first time when i received this light and i was playing with all the Group 2 mode (candle, bike flasher, party strobe, tactical strobe, lightning storm). The last Group 2 mode i used was lightning storm.

Very strange. I’m not sure what could cause this. Do all the other functions work, like battery check and temperature check? It fully ramps up and down?

Just no strobes are working?

[Atom00]

@JasonWW

@Atom00

I have double check to make sure i’m not in muggle mode.

I’m unable to go into Group 2 now.
When i perform click, click, hold ……it just respond by one dim flash/flicker and goes off.

I’m able to go into Group 2 the first time when i received this light and i was playing with all the Group 2 mode (candle, bike flasher, party strobe, tactical strobe, lightning storm). The last Group 2 mode i used was lightning storm.

Very strange. I’m not sure what could cause this. Do all the other functions work, like battery check and temperature check? It fully ramps up and down?

Just no strobes are working?

All are working. Just can’t go into Group 2 mode.

[Ryzbor]

@teacher

@Ryzbor

One of my six cats throw my FWA3 off a table (1m) and it doesn’t work any more :person_facepalming:
Does anyone know the driver size and whether is’t replaceable with the Emisar D4 driver?

Sorry to hear that. Did you try tightening everything up again??

Go HERE . Read it, do what is says, and hopefully that will fix you up. :+1:

Did as you suggested. Unfortunately it didn’t work. Maybe a full disassembly will, but I lack the skills.

@JasonWW

@Ryzbor

Does anyone know the driver size and whether is’t replaceable with the Emisar D4 driver?

It is custom driver. Nothing else works.

damm : /

1000 point question: does the 219C FWA3 have the 219 dedicated firmware Toykeeper made?

[teacher]

@Ryzbor

@teacher

@Ryzbor

One of my six cats throw my FWA3 off a table (1m) and it doesn’t work any more :person_facepalming:
Does anyone know the driver size and whether is’t replaceable with the Emisar D4 driver?

Sorry to hear that. Did you try tightening everything up again??

Go HERE . Read it, do what is says, and hopefully that will fix you up. :+1:

Did as you suggested. Unfortunately it didn’t work. Maybe a full disassembly will, but I lack the skills.

No time to learn like the present.

Try taking the bezel off & optic out, then look to make sure the wires are still soldered securely to the MCPCB.

Did you try another battery just for the heck of it??

[treellama]

@Ryzbor

1000 point question: does the 219C FWA3 have the 219 dedicated firmware Toykeeper made?

That was for 219Bs; 219Cs should be able to handle direct drive. So I’m guessing no.

[Ryzbor]

@treellama

@Ryzbor

1000 point question: does the 219C FWA3 have the 219 dedicated firmware Toykeeper made?

That was for 219Bs; 219Cs should be able to handle direct drive. So I’m guessing no.

The 219C D4 has a different firmware limiting the fet to 80% so I was guessing this light could have it as well.

[pennzy]

My light has been operating correctly except for an occasional glitch that goes away by tightening the head. Took the battery out today to charge for the first time so decided to check the retaining ring for tightness. Although it would not spin any tighter, I thought I saw it move towards the side (outward) as if it were cracked or didn’t fit the threads. Also, the signal ring is not center in relation to the retaining ring but the driver does not move and it appears to be seated flat with no gaps between it and the retainer ring. Doesn’t seem to affect operation but was wondering if anyone else has seen movement of the retainer like I described?

[JasonWW]

@Atom00

@JasonWW

@Atom00

I have double check to make sure i’m not in muggle mode.

I’m unable to go into Group 2 now.
When i perform click, click, hold ……it just respond by one dim flash/flicker and goes off.

I’m able to go into Group 2 the first time when i received this light and i was playing with all the Group 2 mode (candle, bike flasher, party strobe, tactical strobe, lightning storm). The last Group 2 mode i used was lightning storm.

Very strange. I’m not sure what could cause this. Do all the other functions work, like battery check and temperature check? It fully ramps up and down?

Just no strobes are working?

All are working. Just can’t go into Group 2 mode.

I can’t think of anything physically wrong with it. It sounds like a software glitch occurred which I’ve never heard of happening with the ATtiny 85. ToyKeeper might have an idea, but I don’t.

As a last resort you can loosen and check everything and retighten. Maybe even take the driver out and look at it. Loosening and then tightening everything has sometimes mysteriously fixed odd issues. It’s worth a try.

[ToyKeeper]

@Atom00

All are working. Just can’t go into Group 2 mode. [sic: strobe-group modes]

It could perhaps be rebooting as soon as it tries to blink a full-power strobe. This doesn’t generally happen on modern driver designs, but it was an issue with the original Wight driver when given a tiny25 MCU.

One other way to check this is to turn the light off, then hold the button to ramp all the way up. Does it abort and shut itself off? If not, turn the light off when it’s ramped all the way up, then click 3 times for battcheck, 2 times for sunset, and 2 times for beacon. Does full-power beacon mode work, or does it make the light shut itself off?

[ToyKeeper]

@Ryzbor

@treellama

@Ryzbor

1000 point question: does the 219C FWA3 have the 219 dedicated firmware Toykeeper made?

That was for 219Bs; 219Cs should be able to handle direct drive. So I’m guessing no.

The 219C D4 has a different firmware limiting the fet to 80% so I was guessing this light could have it as well.

As far as I can tell, no. It should have the regular 100% power firmware. I never sent anything else to Lumintop, and I don’t think they’re in the habit of picking random files out of my periodic build directory.

[JasonWW]

@ToyKeeper

It could perhaps be rebooting as soon as it tries to blink a full-power strobe. This doesn’t generally happen on modern driver designs, but it was an issue with the original Wight driver when given a tiny25 MCU.

Off topic, but what would cause it to reboot? You make it seem light a large surge of power might cause voltage sag on the MCU. Maybe the input voltage to the MCU goes below 1.8v very briefly?

[joechina]

@saypat

so, we need another warning card now?

Should I write one for the assembly personal?

[Atom00]

@ToyKeeper

@Atom00

All are working. Just can’t go into Group 2 mode. [sic: strobe-group modes]

It could perhaps be rebooting as soon as it tries to blink a full-power strobe. This doesn’t generally happen on modern driver designs, but it was an issue with the original Wight driver when given a tiny25 MCU.

One other way to check this is to turn the light off, then hold the button to ramp all the way up. Does it abort and shut itself off? If not, turn the light off when it’s ramped all the way up, then click 3 times for battcheck, 2 times for sunset, and 2 times for beacon. Does full-power beacon mode work, or does it make the light shut itself off?

Yes you are right, from off i ramp all the way up till max and it shut itself off.

I just remember the head heats up dam fast and dam hot during the lightning storm mode.