CRX FW3A Mods & Teardown

Try to convince DrafterDan to make some for sale :innocent:

I dropped a PM to Neal about FW3A Trit tail capsā€¦ he will see if Lumintop is interested in making them?

Very impressive CRX! I like your tailcap tritium design. :+1:

Cool, might be a great seller, will probably need a redesigned rubber boot too :+1:

Thanks mate, yeah it was about the only way I could do it without machines and retain most of the original machined button look.
This is why I was so dismayed when that wabbit appeared on the final prototype! :smiley:

Right on, he has Glo Caps ā€¦ā€¦ but Trits are waaaaaaay Cooler! Been eyeing the 1.5x3x9mm retangular tritsā€¦ā€¦

Funny, Iā€™ve been looking at a 4mm x 1.3mm x 7mm rectangular green vial that I can get over here.
It would completely cover the tail switch hole but I also like it as is with the variable brightness due to the GITD backing the trit as I have it now. Decisions decisionsā€¦ :slight_smile:

From the diagram I can see you in 8x7135 mode, get 3 times sustainable output, 900 lm, compared to the original FW3A 300lm. How do you explain this enormous improvement? How is it possible?

Bypassed springs, thicker LED wires, cleaned & tweaked contacts, Noctigon MCPCB, better thermal paste, the light set to 65Ā°C thermal limit, hand cooled & moving around, not standing alone untouched.
I have working mans hands so can take some abuse :wink:
Bearing in mind my sphere is not calibrated the output is close to what others have given for that level.
3x XP-L HI should give around that OTF lumens at 3A.
You may be referring to the stock light set up to 45Ā°C thermal limit?
The thermal limit setting and cooling are factors that will determine the sustained output.
A single XP-L HI v2 running at 1A /65Ā°C should give around 400lm.

How high sustained output lm do you think it will be possible to attain with a Convoy M3, doing similar mods?

No idea. Iā€™m not familiar at all with that light. A quick look, itā€™s pretty big so has a potential to hold brighter for longer.
Itā€™s also not so much the mods but rather what temperature youā€™re comfortable holding, ambient temp, LEDs, driver etc.
All lights will become heat saturated at some point, obviously the more mass, cooler surroundings etc the longer that will take at a given wattage.

Do you think it would be possible to epoxy a magnet into the stock button or is it only really doable the way you did? I really would love to make mine magnetic once it arrives. If you think it would be possible, could you check the diameter of the inside so I could source a magnet?

Yeah I thought about that method.

The internal button cap cavity measurement is around 11.6mm x 1.25mm with the central post removed on my version but I donā€™t think that size magnet would work too well through the 0.6mm steel, maybe an 11mm x 2mm N52 would do there but using the original rubber boot would be a problem, you would need to play around with some thin silicone sheet to maintain some waterproofing and maybe make a new small nubbin to get the switch working nicelyā€¦

The tail cap button is an awkward size, measuring 14.6mm x 0.35mm at the widest point (retaining lip)

The button part is then 13.88mm x 1.4mm.

So if you had maybe a 14mm x 0.5mm or 1mm magnet JB welded onto a 13mm x 1.5mm magnet that could work with some modification.
Best to file off the nickel coating and clean thoroughly the sides that youā€™re gluing too.

Something like this:

One good thing about the FW3A is the switch is so easy to access you can play around with different ideas no problem.

Thanks for the info! Thatā€™s a pretty good idea to make the button out of magnets. I definitely want to maintain waterproofing. I love EDC lights that have a tail magnet though. I will play around once mine comes in, which might take a little while.

Awesome mods CRX, would definitely love a trit tail cap button.

Your light looks great.

Hi, nice serious mod man!
Where you buy the switch?

Would this switch work the same ?

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32961272650.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.0.0.264514b7ssrn56&algo_pvid=54481c73-4de2-4dc3-9a42-ff20a627f066&algo_expid=54481c73-4de2-4dc3-9a42-ff20a627f066-2&btsid=0ab6f82c15839125831318500ef461&ws_ab_test=searchweb0_0,searchweb201602*,searchweb201603*

would this type of switch work and fit?

@forsh
These are way too big (tall) to use in the same manner.

@Light Veteran
The switch looks like this one:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32797988588.html?spm=a2g0o.detail.1000013.11.74044d83JaCDHp&gps-id=pcDetailBottomMoreThisSeller&scm=1007.13339.146401.0&scm_id=1007.13339.146401.0&scm-url=1007.13339.146401.0&pvid=373aff5f-3472-4d37-a0fc-a4af4e0e33bf