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

Oh, great thanks. I will take my apart too.

I concur.

Switch on the SST-20 version is way too easy to activate. Problem appears to be thicker material on the tailcap housing which reduces travel distance of the switch. This makes the switch much more sensitive and much more prone to accidental pocket activation.

To reduce the chance of accidental pocket activation in my SST-20 switch, I did the following:

  • Increased switch travel distance slightly - I took a small piece of relatively fine gauge solid core wire, stripped off the PVC insulation and then bent the wire into a “C” ring. I inserted this ring between the bottom of the tailcap and the top of the switch PCB. This had the effect of moving the switch PCB away from the housing about half a mm, and increased switch travel distance by the same.
  • I also added a piece of spring between the metal tailcap and the rubber boot. Not sure this helped much, but it did slightly increase spring tension on the metal boot.
  • Because of the wire C-ring, the tailcap closes to fully seated position about 1/2 a mm further out than the unmodified light. This increase in length is so small as to be almost unnoticeable even when the lights are held close together. However, it is enough that the o-ring used to keep the clip from turning was no longer doing its job. I replaced that o-ring with a slightly thicker one.

With these modifications, the SST-20 switch feels considerably better than stock, but still feels worse than the first-run FW3A’s switches.

Lumintop’s revised tailcap housing is definitely inferior to the original design. Hopefully, they will switch it back for the copper and Titanium run.

I just noticed Neal has Sapphire glass lenses for sale for the FW3A on his website.

I ended up removing the “nubbin” for now. Should have the same effect as your method. A bit more travel and higher actuation force. Still not as satisfyingly clicky as the original one.

Oh yeah forgot about that.

I also replaced the nubbin with a shorter profile one, made from cutting up a piece of cured epoxy putty. I tried it without any nubbin, but the switch didn’t work at all.

Let us know if it worked for you too :+1:

Hey everyone, got a question, let’s say I want change the max temp for the light, once I set the temp that I want do I let the light go through all other menus or do I just turn the light off.

Wait and it will go back to the current temp blink out and you can turn it off from there. (at least that’s what I do)

+1 …. This is what I do too.

I think I saw a thread made by TK about her initial impression of FW3Cu but I can’t find it again.
Any good people here can give me the link?

Considering how easy the switch accidentally presses in the original XPL-HI version, this isn’t a step in the right direction. This is not a light meant for pocket carry, IMO. Unless you lock it out, but then it’s a PITA to use.

I originally thought “muggle mode” was kind of a dumb feature, since “muggles” won’t be buying this light anyway. But it makes sense, if you do choose to carry it in pocket.

are they doing titanium? would be interested in one.

So far I have had no issues with it turning on in my pocket. I don’t clip it to my pocket but just carry it loose (no other items there). I have a nichea from when they were first released. Not sure if it’s an original or tweaked switch. Reasonable travel and pressure to activate. A little gritty at times with an edge push. I might do the tape someone mentioned to get rid of the grit but really, I don’t really notice it unless I’m trying to notice it.

Does anyone know the size of the o-ring for the fw3a?
Thanks SpecialK

Maybe that’s the reason. I carried mine clipped in my pocket last night, for the first time. (I wanted a warm white light.) Activated 3 times by accident, within 1 hour when I was outside. Luckily I had it set to a low level, and it didn’t “press and hold”. Yuck, that’s way too easy. I’ve carried a Zebralight the same way for years, and never had an accidental activation.

Carrying it loosely might help. I might try that, but I’m not sure I trust it. Muggle mode seems like it cripples the light, and lock-out is not for my usage.

20mm OD (outer diameter), but it can be 19 or 18 if that’s all you can find. It will stretch. 3/4” OD is fine.
Thickness is about 1.5mm or 1/16”. This means ID (inner diameter) is 17mm or 21/32”.

Thanks. I just found a rip in the original o ring and wanted to get a few spares for the future.

There should be 2 spares in the box.

I found some red o-rings.

It would seem so. There’s a couple of prototype photo floating around, one solid titanium and another titanium with a copper head/heatsink area. Nothing official has been confirmed though, that I’ve seen.