FW3A optics issues Announcement Carclo optics Arrive

those are some beautiful copper lights! congrats on making it happen.

Very much looking forward to Ti Cu and maybe stainless copper also!

these are some fancy lights! I am kind of glad I waited so long :slight_smile: copper looks amazing.

Ok, so I asked about the tritium optic, and then I read the beginning of this thread and I’m confused because I never knew about the original issue.

Could someone clarify?

10511 - “original” - better? Worse? In what way?
10507 - “new” - better? Worse? In what way? - “Polycarbonate (not PMMA)” what’s better for lenses?

“Sapphire Lens for FW3A” - is this a requirement under some circumstances? What size is for what option?

Is there a way to have the tritium inserts and the “better” optic?

It’s mentioned elsewhere, and it would probably turn up in a search without too much effort… I’ll attempt a summary here.

Lumintop had some difficulty getting the original Carlco optics from their supplier in the volume/time frame they needed.

Lumintop found another supplier that said they could make similar optics. These were “ok” by most reports (these lost some lumens, but the color was ok) but they were a one piece lens+optic combo. The bad thing here is that you don’t get the glass lens, and it isn’t a super standard size. If you got the new non-carlco optic, you couldn’t just pop in a Carlco unless you had a lens already (or bought the sapphire one).

Neal started this thread to give us options.

I think the sapphire thing was just another customization option like the glow gaskets. Sapphire is used on watches for durability, and some people wanted their FW3A lens to be more durable for EDC.

As far as I’m aware, the 10511 is frosted (more floody/diffused) and the 10507 is clear (less floody, more defined hotspot). “Better” is subjective here… get what you like. The “new” optic is more similar to the original than the 10507.

The tritium optics are just standard Carlco tir optics, where the support legs have been drilled out for tritium vials. if you preferred a specific model Carlco and couldn’t find it in Neal’s store or from here , you could modify one yourself (they can be purchased stateside for less than $2/ea). Here is a tutorial.

Very helpful, f0xx!

From reading the descriptions, it looks like the most floody optic would be the 10509. Do you think that’s right?

I desire a very floody beam for my light. I searched for some beam shots but didn’t turn up much. I would love to know how the 10509 compares to the S41S’s beam (more or less floody).

I’m going to look for a mod that turns the light into a mule. Maybe that’s trivial?

Edit: I found post #354 from the mods thread with the 10509. That looks like what I want. I’ll have to drill it out and put trits in!

I have a 10509 (no trits), and it is very floody. If that’s what you’re after, you will love it. I like the 10507 the best, and the original 10511 next best. I don’t have one with the new optic yet.

I’ve never seen an S41 in person, so I can’t compare the two. The 10509 sounds like a winner though. If you wanted to try them all, it’s easy to swap them. Get one of each and experiment, then modify your favorite one.

Anyone in this thread that asked for the option A or D that hasn’t received a shipping notification/tracking number/status “Fulfilled” on Neal’s website?

I mentioned my preference and got a response at one point, but it has been a long time and people are getting their lights already while mine says “Unfulfilled”. Am I alone (possibly overlooked) or am I just not patient enough?

I am just looking for some confidence from other BLF’rs that it’ll work out. I have purchased from Neal before and though he seems super busy, I got exactly what I ordered and it came in a reasonable amount of time. Still happy with Neal, and I’m crossing my fingers that I was just on the back end of the list.

I got my notification today… I think you should be patient.

Awesome! As long as my order didn’t fall into a black hole somewhere, I am happy. Thank you for your response!

Just to clarify, if I purchase a FW3A from Neal today, which version of the optic/lens will I get by default?

Update July 10th
the Carclo 10511 optics arrive today,
Lumintop will start to assembly tomorrow and will ship to me this week
so I will start to ship all the orders from fridayfriday.

That’s awesome to hear. :+1:

Got my 2 *Option “A” (with lens) Cu lights today.

Ordered 2 Carclo 10507 optics as well.
Got my optics.
Got my cigar ring and o rings.

Glass lenses are nowhere to be found.

dammit this stuff gets annoying.
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update June 26th. for the resolution:

A. ship with the new optics and a extra lens

Double check the bags with the extra o-rings. I think some other members have found theirs in those bags. Worth a quick look.

Yep, that’s where mine was - a little hard to see, but it was there.

1st thing I did was flex the oring bags … the I disassembled entire boxes and searched inside and out of shipping bag.
NADA

What is the original lens size?
I’ll see if UCL has anything to match.

Sorry to hear that.

Any update on the GT nanos. Are you planning to sell the batteries too?