I haven’t heard anything about either one recently. Neal at least looked through off-the-shelf diffusers to try to find a compatible one, but failed. I tried to tell him in advance that they don’t exist and would need to be manufactured, but maybe that’s enough of a hurdle to keep it from happening.
I don’t have access to the numbers, but if it helps at all, I’ve heard the BLF-A6 has sold well into the five digit range… and I’m guessing the FW3A may end up being more popular than that in the long run.
I don’t think I’ve tried a new one yet. I hope it’s not as bad as it sounds.
It was an old prototype from 2018. It doesn’t really represent how the production version will be.
The differences I’m aware of are:
- 2018 proto was bead-blasted, production is smooth polished.
- 2018 proto parts didn’t fit together right, so it’s hard to get the thing to turn on at all, and the clip doesn’t fit.
Otherwise though, I guess it should be pretty similar. It’s just like the aluminum FW3A, except made from copper and polished to make it shine. And it’ll be heavier when empty than the aluminum version is with a cell installed.
I named my prototype Wilbert Stinkyhands, in case that helps with using the search function.
Nope, that one was apparently solid copper and the photo was taken with a really misleading white balance.
Normally, I prefer XPL HI over SST-20… But in the case of the FW3A, the SST20s it comes with are the best I’ve ever seen.
I hope my experience will be the same, if I ever get a SST-20 model. I think the purple one is supposed to use those, maybe.
Will the new SST-20 emitter version be delivered with the latest/fixed anduril? (to manually set the memorized level)?
If I understand correctly, the items currently shipping use the 05-22 firmware, which was one revision before manual memory was added. They made the drivers like half a week before the firmware got updated.
But it should be in the next batch of drivers, whenever that is. Maybe in another couple months?
HOLY CRAP… this FW3A emitted burning smell and stopped working after just falling off a 20 inch high night table…
It looks like, for that to happen, there would need to be two shorts — one where the outer tube makes contact with the switch contact ring, and one where the spring scratches through the solder mask to contact the trace shown in your photo.
If both of those happened, it could bypass the usual BAT- path and send all that current through a single small trace instead, which could cause it to burn. But it’s pretty strange that the spring would make contact with the trace. It’s generally held up a bit by solder, and the trace is underneath an insulating mask. Basically, it sounds like very bad luck.
Making contact between the outer tube and the switch ring is much more common though. With the tailcap parts so loose, the PCB can get off-center and touch the wrong parts. But normally this only makes it think the button is being pressed. The bulk of the current still flows through the correct path in that case.
bead blasted titanium
This material always seems divisive. On the one hand, it gives a soft velvety feel with slightly better grip than a smooth metal. On the other hand, it gets visible scratches (or “snail trails”) really easily so the surface doesn’t look new for very long.
I’m fairly happy with the bead-blasted copper prototype though, after forcing a patina and polishing it. Most of the blasted texture is gone now, so it mostly just feels like regular non-blasted copper.