FW3A Troubleshooting / FAQ

Maybe a fet issue?

Hello all,
I just wanted to give props to Neal for his handling of my problem with my FW3A. It never worked right out of the box; didn’t get the blink when new batt inserted and clicks all had random outcomes. I tried every trick in this thread and fussed with it for a month. I suspected it just had a bad driver flash. Finally I sent a PM to him here and offered to pay shipping for a new head. He offered a driver, but I explained my soldering skills and eyesight wouldn’t be able to make that work. He replied with a short, somewhat cryptic response that warranty would cover it. Guess what showed up in the mail yesterday? Complete new light in full blown factory packaging! To anyone experiencing problems, just contact him and he WILL make it right! Thank you so much, Neal!

/\ Glad to hear you got a satisfactory resolution. :slight_smile:

It looks like everything is pointing to a bad 7135 chip, specifically the single chip on the lowest channel.

So the stuff under 120 lumen is all going through that single chip. Above that level, that channel goes 100% and the next channel, 7x7135 chips are PWM so it’s still using that first 7135 chip but it’s effects become less noticable. Then on Turbo it’s the FET only.

A new driver should fix it, but if your not able to solder the 2 led wires, a new head would be the fix.

If you have hot air you could try swapping in a new 7135 chip, but it’s a bit more advanced.

OK, I guess it’s time for me to take this up with Neal.
Thanks everyone!

A work around would be to anodize the threads part way . Leave 1/8 inch or so bare . One turn probably would physically lock it out then. With all the D4V2 talk about lock out got me thinking.

I received my FW3A with XPL HI 3D yesterday. I was pleasantly surprised that the torch seemed more robust than I expected. The switch doesn’t appear to have any of the metal-scraping that others have complained about in other posts. This was my first venture into the Anduril UI but it is much more intuitive when you are actually doing it than reading about it.

One question - when using the smooth ramping to go up or down in the brightness scale there seems to be a “hitch” halfway in the run. In other words, as I go from dim to bright or bright to dim, about halfway through it blinks out then back in. Is this normal?

A couple weeks back Neal had sent me a message saying he was going to replace the shorted one i had failed, i never heard back since, and he ignored my direct message i sent to him last week. :person_facepalming:

Yes it’s normal , the blip tells you you are at the fully regulated brightness.

That’s normal too.

Thank you!

If you set the ramping to go all the way to Turbo, you will notice a short blink as it ramps up to the top of the single 7135 channel. This is about 125-130 lumens on the 3D light. Then you will see another blink at the top of the 7 x 7135 channel. This is about 950-1000 lumens on the 3D light. Since the stock ramping level tops out at the 7 x 7135 level, you only see the single blink as you ramp up and down.

Toykeeper added these blinks at the request of the BLF members.

Thanks, Jason. In practice now, that makes sense and I can see it. I’m really digging this light!

What are the chances that I could order a new driver for one of my FW3A lights? I’m pretty sure I messed mine up trying to flash the new Andruil firmware. I’ve already sent Neal that question and waiting for a response.

I’ve been trying to get it to communicate with my computer and it can’t find it. The other driver’s I’ve flashed communicate just fine.

good luck, i sent him messages about my shorted out FW3A and he has not responded. even a driver & tail board would probably fix the faulty on i have.

I wonder if someone could sell just a programmed MCU? That’s all you really need. Just swap that one $1.35 ATtiny85 instead of a much more expensive driver.

Eh, just a thought.

Mike if the positive LED wire is in the way try to desolder it and get a better connection with the clip? Just an idea

JasonWW, If I were to buy some ATtiny85 chips, in theory, I should be able to flash them and then replace the one on my driver, right?

contactcr, I don’t think I had any interference but I’ll double check.

Neal contacted me and I’m going to buy a few drivers to fix my light and for emergencies. But in the meantime, I have nothing to lose experimenting with the one I have.

Thanks everyone!

I don’t know if you could flash a bare chip. I was thinking of swapping it onto the driver first, then flashing it.

I’ll order a few and give it a shot.