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

My SST20 FW3A from Neil was delivered yesterday, and this morning I was going through the different modes and configs when it suddenly shut down into some kind of momentary mode. It will not turn on, the emitters just sort of flutter at moonlight level when I press the button. Can’t get out of this no matter what I try. It’s a freshly charged Samsung Q30 battery that I ordered along with the light.

Any ideas?

The tail is not making good contact.

Crank the tail down before screwing the head on.

There is a thread regarding first time maintenance as well.

Thanks, that’s exactly what it was. Tightened everything down and it’s back to normal.

Just ordered my third FW3A… I have dropped 219b sw40’s in one, left the stock SST-20 4000k in one and will be either trying LH351D’s or SST-20 4000k FD2’s in the next. One thing I have noticed, I have the FW3A in the stock SST-20 and I have the D4V2 in the stock SST-20, they are not the same tint bin! The D4V2 is quite a bit more green/yellow at all output ranges. The FW3A SST-20 4000k actually does not look terrible when compared side by side with the Nichia 4000k sw40’s. So hats off to whomever sourced the current 4000k SST-20’s.

Also when changing led’s I am updating to the latest firmware. The solder work on the drivers is very good as the SOIC-8 clip attaches very well to the chip. The more I use and carry the FW3A, the more I love the light. It has replaced my Zebralight in my rotation. Runtime is great as long as one stays in the range of current regulated output and with the 219b version being my EDC, there is not much to be gained by going to FET drive anyway. The final result will be to determine the led’s I want to use in it and then I will order that good looking purple one and build it for EDC.

I am hoping to get a chance to do some tint comparisons with the above led’s, my NW Zebralight and my old standby XM footprint XM-L2 4C light.

Neal said the SST-20 bin they used in the FW3A is FA3, which is a very good one. I think it tests good, but I guess there’s no way to tell if they are REALLY FA3 or maybe FD2s or something. They look pretty much the same as the FD2s to me. Way better than the FB4 I got in a convoy light.

There is almost zero chance these are FA3. They are 39xx CCT and above BBL at all levels except turbo. Better than most sure but I think FD2 is a better educated guess.

Not sure, all I am sure of right now is the very early SST20 FW3A makes the D4V2 look like puke! I have some FD2’s that I will reflow and test, if the light does have FD2’s then they are pretty good.

It’s a shame Emisar didn’t try to get the same ones Lumintop did. I kind of want a D4V2 but not with the green SSTs. And due to the fancy board with the aux LEDs I don’t really want to try to reflow it.

I was thinking of trying the D4V2 in the 3000k SST-20. I’ve heard the 3000k ones are generally a good tint.

The aux leds are on a seperate aux board, not the main mcpcb.

I went back and looked at TK’s review. I saw it before but I didn’t realize it was two boards stacked on top of each other. Cool.

That doesn’t make it any easier to change out the main LEDs though. It’s not that bad but it’s certainly a delicate procedure getting the wires back in place and neatly soldered. You wont be just mashing the iron on a huge open space where the only two hookup wires go like the FW3A. :slight_smile:

Have the modes/lumens/runtimes for the SST-20’s been posted anywhere? I have only been able to find info on the XPL HI’s:

Moonlight ~0.2 lumens (~74 days)
1 x 7135 Max: ~130 lumens (10 hours)
8 x 7135 Max: ~900 lumens (1.25 hours)
Max FET: ~2800 lumens (**10 second stepdown due to heat)

Wondering what the specs are for SST-20.

Everything except FET modes will be nearly identical as the 7135 modes are current regulated, although it will stay regulated for longer due to the lower forward voltage so runtimes will be slightly shorter. FET modes will be shorter for the SST due to more heat and lower forward voltage of the LED (=>more current)

Here’s Bob’s numbers for SST-20:

https://www.reddit.com/r/flashlight/comments/c6vfe5/review_lumintop_fw3a_sst20_with_colour/

Great info there, exactly what I was looking for. Thanks!

Your not taking into consideration the output of the SST-20. When compared to the xpl-hi, the SST-20 has maybe 30% less output at the same current. So 1 x 7135 is still a regulated 350 milliamp, but the output is lower. I don’t know if it’s lower forward current plays a factor in the regulated modes, but it definitely does when using the FET.

The effect of forward voltage on a current limited PWM signal is making my head hurt. :disappointed: Maybe someone here can explain it.

I’ve been waiting to pull the trigger on an FW3A purchase - specifically waiting for various issues (hardware and software) to stabilize… now?… now?… seems close - am I wrong?…

What issues do you mean?

The software is the same, no problems there. Maybe in a couple months they will update it to include the reset function (not really necessary, IMO)

Hardware wise the factory switched the optic. It’s still a good optic, but if you want the Carclo you can order from Neal. They seem to make small changes to the button design, some better, some worse so it’s a toss up there.

I see no reason to wait, unless it’s for a colored one or a metal version that’s not out yet.

It is reportedly hard to solder all the wires to the two different boards to reinstall everything after you replace the emitters, though.

If I remember right, even DB Custom commented on it being a challenge, and he’s got quite a bit of experience modifying lights.

Plenty of room, just have to have your wires set-up with the right length and in the correct position (s) to reach the pads.