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

And I ordered the purple one just because, Illumin shipped it out today.

that's the latest version

got it from Amazon this week...

Is the newest Nubbin wider and thicker? We might need a new size drill bit to make new size nubbins.

Much Ado about Nubbin
I have not been posting for awhile, and thought I’d provide an update on my “nubbin situation” as if anybody cares.
The original orange gatorade replacement nubbin I made is still in the same FW3A. I just left it in there and it’s been fine.
On the first day I made it, I thought that the bottle-cap plastic may be too soft and it had deformed, but the nubbin just needed readjusted back into the correct position. I was thinking about making a nubbin from a rubber compound, but the plastic seems to be perfectly fine. Since then the light has been used in heavy rotation and I have had zero problems, of course always replacing the battery from the head.

Be thankful I didn’t hit you upside the cranium with a dozen extremely unfunny puns. In my post that got moved to the troubleshooting thread I had actually typed up possibilities and was attempting to work them into the post. Things like “Nubbin Lost, Nubbin Gained.” and “ True Knowledge Exists In Knowing You Know Nubbin.“. It was just too silly and in the end, I held myself down to only two puns! Consider yourself lucky.

ToyKeeper, I do not own any Synths, but I hear there’s nubbin better.

Yes, the new nub is wider. I haven’t gotten to see one yet, but Illumn took some apart to check for changes.

I don’t know what you’re talking about — it means nubbin to me.

Hello my dear friends!

this week i ordered a Lumintop FW3A from Amazon.de (reflink) and noticed many differences:

Overal both flashlights have same size and apperance (please ignore the blue button and the rubber cigar grip on my “V1”) but the “V2” (right) has a silver clip
(note: the copper comes with silver clip too)

the V2 (right) has a bronce retaining ring in the head (silver in V1)

the V2 (left) has a black retaining ring in the tailcap (none/all loose in V1)

that black retainer in the tailcaps needs some space – thus the V2 (right!) has a shorter shoulder and the threads sit noticeable deeper… (the outer tailcap bodies are identically)

the inner tube of the V2 (left) has a much longer upper part then V1

V1 (left) uses a glas lens + carclo optic
V2 (right) comes with Lumintops own optic (one pcs)
-> i tested both optic setups vice versa in both lights and there is no difference in Lumen output!

all changes (i noticed so far) in one picture :

what did you notice?

M4D M4X… thank you for this very concise comparison with pics… so helpful… I’ve been waiting to see these differences… much appreciated…

Thanks for detailed pictures! As far as I know the PCB should be a bit wider so that it is better centered.

Is the beam shape and throw also the same with both optics?

maybe 5% average more throw for the carclo

I had specified that I would buy four FW3A’s in the pre-release list, but after I had big problems that turned out to be nubbin, I decided I would purchase only one at the cheaper price. In hindsight this was a mistake, but now I am quite happy to see the retaining ring in the tailcap, and plan to give FW3A’s for holiday gifts this year. I just couldn’t see giving a light to muggles with the nubbin falling out. It’s still only for adult muggles.

I hope the new design appears in the color-anodized versions soon.

That’s funny because my FW3A I got from Neal has the silver clip, bronze ring in the head but no black retaining ring in the tail.

Does anyone know the size of O-ring that goes between the pocketclip and the tailcap? My Ti one I just received does not have one and the clip rotates too easily.

It’s not strange at all. The changes were not made at once, but over time. The silver clip and bronze retaining ring were early changes and the other ones are newer.

In fact, the silver clip and bronze ring were mentioned 2 or 3 weeks ago iirc.

The copper I received Thursday from Illum has the brass ring in the head, black ring in the tail, V1 tube and longer threads. So there is a mix.
Once again, most of the reported issues seem to be on account of the driver board not being centered. If the brass lock ring touches it, it shorts out the signal from the switch through the inner tube.
Just loosen and re-center and for me at least all the problems went away.

Mine also has the two piece lens

The issues with the driver being off-center appear to be the same issues the light was originally delayed to fix. So it’s disheartening to see that those issues stuck around so long. However, if I heard correctly, the design was finally changed in the latest batch to make the driver fit better.

Not sure why there was ever a fit issue at all though, since the first few prototypes were fine. It didn’t become an issue until later.

The fit of the brass ring in the head has a lot of play so when it is tightened down it can be slightly off center -at least that was an issue on a few of mine. Just have to take care when tightening to make sure ring is also centered

It was probably a case of the driver manufacturer not realizing the tolerances needed to be so exact. Their pcb boards might have a tolerance range of 0.6mm which is no big deal for most lights, but is a big deal for this light. So the pcb manufacturer might err on the side of caution making the boards a tiny bit smaller. This is better than too big like in the past. Still, too small means the driver might not be perfectly centered.

This is my guess.

If Lumintop did not contract out the drivers and instead made them in house, then they could probably stay on top of the tight tolerances.

I would guess that Lumintop machines the retaining rings themselves, so I don’t know why they can’t get a better fit. Maybe that was their first run of retaining rings and they are going to refine the fit on the next batch of rings.

What was the early ring made of, aluminum? It fit better, right? They may have switched materials, but kept the same cnc profile. The brass might cut differently than the aluminum and changed the fitment of the threads. It’s certainly possible. Or they did change the machining profile to compensate for the different material, but changed it too much.

They will probably never tell us these small details, but we can clearly see they are trying to make improvements where they can.

Found on reddit : 18350 tube for FW3A



Add a new pocketclip that will work with that and I’m in!