Lumintop FW1A discussion and review

I thought we had resolved this already… Lumintop didn’t change the FW3A design away from what Fritz wanted. Fritz changed the design himself, and it’s still his.

Neale has a voting in his FB group about FW1A options and SS bezel is on top.
It would be nice if only heatsink/driver and bezel reflector in different materials could be offered to match current hosts

Limiting the turbo level by limiting the PWM duty cycle is not only feasible, it’s actively used in several lights. A few of Anduril’s build targets have a “219” version which does exactly that, in order to make them safe to run on lights with 219C or 219B emitters.

I think it’d be cool to be able to configure turbo similar the way the ramp floor and ceiling are configured. It’d need some sort of menu to designate raising or lowering though. Like setting turbo to 130 would effectively make the driver function like a moonlight special, not using the FET. And between 130 and 150 would be different FET levels. I’m not sure where between 130 and 150 half turbo is, but it’d be cool to play with and set it at an appropriate level to not blow up an SST-20 or something.

not interested at all
seems a throw variant not competitive with what’s out there.
and a tail switch…

I think there’s a button for that.

Ah yes I wasn’t thinking clearly, of course you’re right :blush:

I think my original post was about a user configurable turbo through the UI.

Yeah that’s what I was thinking of. For same reason I didn’t re-engage my brain after writing about the A6.

Different strokes for different folks. And majority will determine the definive version(s), of course. However, there is one remark I would like to make. The post count is in the low forties and already opinions are drifting apart.
Some people would like to have an ultra flooder like the A6 and some want a much more throwing light. And the last will be a challenge if the dimensions are (already?) fixed to roughly 100mm length.

So I would suggest a TIR optic for the FW1A(C, CT, T).
My experience with TIR optics is that the beam is almost always quite good (intensity distribution, tint-shift).
And within the size limits even a thrower would be in reach if we use a clear narrow optic (8 degrees or less).

IMHO a FW1A with a short OP reflector would be nothing more than a crippled version of the FW3A.

Just my 2c.

Yes but at which point it is really his design ?
He made it but he also clearly declared earlier that this kind of angles won’t happen. Who pushed the idea of those angles ? People on BLF/TLF, Lumintop, both ?
Anyway, we will never know. The only thing that we know is that some people liked the early design and signed for it, so why not making a small run for them and for Fritz Works sake instead of pushing things further away of this original design ?
(Some people don’t use pocket clip).

Since this flashlight is more for the mass marked and non flashaholics it would be wise to somehow lock the retention ring in place with a simple lock solution, and at the same time it should be possible to lock it up using proper tools.

Anyway, I want a similar tail switch flashlight with tail magnet.

I’d consider buying this, but honestly the QC of FW3A is not impressive. My first light came with 1 led DOA, my second light behaves quite differently in a few aspects. Very different feel of the button, plus the need to tighten the heck out of it in order to work. Not to mention the optics fiasco.
On top of that the heat it produces is mindblowing. If they make a single LED with slightly longer head, would that mean there’s gonna be less heat?
I have a Sofirn SP32A V2 which I use to walk the dog recently and it feels way better than the FW3A. Certainly less flood, but enough for the task, plus it heats up way less, even on turbo.
Also a dedicated battery level indicator would be nice.

If this comes in the raw aluminium finish I will definitely buy it.

They should just make the reflector the same size as regularly available Yajiamei Optics. You get plenty of 3535 and 5050 types. It could make this light very customizable…. I would definitely run a Luxeon V 4000K or SST-40 5000K (from Simon) in the FW1A.

Does the existence of this mean a future single emitter EDC18 is possible?
I.e. an 18650 version of the EDC05?

It’s not a mystery. It’s documented right there in the public thread.

In 2017 he defended the sharp angles, primarily as a way to make it clear that it’s not a HDS clone.

After more discussion and testing, he changed his mind and decided the tapered edges were a better idea. Pics were posted and it was clarified that what people were signing up for had smoother angles. This information was available in the first post during most of the project’s development and sign-up period.

~3000 posts later, the matter had gotten so out of hand that he tried to put an end to it by confirming that it was his design and not a downgrade or compromise.

~12,000 posts later, we’re apparently still debating it even though it was decided in 2017 and the final authoritative answer was given more than a year ago.

In any case, I’m looking forward to the FW1A. It’ll be nice to have a throwier version which goes a lot farther at the same power levels. Also looking forward to the bare aluminum FW3A, which is what I had been hoping for all along. :slight_smile:

I have the bare aluminum on order. Supposed to be in this week.
I bought the TK special.
It is very nice.

I’m definitely more excited for this than the 3A. My main reason for using my Zebra SC64w hi over the FW3A is that I like the beam profile of single emitter + reflector better.

so my reasons are moot?
You’re much nicer about it than Greta.

To put it simply: yes.

Longer version: This light is apparently not made for you. But some will like it. Feel free to not buy it. I probably won’t buy it either. But I don’t feel the need to trash other people’s projects. If you have some constructive input, fire away. Otherwise, we don’t need to hear from you. Thank you for understanding. :innocent: