Yes, two of mine are flawless, but one is erratic. You probably know to loosen the head, then loosen and tighten down the tail, then tighten the head. This can be a fussy light. When there is a free moment, I will check the alignment and the retaining ring. Beyond that, it will be an adventure into flashlights. Let us know what you find. Good luck.
it does sound like the āretaining ring problemā.
I tightened all of the retaining rings when I got the lights. Tails are tight, too. Does this stuff loosen up over time?
yes - it is actually pretty hard to tighten the retaining ring so it does not work loose in a few weeks
take 1 min to re-check
the tail cap usually does not get loose
wle
Got mine working by removing the pocket clip and tightening everything down super tight. The pocket clip was not allowing a tight fit on mine. Hope yours is functioning properly now.
Ok I am having a problem, I ordered my light then when it arrived that I do not have any flat top batteries. So 3 weeks later I finally received some. getting Batteries to Alaska is getting to be an issue I do not even want to talk about as I found a sender that will ship them to me. I ordered 4 Sanyo/Panasonic NCR18650GA 3500mAh - Flat tops unprotected, (from MTN, thanks for the fast shipping 4 days was amazing 
).
On to the problem. I do not have a DMM.
When screwing in the head to the body I do not get any flashes (was the first indicator there was a problem). If I hold down the button for 4-6 seconds it goes to 50% and ramps from there it blinks when it gets to 100. Ramping down when it gets to 50 it turns off. If I leave the light at over 50% and push the button to power it off it turns off right there. Powering it back on brings it back to the over 50%. Double clicking puts it in to turbo mode. Side note this thing gets HOT very fast. I can not unscrew the tail from the body as it is glued on very well.
So the under 50% is what I use the most and I am not sure at this point how to go about getting this light to work. Anyone have any ideas? I have tried all 4 of the batteries and made sure they are all charged.
The idea of returning it or ordering a second one at this point kinda puts a sour mood on things as it took almost a month and half to get here.
First of all, if it turns on it has power! This is, as usual, a switch problem.
The most common cure is to take off the tail cap and clean the inner tube connections with alcohol or other electronics cleaner.
To take the tail cap off:
Put it in the freezer for around 10 minutes.
use a rubber glove for grip
Apply steady pressure rather than fighting with it.
It is NOT glued on.
Also clean the connections on the head end.
If you have any vape shops there, they carry 18650 batteries.
Report back.
It sounds like your switch is fine. It either works or it doesnāt.
Is there any way you could make a video showing itās behavior?
It sounds like channel 1 is not working. This is all light from moonlight up to about 120 lumen. This is the range it will blink when first powered up.
If you turn it on with a long press, does it start at moonlight. It sounds like it starts off at above 120 lumen and ramps up from there.
So your probably not getting the battery voltage blinks (I think they are under 120 lumen).
Just as a precaution I would do all the regular stuff such as make sure the driver is centered and the retaining ring is tight. Clean the threads, etcā¦ I donāt think it will help in your case, but itās worth trying.
If channel 1 is bad, you wonāt send it back, they should send you a replacement head.
I agree that it is not the switch, but something in the head, I am not going to pretend to know more than I do about electronics.
Yeah I donāt get the battery voltage blinks or the flashes when you first put the head on. I tightened everything back down tighter that I like making things.
When I do power it on it starts more like around 400+ Lumen and ramps from there.
Here is the link to the YT vid showing it.
Sound quality is crap due to recovering from a sinus infection.
Looks like the one 7135 from the first channel doesnāt work. Get a replacement head.
Yep, it looks like a driver problem. Talk to the store you bought it from and show them what itās doing. They should send you either a replacement head or a whole light. Sorry about the bad luck.
Extraā¦
It does seem to come on brighter than 120 lumen. Thatās a bit strange. Channel 1 does moonlight to about 120 lumen. Channel 2 does from there to about 900 lumen and then channel 3 is the FET and does from there to the max lumens. To have it start about the middle of channel 2 is something Iāve not seen. One possible explanation is the single 7135 current regulator on channel 1 is bad, plus a few of the 7 current regulators in channel 2 are also bad. The odds of that seem small. There might be an issue with the MCU and itās programming. There is also a chance that a metal shaving is shorting out a circuit. That can lead to unpredictable results.
There was a person with a similar issue, but it was just channel 1 that was bad. From 120 lm and up it worked normally. IDK, youād need a driver guru with an oscilloscope to test it to really find the problem. Or just replace all the 7135 chips with known good units from a reputable store. If that doesnt fix it, the problem is the MCU or a short.
Right now waiting for Neil to get back to me on this.
Having an issue the whole day with my fw3A.
All it can do is turn on and off single clicks. It can ramp. When I double click at on, it wonāt turbo but just switches off. I canāt lock, canāt momentary canāt muggle. It basically canāt go any modes: strobes or blinkers. I cannot 13 clicks to factory reset either.
It gets erratic.
Help?
My new light would flash once and nothing. Simply loosening and retightening the tail solved it. Odd. But the directions were correct. Thanks for the great FAQ.!!!
Sounds like you are in muggle mode.
This is very common. The inner tube wasnāt making good contact. Make sure to loosen the head, tighten the tail (fairly tightly) then tighten the head.
OMG. I thought I did try to exit muggle mode and nothing happened. I just tried again and it works ! Feel like a noob.
Thanks JasonWW.
I received a Ti from Neal about three weeks ago (my third) it worked fine initially, Iāve not dropped it or even really carried it.
After about a week of using it to let the pooch out, I started to notice a slight pulsing/flicker at low light levels. This did not happen at all at higher levels, considered it may be a continuity issue at low current. removed retaining ring cleaned it up, replaced retaining ring (driver). This seemed to clear the slight flicker at lower levels, then a couple days later it started again.
I parked the light on my desk until a day ago, now when I activate the switch it will not power up in low levels at all. I just got done taking it completely apart/desoldered mcpcb, cleaned everything reapplied thermal compound.
Everything looks good, but same activity. It will power up fine if I double click and start at a higher level, it ramps up/down perfectly, turbo is fine the light will drop down to the lowest level fine.
I can power off, and power it back on and it might turn on just fine in moonlight for a press or two, then nothing again at low level unless I start with a double click, or click hold and after a couple seconds it will come on about mid level.
Then again it works as normal, but if I leave it sit for a while or off/on a couple times it again will not turn on in lowest/moonlight without the previously mentioned process.
It is something with the head. it does the same thing on my copper or aluminum versions, and either of those heads work properly on the Ti button/body.
Again, complete disassembly down to components, inspection cleaned up. I just cannot understand why a double click/hold click will power on then work normally for a cycle or two then not power up in moon light.
I hope Iāve explained it clearly enough to understand the oddity of it?
Any thought on this would be appreciated.
If cleaning the head and tail threads doesnt fix it, then it might be something in the driver. Is the low light level under 120 lumen (single 7135 channel) or also at levels brighter than that?
Maybe one or more of the 7135 chips is flaky, not turning on and off like it should. I kinda think Lumintops driver manufacturer got ahold of some low grade, imitation 7135 chips due to other people having similar issues on the very latest versions. Just a theory.
You may need to contact the place you bought it and see if they can send you either a new driver or new head. (Iām sure theyād prefer just the driver, as it saves them a lot of money)
I appreciate your response, Judging by the other two I have, one being identical emitters the output at its lowest level is still a fair bit higher then the working ones. The flickering/strobe effect Iām seeing could also be caused by the same (erratic switching). Thinking about it, your probably correct in your theory.
The light has some changes from my other ones (older). A tiny screw in the thermal surface to stop the mcpcb from spinning, and no machined notch for the driver. I have a current order I just placed with Neal, I will ask him if he could send me a replacement with that order.
Iāll also add one of the emitters has a noticeable blue tint and is slightly lower output. Not sure if it is a new development or I just failed to notice it previously.