FW3A mod thread. Post yours!

Thanks to all of you for figuring this out. I just tried the o-ring. It takes my favorite light up a notch or two. It is great now. I might experiment with some of the other suggestions also. The extra firmness is great as well as the additional loudness.

Definitely amazing work on that Panerai. :+1:

Link?

For the o-rings?

Yeah, I see 008 but I seen various sizes, just want to make sure i (we) get the right ones

Thank you JaredM for figuring out this oring mod. :+1: I had intentions of using the FW3A as a work tool, and this was not happening with the hair trigger stock switch.

I just found this. Thank you. This is a lot better.

I’m definitely going to try this. Thanks for the idea.

alright I am back… finally.

Fw3a TIR

BTW, anyone noticed that if you unscrew the body of fw3a it’ll start to light up and ramp up? is there a short some where on mine, or is this expected?

It seems that there is some extra pressure somewhere in the switch, or some short if it starts to ramp by itself.
Go back to the tailcap and re-check it, otherwise it may turn ON accidentally and…you know that it will burn something!

It wasn’t the tail switch. I was able to fix it by twisting the head back and forth several times, I felt some rough spots and when it is gone it no longer do that. I think the driver design is using various voltage as signal to turn on and off etc, so when the head circuit gets cut off temporarily it got mislead. So dirt or bad contact can cause this. Or so I assume.

Uh oh. Have you asked TK about this?

In general, I’d prefer “fail safe” over “fail worse” as a design principle, because stuff happens.
It would take some hardware fix to avoid fail-to-bright-and-hot, I’d think, not just software.

You have to use twist it on and off to cause this. And some dirt or connectivity issue at the same time. This is not an expected usage, so there’s really no worry here (unless you have a need to use twist on or off frequently as cut off, like me).

May be a loose retaining ring… Mine have all had some initial issues with the ring being loose/off center, or the interior tube not meeting the intended contact point. Could also be some oxidation on the contact points… a q-tip with some rubbing alcohol may clear that up if it is an issue.

I’m using the 5/32 o-ring and it’s great. However, the o-ring presents a little challenge. The tail cap must be totally tight. If it’s a little loose? You get weird shut-off events. It doesn’t take much loosening for it to happen either.

Got my little FW3A parts parcel from Neal’s Gadgets. Picked up an 18350 tube. Lanyard ring. SS bezel. And aqua GITD.

Well, I have to say I’m a bit disappointed by that aqua. While it’s a nice color, it’s noticeably weaker than the green AND it fades off faster. It bothers me enough that I’m going to try a few timing tests. At least it comes in a nice twist top round plastic container.

But that SS bezel is sweet and worth the price.

some people rant about the many variations and "offsprings" of the original design / idea...

but i actually like that it evolved from "something for some freaks" to a flashlight-family suiteable for many ...

a nice example:

a customized FW3T+C with engraved copper button (by S•C•P Schiller Custom Parts) and more - what a beauty!
owner: Patric Böttcher

I just got around to it tonight. TOTALLY TRANSFORMATIONAL! Excellent idea, and takes less than two minutes. Thanks Jared!
I can see trying a 5/32, or maybe experimenting a little, because it is a bit stiff now, but it is great, and SO MUCH BETTER. I really got tired of the four click routine all the time, and this light did turn on far too easily. I bought three 008 rings at the hardware store, and it is for sure the best 90 cents I’ve ever spent.

I’m curious about the 5/32 now as well. I probably have one laying around.

If I get some time to tinker with lights this weekend, I’m going to look into ways of silencing the switch with this setup as well