Would you purchase a 14500 version FW1A "mini" if it existed?

maybe if it was the size of lumintop tool AA
do NOT want 3 or 4 led head, must be as slim as body tube
would want part-floody pattern like fw3a
side switch for more compactness
anduril a must!!

also needs to be under $30 to interest me personally

wle

I would be interested if they can make the tube small so we can finally make use of those new miracle Vapcell 14500 10A and Shockli 12A cells. The FW3A tube design requiring a sleeve will make the 14500 host fat, which defeats the advantage of using 14500 cells.

Likewise, Neal mentioned interest to build a 14500 flashlight, and said I'd be happy to help design a driver for it.

I suggested using this opportunity to try something different. For example, wouldn't it be nice to use say 3 or 4 E21A LEDs instead? Wouldn't it be nice to have it also run in a boost mode and have a mix of different emitters for a customized colour temperature and tint profile? Still awaiting what they want for their product.. Maybe if enough members express interest, could help Neal / Lumintop in the direction they could go for this flashlight. :)

If it was slim and small, I’d get a couple. 14500 is okay but I’d much prefer if it could also run AA. Note, the Thrunite T10t v2 shows it can be done. Need a few improvements but the foundation is there.

There was interest expressed by members for a SP10S with Anduril. But the SP10S is not as slim as other AA lights, and that made it less attractive, since size is the primary reason people would carry it over a 18650 flashlights such as the FW3A. I think a Anduril AA/14500 would be quite cool, and would definitely buy it, but only if it’s less than 19mm in diameter, accept both AA/14500 and priced under $30.

I could possibly deliver this CAD design by the end of June. Got a lot of things happening though with a new house and work for the next 3-4 weeks. I think a reasonable expectation for this light would be 20mm x 85mm. 14500 saves 15mm, but single optic will add some. A proper deep pocket clip will be a top priority for the design as well.

Seems like identifying the optic might be a good first step, as it could affect the width and length dimensions. Looks like Ledil has some 16mm by 9-10mm options.
Or could this use the 10mm Carclo optics. Those are only 6mm deep…

Yajiamei also has 17*9.7mm 5050 TIRs in a wide variety of angles.

It looks like each of the optics in the Carclo triple used for the FW3A is 10mm. So using the Carclo 10mm would be like using one of those. Using one of these just feels right for this, but I don’t know how that square shape of the optic holder combined with the presumably larger circular opening would play out. Maybe I’ll order one of these and stick it in an FW1A with a FW3A bezel. Think that’s worth doing? Which one should I order: 10mm - Carclo LED Optics
Probably medium spot or frosted medium spot? The narrow spot cd/lm looks pretty throwy for a general use light. Or maybe I should just get all 3. If anyone else already knows this wouldn’t work well, I’d also appreciate that info :).

Looking at the proposal, I would just say that the 20mm diameter would be too thick. My opinion, of course!
Looking at the Tool AA V2.0, it measures 89.1mm x 18.5mm. I find that thickness ideal for an EDC light. I believe Eagletac has one that is similar to this one.
Making it 20mm seems to large.

About length, 85mm would be nice, but I guess we can save some more space too, maybe 2 or 3 mm (optimizing the tailswitch and the pill).
Don’t ask me how to do it, though, as I am no expert :smiley:
And thanks for your effort in advance too :wink:

if you make FW1A ti, i will take this :smiley:

The more I’ve thought about this over the last few weeks, the more I’ve realised I would buy a couple.

I live the Tool AA 2.0, but I love my fw3a and Fw1a lights much more.
While I like a smaller single led light, the driver, both button, firmware and power just can’t be beaten from the FWxA lights.
I’ve collected so many of them now, all for different LEDs, tube sizes, I would love one that’s 4mm thinner.
My favourite size is 18500, so the height would be similar and amazing for a 219b mod for around the house.

I’d be very happy if this happened!

well, aparently there is an Anduril option for 14500 (no AA)

There isn’t triple optic for made FW3A 14500/AA with E21A?

There really wouldn’t be much point in making it a triple.

A single LED is almost always preferable unless there are specific reasons to use more. Like, if one LED can only make 1000 lumens and you want to make 3000 or 4000, and don’t mind sacrificing throw, and are using a battery powerful enough to power it, that would be a reason to use more than one. Or if it’s a lantern which needs light to come out at all angles, or if it uses tint ramping, those would be reasons to use more than one.

But for a 14500 light, the battery isn’t really strong enough to justify multiple LEDs. Also, if the whole point of the light is to make it small, multiple LEDs would work against that goal.

It can sometimes be useful to put four tiny LEDs under a single optic though… like four XQ-E or E17A LEDs. This allows tint mixing to make the tint more pink. Or in the case of 4 x XQ-E, it has been used with RGBA emitters and a diffuser to produce a rainbow.

Those are pretty specialized cases though. For a general-purpose 14500 light, a single LED is the obvious choice.

(FWIW, I’m counting the Cree XHP series as a “single LED”… there are good reasons to use XHP35 HI and a boost driver, for example)

brilliant post!

thanks for taking the time to illuminate the fact that a triple, can have less Throw, and requires more power, than a single.

I think there is a commonly held misundertanding that more lumens equals more throw… not true if the hotspot is less focused

Same. 14500 is already a compromise because I only really use that battery size for EDC or if I’m travelling. I’d want to be able to bung an easy to find AA in it if I took it on holiday or whatever.

But yes indeed, I’d be interested to see it, though the short tube 18350 option for the FW3 further weakens my need for a 14500 version. Still, needs are generally ignored in the world of the flashaholic, and desire is forefront. :slight_smile:

I asked because there isn’t any triple 14500 on market.So will be the first. Small leds like E17A can handle not much current.
New 14500 batt.can give the necessary current but of course runtime and throw will be a bit sacrified.

That driver is designed specifically for the Boruit D10 (probably works with most of the varieties of that light too, like Sofirn/77Outdoors D25), which takes an 18650.

So far, Anduril works with several ATTiny MCUs, which we’ve made work with Li-Ion chemistries. Cell size doesn’t really matter at that point, just design a smaller driver to fit the host. There’s not a whole lot of reason Anduril can’t fit on a 10mm driver besides space, which would allow for 10440 and even 10180 lights to run Anduril.

This thread has some information about the quest for AA Anduril support. To my understanding, there’s a prototype driver design being tested currently.

Yes, but I’m still waiting on a good 14/15mm 12v boost driver.

All the triple optics I’m aware of have a much larger diameter than makes any sense for a 14500 light.

But triple is more efficient than single and with the Vapcell H10 or Shockli 1000mah cells, it will be able to make use of triple emitters no problem. But I’m hoping for a 14500 version of the Manker MC13