Yes, makes me wonder on early vs late.
Mine doesn’t need an o-ring to keep the clip tight, the tail cap tightens down against it firm enough that I can’t move the clip by hand.
I really like the light, but feel the design can be taken further. I’ll be making a stainless “tailcap cap” to hold magnets, trits, and also to shroud the switch more to reduce accidental switch activations.
1 month old (purchased) FW3A no retaining ring inside tail and no extra “clear” Oring for the clip. New FWAC has a small retaining ring that screws into the tail, it keeps the switch from falling out and a clear Oring to make up that gap keeping the clip from spinning. I think the new switch retaining ring and Oring caused my early troubles, so I removed both.
Also, been trying smaller Orings to stiffen the switch, but no luck so far. Breath on it and she’ll give you the death Ray!
I'm stuck on some strange mode that starts at moonlight and then jumps straight to turbo. How do I get out of this mode? :-)
With light on, do 3 fast clicks.
I’m thinking you might be in stepped mode with 2 steps.
Thanks!
Did it work? If so, then your step settings got mixed up.
You can reset the light if you want.
With light turned On, click 4 times to enter ramp config mode. At the prompts (fluttering light), respectively, click 1 time, then 21 times. If there is a 3rd prompt, click 7 times (this is seen when in stepped ramping mode).
Can I buy a new type tailcap with the retaining ring?
I don’t like having a flashlight that will, eventually, inevitably, get into the wrong hands and fall apart.
Taking the long view (I still have and use a handful of Arc AAAs and LSs).
I second that.
I got the stepless ramp mode, but I can't get into stepped ramp mode.
You can switch between smooth and stepped ramping with 3 fast clicks while light is turned on.
This puts me back into the low and high mode (2 step mode). I tried the reset thing, but it didn't work.
Never mind. I tried your instructions again and it worked. Thank you!
Cool.
I think it’s a bit too easy to accidentally do 4 clicks and change the settings. :disappointed:
It is :D
I recently bought an FW1A to see what all the fuss was about.
Unfortunately the one I got seems to have quite serious issues. I’ve spent a few hours trying the solutions mentioned in this and other threads, but I just can’t get it to work consistently.
Where the problem is now is that during tightening the head it will flash to show contact, but when fully tightened not respond to the switch or do anything at all. Sometimes it will instead treat it as if the switch is in a locked-on position and ramp up to max and stay there. Other times (more rarely) it will come on in a low fast flickering mode, then ramp down and then up to max and stay there.
I originally thought I had a faulty tailswitch but now think it’s to do with the internal tube - this may be either not making contact, or contacting both the driver and the retaining ring at once. Sometimes hitting the head on something will make it work as it should for a short while, but it always seems to end up with the same issues again soon afterwards.
I’ve tried re-orienting the driver in the head a few times. I can see the flat notch on the circuit board, but I can’t find anywhere that matches up to this in the inside of the head so I’m not sure there is a ‘correct’ orientation for this. Does anyone know if this has been changed for the FW1A? The driver does seem to move slightly (<1mm) during tightening the retaining ring or during use, so I’m not sure it is properly seated.
Can anyone recommend any other things I should be trying to get this working, or will I have to send it back?
I think my original type tailswitch occasionally double-click bounces, giving me an unpredictable number of clicks and going into the wrong mode.
I’ve had way too many occasions of ending up in some unwanted mode and having to figure the darned thing out yet again.
So:
Asking more about the new-design tailcap — is it available, is it lego-able to the original tube, and is its switch reliable?
Check continuity of the black tube. Some others have used sandpaper to make sure the tube has bare metal on each end.
Thanks, I gave each end a light brushing with very fine grit. This has helped insofar as the light now consistently behaves as if the switch is always on, instead of sometimes stuck on and sometimes stuck off. There must still be something else to fix get it working properly though.
your switch may be misassembled
esp if you took the tail cap off
see other posts for the ‘nubbin’
it can fall off unnoticed, or be off center
would make the switch appear on all the time
wle
Thanks for the tip. Just did it. I was having some slight flakiness if I didn’t tighten down thoroughly. Seems better. Kudos! 