It looks like the FW3A is about the same size as a Sinner Cypreus, just a few mm shorter. Big enough for the 18650 cell and not much else.
The clip will likely scratch it a little, but with the clear-anodized aluminum it shouldn’t be very noticeable. No screws to strip either, so a sturdy clip should be reasonably safe as long as it doesn’t clamp down hard enough to make it unusable.
My Cypreus has some small marks where the clip makes contact, but if I always keep it rotated to the same position it isn’t an issue. I tried using it without a clip for a while, but it didn’t take long before it rolled and fell and got dinged up, so I put the clip back on. It also helps add an extra mm internally for the battery, which has been helpful. This early model was a bit tighter inside than his later builds.
In any case, there’s a very good chance I’ll end up ordering a bunch of FW3A lights to give to people, since it seems like it’ll probably turn out to be unusually nice at a much lower price than anything else like it.
Great, thank you! The diameter of the threads here is 22.5 mm and the outer diameter is 25.5 mm. So giving the clip some space to the diameter of the threads and starting at 22.7 mm it should be possible to make it flush to the outer diameter of the tailcap. Btw, the clip from oveready and darksucks both fit on the Sinner, in case you’re looking to replace the Solarforce one.
Your comment made me thinking if it wouldn’t be better to go for a 0.8 mm thick clip instead of 1 mm. I actually like the clamping force of my 0.8 mm clip.
Interesting, do you have any ideas for the improvement of the FW3A design based your experience with Sinner lights in order to avoid broken lights?
Ah good point TK of having the clip protect it from rolling away.
Will update list later.
Well the driver design is almost done with adaptation to allow a future firmware with screen config to be used, but it will not likely be a feature directly and probably requires flashing new firmware later if it gets done.
If anyone is interested to see how the finish might look, banggood is currently selling a clear version of the BLF A6.
And the finish on the FW3A will go in the same direction, just the machining of the threads will hopefully be better
So your bringing attention to the bare A6 made me pull my down from the shelf and give it a look. And odd as it is, the Efest 35A cell inside is deader’n a doornail! No charger I have will recognize it at all. How does that happen? There’s no parasitic drain on this tail clicky light, so why did the cell die?
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