Are you saying that the 2 photos in post 1 are not real, just a rendering? If so, they fooled me. Lol
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As I mentioned before, I much prefer the original design, to the point that I tend not to want this light anymore (Iām very picky about the looks of a flashlight).
But thereās no arguing about taste, if most people are happy with what Lumintop made of it, this is how the light will be.
I like the original design better as well, but I will still order this tapered version.
I too prefer the original design to the new one.
If the entire tail end is glued I assume there is no possibility of a shorter 18350 tube? Given how popular that seems to be with the Emisar line and several mentions in this thread is that already a done deal or could there still be a short tube for sale separately?
This thing is getting harder to mod by the minute :laughing:
I like the new tapered version. Making each end of the light easier to differentiate by feel is a good thing.
Also, tapers just feel nice. My Nitecore Concept 1 feels much better in the hand than a Sipik 68.
Who are these people who cant find the end of their light? If you press the end and thereās a button you figured it out. If not then flip it around and repeat. The pocket clip can serve the same purpose as well.
No problem with preferring one look over another but call it what it is.
That was just the prototype that was glued. The production version might not be.
To do an 18350 tube would require 2 tubes. One inner and one outer.
I donāt know if the glued tail end is part of the plan or if itās just a quirk of the prototype. Iām hoping it wonāt stay that way in the future.
About a shorty 18350 tube, I doubt that will happen. The host design doesnāt seem very amenable to that sort of change. It would need a new clip, a new outer tube, and a new inner tubeā¦ with the clip and outer tube redesigned instead of just chopped.
My 6x Aspire cells are upset but iāll get over it I suppose. Would be cool to see this next to a BLF A6 w/ 18350 and D4 w/ 18350. Itās like a mini evolution.
In the FW3A it seems 2 concentric tubes are clamped flat with the PCB in the endcap: Bat. neg. tube + switch signal tube.
And the inner tube must make contact. To keep that glue is a possibility.
And donāt forget you have also to clamp the clip in place.
I think Fritz is supposed to get his prototype today; it might answer some questions. Like, maybe his tail wonāt be stuck together. Hopefully his button wonāt be as jittery (or at least I hope he can reflash the firmware to get fixes).
The way the tail end is designed, I can see why glue would be appealing. The tail PCB has no retaining ring unless you count the outer tube. This allows it to be shorter, but also means the tail parts would all be floating when the tailcap isnāt tightened. If those parts rub together a lot, it could wear away insulation and cause a short between inner and outer tubes, which would make the button not work. To avoid loosening the tailcap during battery changes, it might need to have knurling added to the middle section (and maybe removed from the tailcap), which would look and feel odd.
Perhaps something can be worked out though. Iād still prefer no glue, even if it makes battery changes a bit harder.
Maybe itās possible to still use your Aspire 18350s!
Just mod your FW3A with a zener diode on the driver. Replace the stock LEDs with triple XHP70 (you might have to make a custom star for that) and run it on 2xAspire 18350 in series!
I agreeā¦ no glue please!
The tail cap has a taper to itās outer dimension, should help to distinguish the operator end from the business end. And of course, thereās the clip.
There have been group buys here lately where everyoneās opinion is weighed and averaged to determine the final aspects of a light, I didnāt think this was one of thoseā¦ Fritz designed a light and The Miller helped find a manufacturer for production. Seems everyone still wantās to weigh in with their opinion anyway. Guess I got it wrong in the beginningā¦ not surprising really, my success rate lately has been more about successfully getting things wrong than otherwise.
I did not express my opinion with the idea that all opinions will be weighed and averaged, you are correct, from the start it was made clear that this was Fritzās design so it is up to him and the team how it is going to look like.
But I still liked to express my disappointment in the changed looks.
What happened to the beautiful light in the OP? Donāt like this prototype at all.
Not meant that way Jos, sorryā¦ I was simply saying that I thought Fritzās design was nailed down and they were going to make it like his plan. Am surprised at all the back and forth on here as much as I am the design change by Lumintop.
Itās still a very nice light, no doubt, just has strayed from the original intent.
Iām not really in the loop about host design changes. I liked the appearance of Fritzās original design better, but Iām okay with the slope too.
However, there was a different clip proposed earlier and in some private messages I was pretty loud about disliking it, and now it seems to be back to the original design. Not sure what happened behind the scenes, but maybe I had something to do with that?
Mostly though, Iām just doing firmware.