TLF/BLF/Lumintop FW3A review (18650, 3x XP-L HI cool white)

I have found this project recently and I found it very interesting.
It look like in other thread it is very popular.

I was thinking about making similar flashlight from my blf a6.
I was trying to find some information about the driver there but I did not manage to get through all messages there. Can you please post some more pictures of it from both sides here? Is it 20 mm driver?

I measured the 219b sw40 triple at 1200 lumens with a 30Q and 950 lumens with a GA. No bluish tint or other weird effects so using a medium current battery is likely fine on turbo. The 30Q I used isn’t new so it has a higher internal resistance than a brand new cell.

1x7135 level is 83 lumens with the sw40 so efficiency on low regulated modes is about 30% worse compared to the cool white XP-L HI.

Probably not.

You’re not going to be able to convert a BLF A6 into a FW3A. The FW3A uses a custom built driver and a special tube to carry the switch signal.

You can convert the A6 into a triple emitter, but it will be using the stock driver and rear clicky switch so no ramping, just the stock steps.

I don’t want to convert A6 into FW3A.
I just pointed out that I found this flashlight interesting.

I have found flooder more useful as EDC light than something between flood ant throw like A6 or S2+. I also prefer triple than quad due to size difference.
Firstly I was thinking of using S2+ host, but A6 bezel will cover a bit less of carclo TIR lens.
Heat distribution is also better in A6 than S2+.

This is why I was planing to make an A6 with triple LH351D.
I have even started to prototyping my own driver for it with FET +1 +5 (or 6) 7135 with few extra features as well as tailcap switch with battery indicator.
When I have started this project I had no idea that there is FW3A on horizon.

FW3A look like exactly what my perfect EDC should look like, thats why I’m asking about some detail on driver as well.
I’m also wondering how it is handling heat that LH351D producing.

Thanks maukka, that’s good to know. I guess you’d lose a similar level of output correcting ugly tints with filters so swapping in 219b would probably make more sense? If only I had some spare 219b emitters :frowning:

A standard MTN Electronics 20mm MCPCB should fit in this, correct? Going to assemble some tint options in SST20 so that I can interchange them when the FW3A arrives.

Disturbing.

So this is what could happen:

1. Bike strobe.

2. Double click to turbo via vibration, bliding everyone and burning their retinas and accidents happen.

More likely, if vibration caused things to shift, it would just turn off.

Oh, did my scenario seem a bit extreme?

BTW, do you think there would be a way to use a similar design in other lights?

The only current(easy) way to get an e-switch tailcap/FET switch is with a battery/super cap setup, so something like the FW3A, but on other lights would be amazing.

I have never had a problem with a Novatac on my bike.

Maybe the FW3A will be just fine as a bike light :beer:

djozz, I hope it will. Everyone has there own idea of perfect EDC light, even though I don’t ride like I use to , I still think a light should take some bumps.

How did you know I am drinking?

I bike most days so if anybody wants to send an FW3A I’d be happy to do some testing. All in the name of science, or course. :slight_smile:

I was hoping I could do some bike tests on this one, but I had to do some modifications to get the driver to fit correctly… so it’s not a representative sample. I may not be able to test biking properly until production units are being sold. As is though, I’ve noticed it occasionally needs re-seating by loosening/tightening the connection from the body to the head.

My proto2 model hasn’t needed re-seating like this in a long time, but it initially did before I added kapton tape around the inner tube. It had a correct driver fit, but had a too-wide retaining ring and a spring-side ground ring, either of which could short against the inner tube. So it was initially unreliable but that was fixed by adding a small strip of tape.

The most recent, proto4, made the retaining ring narrower and removed the problematic ground pad, so it should be more reliable by default. But the driver on mine didn’t fit right, so it had different issues with similar symptoms.

Anyway, it might end up working fine for biking, or it might not. I don’t have enough info to say for sure yet. Even if it does end up being unreliable for that though, a carefully-placed piece of tape would probably fix it.

^^Adhara, It might not even be an ISSUE, If it is, it’s not an ISSUE with the UI. It possibly could be an issue with the way the switch transfers its signal. Host related.

I am using Anduril in the D4R and have not experienced any switching issues while submitting it to G forces :slight_smile:

The 2 fish block is very forgiving.

I guess speculation takes precedence over looking up the answer from published sources.

I think you’re confusing signal debouncing (which Anduril has) with a physical tendency to short out (which the firmware has no control over). This is not a thing which can be solved by changing code on the MCU.

As for signal debouncing though, two of the supported platforms have rather noisy switches… so I had to add pretty strong debouncing code. Especially on my lightsaber, the switch is really low quality and its signal bounces like no other switch I’ve ever seen. The FW3A switch is relatively tame in comparison.

I’m not really worried about bike vibrations causing spurious button presses… I’m more concerned about it causing electrical noise strong enough to overload and reboot the MCU. But it remains to be seen if that will actually be an issue.

On proto2, I can turn the light on and hit it sideways really hard and nothing happens. But on proto4, if I hit it hard at just the correct angle, it shuts off. Like, immediately… not with a delay like it would with a button press. It’s not detecting a spurious button press. And I don’t know what to expect from real production hardware, because this one was modified with a dremel.

How much play is there with the inner signal tube?
A layer or two of fine kapton tape for a snug fit to remove any play and further insulate it from the body/ keep it perfectly centered?