FW3A, a TLF/BLF EDC flashlight - SST-20 available, coupon codes public

Keeping the exterior of the light at a constant temp should have no big effect on the max amps drawn. The thermal regulation is there to reduce amps so you don’t burn yourself. Secondly is maybe to keep the led and driver from burning up. So it depends on what you mean. In a 30 to 40 second blast on turbo the amps it draws is mostly from electrical things*, not from temperature. If you keep it cool then you can draw the same amps over a longer period of time which I guess you can call “more amps”.

I’m not real sure what your asking here. Sorry. :partying_face:

  • by “electrical things” I mean the battery, leds, driver, led wire, springs, etc… Of course the led gets hot and that reduces it’s output and the battery gets warm which might make it put out a tiny bit more amperage. The springs might get really hot and add resistance which reduces amperage, etc… so regardless of the lights exterior temp, there are a lot of temperature related things going on inside the light which can effect the amount of amps that get drawn.

Oh don’t worry I wouldn’t do it, was just thinking more from a theoretical point of view.

I’m not going to make a recommendation per se to exceed specified performance limits, but based on the following, I think the best of the current 3500mAh cells such as the NCR18650GA are reasonable choices for this light for people with a good understanding of their battery’s limits. If in doubt, of course, there are good higher current cells like the 30Q easily available.

I only found one copy of an alleged NCR18650GA datasheet, from Orbtronics, who sell this cell and protected batteries based on it:

It did not have an explicit maximum current spec, but they show continuous discharge data to 10A. At this rate, in 22 Celsius ambient, it reaches the maximum rated temperature of 60 Celsius right at the very end of the discharge.

HKJ and Mooch both provided favorable assessments at 10A continuous. Both tested it to 15A with no observed issues aside from exceeding the specified (conservative?) maximum temperature during sustained use. Mooch even did a continuous test at 20A and a pulse test (5s on, 30s off, repeatedly) up to 40A! Those are clearly excessive conditions, but the cell held up. The Samsung 35E and LG MJ1, had nearly as good of performance.

I know all of these cells have been tested in the Emisar D4, which is a higher power light than the FW3A.

Neither of these lights are capable of continuous 10+ Amps without taking deliberate measures like water or ice cooling. In normal conditions, the sustained performance due to thermal control would be something like 2-3A.

Jason, your sig line is getting pretty long … when you answer several people consecutively your signature line fills the page. You might want to consider condensing that somehow. I always figured a signature was just that, your signed name, not a free billboard. :wink:

I run VTC6 and HG2 in my FET 18650 lights. I run protected cells otherwise, almost all 18650GA and some 35E.

I was worried about mine getting long!

You can start a thread containing links to your builds then just have a link to that library in your sig line. In that way anyone wanting to see what you’ve done can get there easily while your posts stay streamlined. :wink:

jason has the biggest signature on blf :smiley:

Agree, they are even worse on mobile. If Jason & Teacher post in the same thread it’s a nightmare :smiley:

Great idea :wink: :+1:

Maybe, but in the big scheme of things, who really cares?? It contains good information and is neatly done & organized as well.
Live & let live…….

:smiley: …… Hmmmm, Interesting…. ‘Sig Lines’, the thing nightmares are made of. :smiley:

I’m on mobile most of the time too. :wink:

ok, well, my intention was to try and help our admin keep costs down on bandwidth…

Well it gets a bit nippy seeing the same thing thousands of times is all, some of it pointless.

A very noble intention I agree. :+1:
If bandwidth saving is needed I suggest we just do away with sig lines entirely. Then do away with the quote button & require that all pictures be properly sized. Those 3 things would indeed save a ton of bandwidth… :+1:

Dale your sig is just as big as teachers.

Not so chadvone, my signature is actually 7.21kb in size, 144 pixels by 83 pixels. TINY!

I found one answer my question, though imperfect.
It is possible to do this kind of stuff with aluminum anodization, even HA3. Not super-tough but maybe price-durability would better?. And with high-end base alloy (7068? 7034?) it should be very tough anyway, should look good much more than half year.

On a computer monitor they both take up exactly the same size though! :slight_smile: Believe it or not!

Ok, it worked.

Bye

I have no idea the context you are using “it gets a bit nippy” in.
But yes, I agree; there are many seemingly pointless things we see on BLF…. but that extends far beyond sig lines.

Someone quoting endless quotes only to say “+1” or “I agree.”

Questions that are asked over & over & over & over & over & over because someone “does not have time” to keep up with a thread.

Pictures that are not properly sized down to at least 100% or less.

And back to sig lines……

Pictures in sig lines…… gif’s in sig lines…… etc., etc.

Signature lines in general in fact, no matter what they say.

But who is to say what is “pointless”…. you, me, someone else???

What is “pointless” to you may not be to someone else. Same for any of us.

The majority of things in my sig line are quick links to things I find interesting, useful, or comical. That may be “pointless” to you… but not to me.

Personally, I find JasonWW’s sig line useful & appreciate it.

I am not so fragile that a sig line I find of no use upsets me…. I simply scroll past it….

BUT…… I shall do my very best over the next couple days, when I have time; to streamline my horrid sig line to be more appealing to the eye. :+1:

Nope…. I am not going to remove the quick links I still currently find interesting, useful, or comical…… But, as I said; I shall make a concerted effort to streamline & make more appealing to the eye my sig line…… so hopefully it will not cause as much undue stress to some others as it apparently has been. . :person_facepalming:

All good points, thanks :+1: