What? The clip length is too long? This is the kind of stuff that irritates me. false alarm
WHOOPS!!!
I meant to say “does NOT grind against the head”… but somehow the “not” was accidentally left out of my post. I have corrected my previous post. It is quite obvious a lot of care was taken with the design of this light and it shows.
Here is a picture of one of my FW3As sitting next to my modded white D4:
Thanks for your thoughts! For some reason I thought it was slightly shorter than the D4, but it is certainly small either way.
Not shorter. Actually when I put my D4 next to an FW3A I think the FW3A might be half a mm taller. But they’re so close they might as well be the same length.
However, I think that the first run D4 was a little longer than later run D4. A first run D4 might be a mm or two longer then the FW3A.
For anyone who would like to see more detail about this, here’s the point where the clip lands:
It’s very precisely at the exact spot it should be.
Absolutely perfect.
That happens to me sometimes. The “not” will dissappear and totally change what I’m saying. Lol
I’ve always looked at the development photos carefully and noticed that the clip should not grind against the head. I was shocked to hear about yours. Kinda like them changing the color, I thought they extended the length slightly.
It’s all good. False alarm. :partying_face:
I was somewhat late on the list and ordered promptly after getting the notification and await shipment confirmation yet others seemingly later than me have theirs in transit. Paypal not so consistent on the handoff or some delay between handoff to the carrier and shipment confirmation <span class=“not think I’d so “Unfulfilled””>? Perplexing, however I expect to receive it eventually.
It appears to depend on what you ordered and whether you paid for expedited shipping. The wait list arrangement is not an indicator of shipping order.
So I have a tracking number as of a few days ago but I don’t see any updates. Neal’s site says fulfilled so guess I’ll wait hoping it make it to my impatient hands.
Another observation:
Due to the lack of heatsinking I noticed the light gets hot very fast when using Turbo mode on VTC6 or VTC5A. Much faster an Emisar D4.
Samsung 30Q seems to be a better choice for this light since it didn’t heat up quite as fast.
I thought max current was set to 3 amps (it’s in the name). So why is there a difference? Is it because the 30Q has more voltage droop than the other 2 ?
The maximum current is direct drive. It has regulated output up to 2.8A, and can go above that in direct drive.
The default ceiling is 2.8A, but it can still access turbo with a double click while the light is already on. Double click from off goes to the ceiling though.
The 3 in the name refers to 3 emitters. This is a direct drive, FET powered light so it’s sensitive to resistance at max output. The 30Q is a nice comprise between capacity and current. Some cells can deliver more current and some cells deliver more capacity.
I do not agree, the 30Q is a very high current cell, fine for that short full blast but when aimed for a “nice compromise”, it is not needed for the FW3A. A nice compromise is a cell that can handle the regulated 3A ceiling for most of the drainage of the cell with the full FET blast still impressive, a GA cell for example will achieve that and have the extra capacity on top. The full blast will not even be noticibly less compared to the top performers.
The SST-20 version, with lower voltage, will even run perfectly fine regulated and full FET on the low-drain NCR18650B.
It’s just a matter of opinion. If you want to think of the 30Q as a very high current cell, then that’s fine. It’s a 3000mah cell with a 15A CDR.
I tend to think of a cell like the Sony VTC4 2100mah with a 30A CDR as a very high drain.
No biggie.
Doh! I had it wrong all this time :laughing: :person_facepalming: Thanks for the clarifictaion everyone.
NOT is a peculiar word. It can disappear from a place where it should be, like in this case. Or it pops out of nowhere to a place where it never should have been. William Jefferson Clinton can testify to that when he said: I did NOT have ……. :cowboy_hat_face:
Just modded one of my FW3As.
- Replaced the emitters with 4000K XPL HI taken from an older triple light. 5A2 tint I think.
- Replaced optic with 10507 narrow spot optic. Think I’ll try polishing the stock 10511, but couldn’t find my jeweler’s rouge.
- I need to order some more 5D XPL HI from Mountain Electronics. Thinking maybe replacing the emitters with 2x5D and 1x3D.
- Or maybe I should try LH351D. Checking my parts bin I actually have a 20mm triple star with LH351D 4000K 90 CRI already on it.
As expected, the FW3A is very easy to mod. Unscrew and lift off the bezel (it’s not glued and comes off easily with just hands), use a tweezers to lift out the optic and the star on the shelf is exposed. You can remove the star and reflow, or you can swap in a fresh 20mm Noctigon triple star with your choice of emitter.
The light does have a glass lens, so if you wish to insert a Lee Minus Green filter you can.
The head of the light feels very lightly built. This is a light going for compact size, light weight and clean design over thermal properties. At first glance from the top of the light the the shelf appeared extremely thin. However, from looking at pictures of the driver side of the head, I can see that the shelf is actually quite a bit thicker, but tapers inward towards the front of the light. However, even with a decently thick shelf, this is definitely not an Emisar or Fireflies with a thicker shelf, more mass to the head and body and heat sink fins.
FWIW, the recommended cells for this light are the highest-mAh cells, like a GA cell or 35E — Panasonic/Sanyo NCR18650GA and Samsung INR18650-35E. The LG MJ1 should be good too. Basically, anything from a reputable brand with 3400+ mAh.
The downside is that turbo won’t be quite as bright, but it’s not really noticeable without a lux meter. The upsides are longer runtime, less heat, and less risk of heat issues.