FW3A Troubleshooting / FAQ

I’m not quite sure how to take apart the FW3A. I am able to take off the lens of the head. If that’s what you mean. It does look like the negative wire isn’t attached anymore.

I have the 3D version. I don’t have access to a multimeter, I’d have to go buy one at the moment. I don’t have any experience with electronics and soldering. I took off the lens and optic, it does look like my negative wire isn’t attached to the board.

I’m not quite sure how I can post pictures on here, but here’s pictures of a comparison of the two heads.

https://imgur.com/a/VGJHcgc

I think I may have found the reason why one isn’t working. I just need to find someone who knows how to solder now!

Yes, that would definitely make it not work. I’ve now seen two like that.

I can’t quite tell from the picture if the solder came off the pad, or if the pad came off the PCB. In the former case, it should be easy to fix with a soldering iron. In the latter case, you probably need a new PCB. But in any case, this would probably be a good time to ask Neal for a replacement.


OMG!! Who made them?

Looks like the old twist & break.
There is no real play in the wires with the FW3A so when screwing the head on you need to make sure the optic/ MCPCB stays put and doesn’t rotate with the part you’re screwing on.

The one on the left looks like mine when it was on turbo for a few seconds & started to smoke then stoped working , then I looked at it I noticed the wire was off.

The old desolder dance.

It would be good if it were just that , I haven’t bothered soldering it back on because only two leds are working properly ,so I’m waiting on Neal to see if he can send me a new head.

:?: :?: :question:
“Who made” what??

A chineese person

Huh. For me that would be a valued optional feature, please post if you find there’s a way to set that up.
Not that it should always do that, but for pedestrian safety in crosswalks I do that “strobe on … stun oncoming drivers …. scuttle across the street …. strobe off ….” a lot.

That’s the default. It remembers which strobe was used last, so a “click, click, hold” from off goes back to whichever strobe-group mode you left it in.

For street-crossing purposes, the bike flasher is probably appropriate… and it can be accessed from off within about a second if it was the last strobe-group mode used.

+1 …. Quoted with picture so this good info won’t be lost right away in the thread.

.

EDIT: head (bezel)

so, we need another warning card now?

Not really. This applies to any single, triple, quad, or other MCPCB if it is not fixed in place.
This is not just a FW3A phenomenon.

is the MCPCB on the FW3A fixed in place? Do I need to worry about anything when unscrewing the head? If the retaining ring is tight, do I need to worry about anything? We shouldn’t have to worry about taking the tailcap off, or changing cells, or, or …… in my opinion. I don’t worry about that on any other lights I have.

The mcpcb is not fixed in place, there are no anti rotation screws.
Head is fine to unscrew.
The tail cap should not be unscrewed.
Change the battery by unscrewing the head.

BTW, the optics and mcpcb are only effected if you try to unscrew the bezel on the head, which is not recommended. This is seperate from the head itself. You might be confusing these two things.

  1. No
  2. No
  3. No
  4. Nothing to “worry” about. Just keep it tight & leave it alone. If you do take it off, put it back on and tighten it… as with any light.
  5. Not a thing to worry about here either. Take the head off, change the battery, put the head back on, tighten the head.
  6. Not sure what you mean in this one???
  7. Nothing to worry about in the FW3A either.

A mountain is being made of a molehill by some concerning the FW3A.

It is the same as any other light:

  • If the tailcap in not tight…… it will not work.
  • If the head is not tight…. it will not work.
  • If you put the battery in correctly…… the light will work.
  • Sometimes a True DOA happens.
  • As with any light, if you remove the bezel & the MCPCB is not fixed; when you screw the bezel back on if the MCPCB &/or Optic turn with the bezel… a wire may well be pulled loose.
  • If the bezel is fixed on a light and certain type centering rings turn while tightening the bezel…. the LED may be sheared from the MCPCB.

This is just all normal stuff that applies to ANY light, nothing more.

I sent Neal an email yesterday but haven’t received a response yet. I’ll make sure to request for replacement/return when he does reply, now that I’ve found the problem. This is the first time I’ve taken apart the head like that. It must have arrived like that, since it was never operational.

If you guys need better photos or the original, unedited photos for reference in this thread, I can go ahead and post/send them to you guys!

Alas, those used to be a feature, which some of y’all are too young to recollect.

EDIT: djozz described one here, around the time the assemblers forgot what the holes were for; they started showing up misplaced and eventually not even threaded, then quit appearing at all.

Circuit boards used to come with notches, the screwheads appeared in the notches, and the board wouldn’t turn.

Saved a nickel apiece by eliminating that step of the construction, perhaps trusting the thermal goop to be glue.

Ah, I know I’m a fossil remembering back when they used to build these things by hand.

This is sarcasm, in case anyone thought he was serious. :partying_face: