I just received my FW3C polished, Cree XPL Hi 3D and it does not work. It sure looks and feels nice though. I ordered it through Neal’s site.
I have read this entire thread.
I only get the flash when the battery initially makes contact. I have tried several different unprotected 18650s that are all at a little over 4 volts. They work fine in other lights.
It has a brass driver retaining ring and a black switch retaining ring.
I tried loosening the driver retaining ring to make sure the driver was centered. I also tried it without the ring installed.
The solder joints on the MCPCB look fine.
I held a battery to the head and completed the circuit with a piece of wire and still only got the initial flash.
Is there anything else I should try?
I sure hope I do not have to send it back to China.
I was going to order a FW3T with the same emitters, if I liked the tint of the XPL Hi 3D. I am now going to hold off until I get this straightened out.
I have not reached out to Neal yet. I will do that shortly.
take off the head and tail. You will see a circular copper contact point on each, wipe those points and the springs with a swab dipped in alcohol. Problem should be solved,
Also wipe both ends of the tube.
Remove the clip, sometimes the tail is not screwed all the way down
don’t worry, it will work. They all seem to do this
I had a bit of a problem with the retainer ring in the head of my FW3C. I finally removed it and the light works consistently xlnt.
My prob was a bit diff as I had tried to remove it with an inappropriate tool. When I tried it afterwards there was flicker after the initial flicker. I may have scored the retainer and caused a burr?? Anyway, removing it doesn’t seem to affect its operation.
Take the black ring off the tail and take out the switch (CAREFUL NOT TO LOSE THE NUB) and make sure all is aligned, I had a similar issue, the nub was sideways and not clicking the switch.
Check the brass ring in the head, in one of mine it was not installed properly and the board was moving around. I had to take it off and put it back on properly.
Make sure the driver board is centered. The contact ring should not be touching the brass ring and has to be aligned well enough to engage the inner tube.
Make sure to wipe off the unanodized parts of the inner ring, they need to make contact.
When you put the tail back on, do it carefully so everything stays aligned but leave the black ring off. I had to do that on one of mine, every time I tried to get it back on the switch stuff would get out of alignment, you don’t need the ring.
The unprotected cells that I was trying were Panasonic NCR18650A button tops. I tried several different ones and they all work fine in my various Zebralights.
I had salvaged some generic flat top 18650s from a bicycle light pack that had a bad cell. These work perfectly with my FW3C.
I like the tint and the UI.
I guess that I will now have to order some quality 18650 flat tops and an FW3T. And probably an FW3A while I am at it.
Like my Old Mentor who taught me about cars told me one time —- I was having trouble with a truck,when I would turn my lights on the gages would goes crazy then to zero—He told me check the body ground—Wow that was it — He said I’m not that smart —- It Happened To Me Before
There aren’t any standards in place for button top lengths, or lithium cells in general, so we do have to take care what battery we use. I think the maximum battery length is 66mm. Button top cells can be hit or miss.
There is no good reason to use high drain cells (unless your trying to measure the highest output possible). These lights get hot really quick by design. If your buying new cells, it might be better to go with high capacity versions.