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

Oh okay, so there is no beep to confirm the continuity when I click the switch. I tried to tighten it down more but I think it’s tightened well enough. Any suggestions to fix this?..

Not really, maybe try with and without the oring. Maybe someone has an better idea.

it beeps between spring and the ring

spring to thread is always connected

I just wanted to post some comparison photos that I took with the different tubes and clips and also side by side with the FW1A!
I really love these lights, did I mentioned it already? :wink:

Enjoy! BTW, all of these (except the Sony battery) was bought from www.nealsgadgets.com :wink:
Stuff I bought recently!

FW1A >>>>> FW3A
18350 tube

18500 tube

Tailcaps & Heads (FW1A has a retaining ring on the tail and the retaning ring on the driver is brass)

Tubes (FW3A > FW1A) [ yeah, they are different, but interchangeable, as far as I could test them and put them to work! Also, the clip on the FW1A is not dark, but it can be easily darkened with a blow torch, unlike the deep carry clip, that will probably take more efforts to do that! ]

FW1A 18350 & FW3A 18500 >>>> FW3A 18350 & FW1A 18500

The whole family :smiley:

Can you check if your retaining ring in the tailcap is centered and that the inner command tube fits inside of it? You can also try to put the command tube in first and then screw on the outer tube.

A rare possibility is a defective switch.

I had multiple FW3 lights with contact problems that were fixed by tightening the tube and tailcap.

However, that fix did NOT work on my Ti-Cu FW3T. Further checking revealed that the microswitch was actually defective.

  • It worked, but only if I pressed REALLY hard and even then only some of the time.
  • When I swapped the switch board for one from a different FW3 light the switch worked normally without excess pressure being needed.
  • I then swapped the defective board into a different FW3 light and it was still broken even though in a completely different light.

For this defective switch FW3 light I conclude that I need to desolder and remove the switch from the board and replace it with a different switch.

i made a short video how to measure the current - hope its helpful for someone

www.youtube.com/embed/IbIBPCea68A

Your forgetting that his tail switch already works fine, as seen with the longer tube. It’s just the shorter tube that there is a contact problem.

You might try tightening harder.

You can check continuity with the battery tube removed, just slide the inner tube against the switch. That should definitely work.

Are both ends of the new tube clean and bare metal? No coatings or residue covering the contact area?

At my switch was dirt under the switch. I also had to push hard. The plate can be dismantled.

I tried it without the oring and it still won’t wotk. Thanks for all the help anyways :beer:

I don’t have a retaining ring on mine. I had the one without it. It’s aligned really well as far as I can tell.

The tail cap and head works fine on the 18650 tube so I’m sure the short tube is the issue

I tried to check continuity without the battery tube. There really is no beep. I think the inner tube really is just defective. Tapping at both ends of the inner tube doesn’t seem to beep either.

I wiped everything with IPA and yes they’re all bare metal.

wow

the black, inner tube has no continuity?

can you try to sand both ends a little bit?

(I would use a 400 grid and press with the thumb against the tube end, then go around twice)

it only needs contact on one point each ends ;)

I did that too but with a sharpening stone. Not sure what grit but I made sure to see some scratches on it to make sure a new surface has formed.

really strange

did you post pictures how far the inner tube sticks out of both sides?

It’s similar to MascaratumB’s

Here they are. You can see when screwed together the head and tail are not bottomed out on the battery tube, which is good.

Ok. I got frustrated and mad which was a good thing I guess and put it on a vice. It works for now but I still get some clicks that do nothing. Better than nothing I guess. Thanks for all the help! Hopefully I didn’t make it permanently an 18350.

Edit: It doesn’t work again :person_facepalming:. After fixing it I laid it on my table. Wanted to play around with it so I picked it up and it doesn’t work anymore.

Unfortunately I can’t take pictures until end of the next week. I actually remember having to tighten the whole light quite a lot to ensure it register every click.
Ill try to measure my 18350 inner tube as well.

Checked the switch on my defective FW3T. This is the one with the unreliable switch.

The switch is super-simple. Literally just a piece of spring steel on top of a PCB. The steel is held on with kapton tape. I removed the tape and cleaned underneath with deoxit. Then replaced the tape with fresh tape.

Now the switch works, but the light still does not when I use the black inner tube that came with it. For some reason the tube just isn’t long enough. Tubes from other FW3 lights work just fine, but the one that came with it is just too short to make contact.

To fix, I think I’d need to pull out the driver and/or tailcap and add a bit of extra solder along the contact ring for the inner tube.

I wonder where the difference in tubes lies… If you stood the working one next to then non-working one….

IMO, the FW3A is a nice light (though I don’t use mine), but the manufacturing tolerances are too tight for inexpensive production. I know it was designed to be something unique, but a more simple design, perhaps with a side switch or a mechanical tail switch, would have resulted in less issues.

The FW3A is kind of like a cheap HDS light. I know the HDS is way over-priced, but perhaps the FW3A is a bit under-priced.