FW3A Turns On and Becomes Stuck When Tail and Head Tightened

mine did the same, wouldn’t shut off, or wouldn’t turn on, last time I really cranked both ends super tight and hasn’t happened since, but it is probably the one light I wouldn’t put in my pocket or rely upon without a backup if i’m in the dark somewhere.

I have had the same issue with my FW3A. I resolved it by loosening the retaining ring in the tailcap slightly. It works normally now.

Dagnabbit.

So what’s the precautionary approach to this light?

Take the head and tail off, remove the innards, and blow everything out with canned air, or go over it with a small brush and vacuum, to eliminate any metal dust or fragments that might be floating around loose in there?

Inspect the threads and metal edges for any metal “feathering” bits that could break off later on?

Wipe the threads off with a coarse cloth to snag any loose bits?

Dab a bit of Nyogel or other conductive lube on the threads?

How much of that is overkill, and what else might be appropriate to consider doing?

Well said.

I have the same problem with one of mine. It is from the initial Nichia run. I’ve written to Neal about it - the driver is too much off center and must be shorting through the retaining ring. Neal acknowledged the problem and offered a replacement part.
Nothing happened since then. More than three months later I get no response from him and no replacement. My Nichia version FW3A is used as a peperweight. Meanwhile every second week a new praised version pops out. It’s a very frustrating experience.
Obviously the flashlight suffers because of hastly production, and because of the big interest the Nealsgadgets store does not have time to spare for warranty issues. A pleasure for the customer. :money_mouth_face:

Mine did as well...so i asked Victor Zhou on FB for help since he’s Lumintop sales menager (or similar) and i got 2 drivers for 10$, shipping included.

Now my FW3C works again, as it should

How did you fit the new driver?

Desolder led wires, remove retaining ring, desolder wires from old driver and solder them to a new board. Everything else is reversible as removal. Straight forward i’d say.

No the driver board itself, and it’s not straight forward. I have done several driver fixes/changes on the FW3A’s the new boards are over size, so the ones I have changed were do to improper fitting. One was so loose from the factory, when tightened down by the retainer, the signal ring was under the retainer ring? 2 from the factory were just thrown in and tightened down they were not properly fit/seated. Most of the material is taken off the key or the flat that locks the driver into the driver pocket, this keeps the signal ring on the driver centered, not removing material from around the main diameter of the driver.

Ok, well i had to hold the driver spring centered while tightening the ring. But i asume everyone will do the same. If the driver is a bit larger than the seat pocket then some rework of the head can be done via elbow grease system

Yeah right…… :person_facepalming:

Also a note that new drivers don’t have a slot as old ones had.

Relax Kawi...these things are cheap so dramatizing won’t do you no good

Maybe the “NEW” lights don’t have the key flat in the heat sink but the new drivers do still have the flat. I have purchased many.

Huh, need to check what i messed up

Where can I get the tail switch?

Thank you!

Well, mine is mainly a shelf queen, due to the fact the button way-too-easily activates when pocket carried. But, after reading this discussion, I’m going to make it a shelf queen-on-a-metal-lid. I suppose I could take the battery out, but I prefer to keep cells in all my lights or I’d never use them.

The FW3A has a hair-trigger switch. To avoid accidents you can:
a- Lock it out. Turning the head ¼ turn does not really mechanically lock it out since there a two parallel electrical circuits. To make that happen you have to unscrew the head so far it almost comes of.
b- Electronically lock it out. But you still can drain the light accidentally because in lockout the switch provides you with a momentary moon mode.
c- Do what I have done HERE. The light is “alive” but it will take a miracle before you accidentally can press the switch.

As for the rest of it: on receiving a new light I always take it apart as far as possible. Look for coarse threads, foreign particles and debris, and lube various threads and rings before I put in a battery. And please do remember, this light was designed to accommodate an UNprotected flat top battery. Like the 30Q.

Lumintop Victor Zou

Thank you!

Hey there, thanks for the info. Mine are 3 prongs. That angle just makes it look like a 4 prong. Watch from this point: https://youtu.be/EncF1elFhyk?t=53