Thank you for your answer! Checked flashlightlens.com, seems that they donāt have right size for FW3A, so the lumintop is the only option. I have sapphire glass from AliExpress, but itās without ar coating.
I bought one of the launch units from Nealsgadgets way back in April 2019. I use the light regularly and am still very happy with it.
I remember writing some initial feedback when I first got it but after all this time I forgot most of them. The color temp I had wanted was not available so I went with the warmer 7A. I see there is now a 219C 4000k which is perfect but it is $$$! I canāt remember what CRI the 7A is but I wish a 90+ was available at launch.
Bummer to hear I could not buy āthe sameā light any moreā¦ should have bought a second one as a backup!
I bought my FW3A in November 2019 with SST20s and I EDCed it for a while but, believe or not, I put it away. I read something in a post that rekindled my interest and even ran a few tests. I was messing around with it in my 'box', after calibrating it, measured turbo, repeat turbo and max ramp. It looked like this and I'm wondering what causes the pattern circled in red... specifically the half-way point of the peak.
The FW3A design has been changed many times since launch, with quite a few downgrades. It is not the same light any more. The 2021 model appears to be downgraded so much that it is no longer compatible with the upstream FW3A firmware. Itās missing an entire power channel, as shown in the pic below.
Additionally, the FW1A has been downgraded in at least two major ways ā the reflector no longer focuses correctly, and the driver no longer has the primary regulated power channel.
These are only a few of the many downgrades though. Almost every time a new batch was produced, people reported surprising new changes, and most were not for the better. Several vendors have dropped the entire product line because it had too many problems and they had to issue too many refunds.
So, be warned: If you buy a FW3A, FW1A, or any of its other derivatives, you probably wonāt get the light described in this thread.
Left: Original FW3A driver. Right: Downgraded version from 2020-12.
A great flashlight has apparently been ruined. A great flashlight that was not created by the manufacturer, who should have felt very fortunate. I find it disgusting.