FWAA goes CRITICAL with H10 flat top Battery

To ShyOne, The FWAA is a noteworthy light and if Freeme had a C3PO version aka brass I would’ve been willing to purchase. Even with this experience in my sample. Hopefully that explains how much I like it.

But that being said I wouldn’t trust my sample being in the glove box of my vehicle.

I do want to show my appreciation for all the constructive advice

You’re in luck:

  • The FWAA is much smaller than any version RRT-01. It’s smaller than a Sofirn SP10b. It’s about the same size as an Eagletac D25c! It’s downright tiny. It just vanishes inside a pocket.
  • The o-ring mod that worked for the FW3A also works on the FWAA, using the same size o-rings.

yes, there are excellent high CRI LED choices for the FWAA
I agree that the stock LED in the RRT-01 is no match (I tend to forget all mine have High CRI LED swaps)
and the FWAA also costs less… a lot of bang for the buck

The FWAA is indeed quite small and cute… it has a lot going for it
notwhitstanding that I find the clip and switch, and Turbo heat, problematic for EDC

I guess both is the best answer :slight_smile:

Yup.

I wish the clip were a bit better on the FWAA. I don’t like the bi-directly clip. It sticks out more, and the reverse lip sometimes gets caught when I fish the light out of my pocket. I’d much rather have a good single-direction clip like the FW3A, Eagletac D25 or RRT-01.

Fantastic! Thanks for the confirmation. That switch mod made for a nice adjustment to the FW3A. Nice knowing I won’t have to do a twist lockout on the FWAA (although 4 clicks to put into momentary mode can work as well).

Switch mod should fix the touchiness. As for Turbo, haven’t you said in other posts about never really needing full turbo mode, that you tend to use medium & lower modes? If anything, at least you can programmatically set a lower limit. I’ve used full turbo on my FW3A on occasion. Yeah, it can get rather hot. It’s just fine for a momentary use. Having “bigger gun” lights for major throw can serve that purpose for longer sustained beam. The FW3A is a very small size for an 18650… same as a ZL SC64. And while it can work in a front pocket location, it’s nicer to have something smaller there. It’s of course terrific for a jacket pocket.

There’s bound to be a clip floating around out there by another maker that could work, given this size… do you think?

yes, the FWAA is shorter, and narrower, than the Original RRT-01

74.4mm, 79.5mm

20.2mm, 22.8mm

I like the beam from a single LED in a reflector. It is targetted, uses less lumens, and even indoors, where most of my use is, I prefer single LED beams.

and yes, outdoors the single LED in a reflector also reaches out farther, than the a triple. The floody optic of the FWAA is very inefficient, it wastes a lot of sidelight lumens. I have to use 600 lumens w the FWAA, to get the same Lux I get with an RRT-01 at 200 lumens.

otoh, the FWAA comes in Titanium, for small money… its a great little bling light

true

I do not want 1000+ lumen, Turbo burn risk, so I use Simple Mode, with a ceiling of 90/150 = 400 lumens on my meter, and a floor of 1/150 = 0.1 lumens.

in Advanced Mode, Turbo cannot be disabled, it is available from Off with 2H, which I consider a pocket burn risk, that requires using the 4 click lockout.

my only need for advanced mode (besides changing floor and ceiling settings), is to access to bicycle flasher for alerting traffic when Im a pedestrian crossing the street (rare)

I dont want any ambient flashing lights, no eCandle, no eLighting…

thanks for sharing your experience

I looked up the length specs
efest purple 650mAh: 49.18mm

vapcel H10 1000mAh: 49.4mm

the max length for a FWAA is 50.5, neither is too long… by specs

So, now that the light is working properly with efest, does the problem come back if you use an H10?

Every time I’ve ever had pocket accidental activation with a flashlight, the button becomes depressed and stays that way usually for an extended period.

I can’t imagine a pocket accidental activation happening where the light just happens to do a click+click-hold. As such, I consider the risk that an FWAA in advanced mode will enter turbo like that is basically non-existent.

That said, I do use lockout with my FWAA when in a pocket with my keys because I don’t want it activating and draining the battery.

I don’t have imgur thing to post pictures yet sorry!

Okay so the protected caliper reads: 50.55mm for 650mah 9.75A purple efest button top. 1.45mm taller than H10

Cheap ebl button top reads, 50.00mm and vapcell H10 Flat top reads, 49.10mm

So maybe the longer efest cell is applying more pressure on the driver and contacts to work without a hitch. Just a theory, but I’m probably wrong. Thank you much for all the help jon_slider

that is reassuring, thanks for your comments

thank you for your contributions also,

and for starting a very useful conversation, that I had not figured out how to talk about…

The scary FWAA Runaway Ramping to ceiling, with non responsive switch issue, that requires removing the battery.

I have only had FWAA Runaway Ramping happen during assembly, never spontaneously once the light is shut, and in working order. Which is why I would like to think it is only an assembly failure, rather than a sleeping gremlin.

I’ve used both FT & BT H10 in grey FWAA, no issues. Have a copper on the way so that will expand the sample size.

Just got my FWAA in copper…
LOVE IT! Gorgeous looking thing.

The size is just wonderful. It’s unfortunate that this means a reduction in heat management. On turbo, the head gets hotter faster than on the FW3A. The 1400lm rating is nice, but not usable for long. But really, for an AA sized light of this mass, I don’t think you can expect much. The fit & finish of this light is superb. The switch is actually pretty good. I can see the chance of accidental activation, but for now just going to do 4 clicks to lock. The clip? I don’t know, despite complaints given seems pretty decent to me.

Thanks ROYCE… That is pretty much what I thought. As with the FW3A, most of the problems are operator error related to assembly.

Thanks for mentioning “Killzone”… I was not aware of them. :white_check_mark:

Thanks jon_slider, that makes sense. Good to know the FWAA, as with the FW3A; most of the “problems” were/are
operator error related to assembly.

:white_check_mark:

A couple data points. I've run the H10 flat tops almost exclusively in mine but tried the H10 buttons as well as Rofis and Vapcell gold buttons. Never had any issues although I am sticking with the flat tops because the buttons just feel too tight in there to me. I've used the light a ton and love it, never a problem with the switch or runaway turbo.

That said, I wasn't aware that A2 had this newer safety feature, but sure enough, it does...that's great. Just tried it on this light and the SC31 Pro and it ramps right back down pretty quickly when the button is held down. So that should tell us that your light has something else going on, but it's curious that the flats are causing it rather than the buttons...I'd expect it to be the opposite if the button length was stressing the board + contact or other components. Is it possible that the tube is getting moved a little with the buttons/tail cap is a tad loose? It doesn't take much. And this light seems to have had a lot of QC issues with the LED wires and soldering. Do the wires look well done on the mcpcb and aren't shorting against it through the hole from lack of wire insulation (some pics showed the wires stripped too far and shorted this way)?

So that said, buddy at work bought one of these after seeing mine, but he bought the H10 button tops for his. He pocket carries a lot using the clip, and he had a couple issues like this as well. Turns out that his tail cap was a bit loose even though he knows that's important and only did batt changes at the head. I wondered if it's possible that the stress from the clip could cause the tailcap to unscrew slightly with repeated use. Hasn't happened again but we're watching that. Other than that you just need to be sure that tube is seated all the way before putting the cap on, and then you can do whatever you like with the tightness of the head.

If you haven't already, it wouldn't hurt to disassemble the switch to be sure there isn't any schmoo or metal shavings in there (same for the head while you're at it...plus stray solder splatter).

Thanks guys for pointing out that new safety feature...had no idea it was there but that was a great addition to the firmware.

Avoid Lumintop at all costs, really dangerous lights. All my FW series stick on and ramp to Turbo. Sometimes they won’t turn off even when not sticking.

Never had any problems with them. Maybe user error? Yes, they can behave strange if not properly assembled.

Please don’t do that. Really, one person has a problem and then there’s a declaration to avoid a brand completely. It’s not sensible. The FW series has its share of quirks a little above normal, but it’s easily rectified. This is not a mainstream consumer series flashlight, mind you.