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

Wow, I wonder what the newer driver design is. FET+1? Different MCU? Different firmware?

This is truly sad. You’d think that makers such as Lumintop would actually improve something created by a small project initiative. They took something great, watered it down, and then made it unreliable. I was wondering why we’d be seeing complaints from people when early release lights would behave just fine. Now… we know.

I had a feeling something was up when I saw significant changes going on with the BLF LT1. Notably, in the version produced by Sofirn. The LT1 v2 showed a number of board changes. If the FW3A is now neutered to the point where upstream software won’t work properly, what of the LT1?

Is the original design public? I wonder if someone else can start manufacturing it. There are also tail switched Anduril alternatives like the Noctilux KR1, though it is bigger than the FW3A.

Oh well, I’m looking forward to the SP10 Pro and hope it doesn’t get messed up like this.


Thanks for pointing this out.

I got an older FW1A (more than a year ago) and another FW1A a few months ago. Both are the SST20-4000k version.

They both have the driver as shown on the left side of your photo (not the "v1.1 2020").

Visually, the reflectors look the same, but I tried to compare beamshots, and noticed that the older reflector was more focused, while the new reflector has a bigger hotspot.

left side: Lumintop FW1A (SST20 4000k, older batch)

right side: Lumintop FW1A (SST20 4000k, fairly recent batch)

both of them use the same driver (as in the left side of the image posted by FW3A Team)

If I understand correctly, the new driver is a FET+1 and I think it uses the fw3a-219 firmware. At least, that’s what I’ve heard from people who got one recently.

What that means is:

  • No more regulated power between 0.35 A and 2.8 A.
  • Ramp levels 66 to 130 are DD FET, not regulated.
  • More heat, less efficiency.
  • Ramp levels 131 to 150 are pointless, since they’re all full-power. It tries to ramp the third channel there, but that channel doesn’t exist.
  • Thermal regulation won’t begin to reduce power until the light is significantly hotter, since the first 20 steps of reduction (150 to 130) do nothing.

I’m guessing the driver was changed to reduce costs again (cha bu duo), but someone noticed turbo didn’t work without the third channel. Normally, channels 1 and 2 (regulated) are turned off at the turbo level, because a DD FET (channel 3) is brighter by itself. But after moving the FET to channel 2, no more turbo. So they switched to the 219 firmware instead, since it keeps channels 1 and 2 on at turbo. Perhaps they don’t expect anyone to notice if there’s no difference between the ramp ceiling (130) and turbo (150).

The original project got delayed for like a year because Lumintop couldn’t meet the specified quality standards… but then it went to production anyway, and there were frequent quality issues. Vendors reported a really high rate of returned items, and Illumn had to manually adjust and test each light before shipping. So it didn’t get carried for long.

Over time though, parts kept getting changed, usually to cheaper versions. Like, for a while, the Carclo optic and lens got replaced by a one-piece plastic imitation which was a huge downgrade. There was a lot of backlash from that though, so the lens was brought back and the optic was redesigned to be a bit closer to the original.

Another frequent issue was that the driver cavity frequently wasn’t big enough for the driver, so a bunch of lights were made with the driver sitting on top of where it was meant to go, instead of inside its compartment. This made the connection flaky, and made batteries not fit right, and was one of several sources of unreliability.

The springs got downgraded at some point, using a type which had some sort of coating which flaked off easily, and got flecks of metal all over the inside of the light. This caused a bunch of electrical shorts, and more unreliability.

The button got downgraded from its original ~800g pressure to only ~300g, and sometimes even less. This made it hard not to activate by accident, and people had to carry the light in lockout mode.

The entire tail end got redesigned several times, and I don’t know if it was ever fixed to be reliable. It’s famously finicky.

A bunch of spinoffs were made, and some were embarrassingly lazy. Like, the 21700 version seemed like it was simply scaled up without adjusting proportions… so the battery compartment ended up so long that it didn’t fit the cell it was meant to use. Because 18650 scaled up to 21mm width… is 21x76mm, not 21x70mm. So a common 21700 cell needed a 6mm spacer in order to make contact. The clip wasn’t adjusted either, so it was too short. The optic was simply reused, instead of scaling it up for better throw… and it had a bunch of empty space around it. Etc.

And now half the driver hardware is missing. I guess it’s more of a “FW2A” now.

The problematic tube design was never corrected. Mention it and a handful of people will instantly tell you that you’re too stupid to fix it yourself.

With so many fanboys, why should Lumintop make this light better?

Wow. That’s more than a change, that’s just a total nerfing of the light. What a shame. I guess I’m glad I got in on the first couple batches…mine has been perfect as has the one I gifted. I’ve wondered about all the problems and the switch issues/mods. I didn’t realize so much had changed beyond that initial optic swap fiasco.

Do you suppose this driver thing now is just cost cutting or could it be a temporary thing with chip shortages?

wow thats just sad… nerfing the light and quality just to maximy profits… thast now how u get happy customers lumintop… :person_facepalming:

im so happy i have mine from the group buy but it sucks for newer buyers that want a blf designed light only destroyed now… sad

This sucks.

Sorry to hear about Lumintop cheapening what was a classic light.

Thanks for heads up.
Lucky me, I got FW3A from first batch, clean, without any markings :slight_smile:

What supplier was this red driver version from? I was considering buying one more, so I guess I oughta do it soon.

The downgraded model in the picture was purchased through the Lumintop official aliexpress store.

Other people have reported that they received older versions recently though, like the old driver with Anduril 1 and all the chips. So there may still be some old stock floating around.

So essentially, the way Lumintop has handled this, there’s no clean rotation of stock. I wonder how many Anduril 1 lights are still sitting around that will end up sold as Anduril 2. I wish there was some exterior visual cue to help with this… but at least there’s the driver board visible after removal of the head from the body tube.

I ordered FW3A off of Amazon with battery on Sept 1st 2021 and it was the old driver.

Is it possible to build the 1+7+FET driver diy? Oshpark? I accidentally tore the positive pad off of my old FW3A driver while trying to fix a bad connection. No-one seems to carry the driver by itself, Lumintop hasnt responded to my requests. I know there is the Lume1 driver but I liked the original.

This is truly disappointing. Thanks for the heads up.

Thanks for the information. It’s a disappointing move by the manufacturer.

Disappointing is too kind of a way to put it.

I think the design is on Oshpark, but Lumintop on their Aliexpress store were happy to sell me a driver. Now with this new info I’m somewhat worried what will be in the mail tomorrow.
Neal is also selling the driver alone, just text him personally via Facebook. I should mention that he sent me a wrong driver when I ordered an FWAA one (with a side switch… not sure what he was thinking) and ignored my complaints, but that’s part of the Neal experience I guess. I had better luck with ordering parts from him previously.

Why even sell the light at this point if its been altered so much from the beginning ? they should have just sold the light during group buy and then close it for good… keep the same quality and not just nerf it in secret over the coming months and later……