Recap:
My FW3A with 18350 tube would periodically start shorting out after loosening/tightening the tube for physical lockouts. I’d have to “fiddle” with it… wiping down the tube, using a cotton swab on the mcpcb… and usually that would work. But then I had a bizarre instance of my FW3A suddenly turning itself on to turbo in the middle of the night (thankfully I’d pointed it towards me before falling asleep, so the bright beam woke me up before it seriously overheated). THAT was the last straw. I stopped using it.
Someone had suggested applying some kapton tape to the very end of the tube. Kapton is strong, extremely thin tape that insulates as well if not better than your typical electrical tape. I’d misplaced my roll… couldn’t recall where I’d put it. So periodically I’d look around. FINALLY, I found it. So I applied kapton tape to the tube, aligning the edge of the tape to the edge of the forward end of the tube and made one good 360 degree wrap with some overlap. It seems to work. I can loosen and tighten the FW3A repeatedly and it works fine.
The only exception I’m finding is that if I screw down the tube extra tight, it shorts out. As long as I don’t screw down quite that firmly, it’s OK.
I actually wrapped the whole circumference of the signal tube front end with kapton tape. Just snug enough to still enter the chamber. The tail end of the tube doesn’t have a metal retainer, so there’s no issue there. But actually I’m thinking I should apply a few strips along the length of the tube to help a little more with centering.
Hi! I have a very strange issue. I guess I mess something up and now I have only 1 brightness level when locked (moon). 2h doesn’t work anymore (it’s also moon).
How is this even possible and how can I fix it?
The kapton tape seems to have helped but it’s not a 100% reliable fix. I still periodically have problems with my FW3A on 18350 tube after battery changes. I do manage to work them out, but it’s an annoyance. OTOH, my FW3A with 18650 tube is rock solid. NO PROBLEM whatsoever.
It dawned on me that I have a spare aluminum 18350 body… which has its own tube. I took it and swapped it in place with the copper 18350 tube. The trouble did not go away. I’m surmising that it’s a problem with this format, or there’s some slight deviation with my switch that is causing it. Anyway, long story short, I decided that the fat stubby 18350 format is not my thing. I ditched it for 18500. A nice bump in mAh too. And well, the problem seems to have gone away with this tube change.
The 18500 is not a huge difference in height from the 18650 but something about it is “just enough” to feel more pocketable. And now there are really good 18500 cells with ample mAh. I have a 2500mAh cell in my FW3A. Plus the combo of aluminum with copper tube and stainless bezel has a terrific aesthetic to it.
The design is absolutely dependent on the inner and outer tubes achieving what amounts to a line fit so that the inner tube contacts the driver and tail switch PCBs at the point of maximum tension on the head and tailcap. This could be achieved reliably with higher-precision machining or hand-fitting, but at this price point suspect there’s no margin for either.
The usual solution to this problem would be to make the inner tube a few mm short and use a spring of some sort to take up the slack - such as a wave washer as I gather some other designs have used.
I gutted my SS version.
Gonna be a huge overhaul.
Reverse clicky tailswitch, copper inner tube to give it an actual thermal path.
But it will be hours of work with the die grinder to prepare the shell.
But the SS shell looks so damn good.
I think i can fit a quad in the head too.
I haven’t been on this forum for a long time. Stopped building lights but still occasionally buy some new ones.
So when it comes to the FW3A, I had bought one when they were first released. It was the standard light gray color. Later I ordered a bare aluminum variant. Since I was only using the bare aluminum one, I decided to give the original one to a friend that uses it as a bike light most of the time. Couple years later, I went camping and let my son-in-law use the bare aluminum FW3A while I used my Emisar D4V2. After the camping trip, I asked for my FW3A back and he said he already returned it to me. He didn’t. I asked him to look for it to no avail. So I purchased a purple FW3A from illumn and it wasn’t until it arrived that I noticed the different driver being used. Then I reviewed the full item description and noticed it had a disclaimer about them now using a FET + 1 driver…. Needless to say, I was now even more annoyed that my bare aluminum one (with the original driver) was lost. I also didn’t like all the branding that Lumintop had applied to the purple one. I was expecting no brand, model etc and the rear button that was in the pic, which I believe is what Toykeeper designed. Couple months go by and I happen to check Illumn’s site again. They had the FW3C on sale, so I ordered one of those as well as the Frog. Two days after placing this order, I decided to check my son-in-law’s tent and sure enough, the bare aluminum light was inside the tent when he rolled it up. I was hoping the FW3C wouldn’t have the branding, but it does. However, to my surprise, while the site description also mentions the FET + 1 driver being used in the FW3C, I received the light and noticed the instruction manual was thicker and referenced Anduril, not Anduril 2. I ripped the light out of the plastic bag and sure enough, it’s got the original driver. The light was ordered on January 13th, 2023. I certainly cannot confirm if any of the other ones in stock will be the same or if I was just lucky to receive an item that’s been sitting on the shelf for a long time. Just wanted to share this info with others that may appreciate it. I couldn’t believe it when I opened the light up and saw that awesome purple driver with 6 chips on the spring side.
So at this point, I’ve got a bare aluminum FW3A, a gray FW1A and a FW3C all with the original driver. The purple FW3A with the updated driver will most likely be gifted to a friend.
