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

[Boaz]

Has anyone baked one of these yet .

That light in a bag looks like maybe it was done in the microwave. you know how they tell you NOT to cook in those plastic bags .. :P

[zak.wilson (Zak)]

The light in the bag is a prototype FW3C, made of copper.

Copper isn’t really my thing, but I do like titanium and I’d probably buy an FW3T. Yes, I know the thermal properties are worse.

Titanium with a copper shelf section like the D4Ti would also be fun.

[justanotherguy]

I wish neal could find out what happened to my #2… ordered at the same time as #1 - which arrived two weeks ago

[Lane32x]

By the way, I haven’t seen anyone mention the LG “chocolate” (hg2) batteries yet. They come highly recommended from a buddy at work who vapes quite a bit.
Unprotected, 3000mAh, 20A drain, and their specs show that they should fit just fine.
edit official specs say this could be as tall as 65.2mm. May fit? edit

The chemistry is INR, which is also good.

I think that’s the next cell I’m going to try unless anyone has a 3500mAh they recommend.

[Bucknkd313]

Update - I just got a tracking notice from DHL, package was re-shipped on 05/23 with an anticipated delivery date of 05/28! Yay!

Perhaps the logjam has been broken. "You get a FW3A, and YOU get a FW3A, etc!"

[JasonWW]

@Lane32x

By the way, I haven’t seen anyone mention the LG “chocolate” (hg2) batteries yet. They come highly recommended from a buddy at work who vapes quite a bit.
Unprotected, 3000mAh, 20A drain, and their specs show that they should fit just fine.
edit official specs say this could be as tall as 65.2mm. May fit? edit

The chemistry is INR, which is also good.

I think that’s the next cell I’m going to try unless anyone has a 3500mAh they recommend.

That’s fine, too. It’s a bit like a 30Q. No reason it would not fit. You should expect high output for a short time on turbo just like with a 30Q.

[WalkIntoTheLight]

@JasonWW

@WalkIntoTheLight

@mortuus

so 35E batteries are the best if u looking for best runtimes yea ?

Those are 8A cells, which is certainly plenty for the regulated modes. 7x7135 chips should max out at 2.5A, assuming they are 350mA chips.

I don’t know what the max current is on turbo, which is pure FET driver. I would guess it’s pushing around 8A with a full battery, less as the battery depletes. Anyone measure it? IIRC, I think the max discharge of the 35E is rated at 13A, but that would be for brief periods.

Given how quickly the light will ramp down on turbo, I doubt the battery would be draining more than 8A for very long, if at all. So the 35E should be fine. Or, you could go with a Sanyo GA cell (10A) which gives you some margin. Personally, I wouldn’t worry about it, though.

The only thing I’d stay away from are older low-drain cells, like the Panasonic NCR18650B.

I think the continuous discharge rating is pretty irrelevant. It’s more of a way to compare batteries and not so much a way to match a battery to a light. You are taking it way too literally. It’s kind of a subjective number, so don’t pay too much attention to it.

The best runtimes might be from the Panasonic NCR18650B, assuming you don’t care about measuring the Turbo output. The 35E and GA (and MJ1) are also fine cells for this light.

You’re most likely safe, even with the lower-drain NCR18650B. FET drivers tend to adjust current down with low-drain batteries, because the voltage-sag reduces voltage and thus drops current. Boost drivers ignore that, and just suck as much current as they need.

But I don’t think you should ignore the continuous discharge rating of batteries. It’s there to make sure things stay safe. Low-drain cells will heat up much more at high discharge than high-drain cells. You don’t want the battery to get too hot. They’re usually rated for somewhere around 70-80C.

Yes, you can probably run a battery even hotter than that, but the risk increases. It’s better to pick a cell to match the current demands of the light.

In this case, the Samsung 35E should be fine. The Panasonic NCR18650B (or even lower drain cells) may still be okay, but likely because the light just can’t run in turbo very long.

[Lagittaja]

@Lane32x

By the way, I haven’t seen anyone mention the LG “chocolate” (hg2) batteries yet. They come highly recommended from a buddy at work who vapes quite a bit.
Unprotected, 3000mAh, 20A drain, and their specs show that they should fit just fine. The chemistry is INR, which is also good.

I think that’s the next cell I’m going to try unless anyone has a 3500mAh they recommend.

It’s a good cell. Not as popular nowadays as LG Chem doesn’t like how vapers are using their cells. They even have a safety warning about it on their website. Although Samsung SDI also has such a page on their website but I think they might not actually care as I’ve seen more Samsung cells than LG’s.

Also the HG2 is not an INR cell. It’s just a name and actually nowadays there’s hardly such a thing as a Nickel (INR) or a Cobalt (ICR, LCO) or a Manganese (IMR, LMR etc) cell. “Hybrid” chemistries are the most common now and have been for a while now.
With the HG2 actually being LiNiMnCo or if you want a three letter acronym: NMC. The 30Q is also NMC.
While the 35E and MJ1 are LiNiCoAl or NCA.

As far as which 3400-3500mAh cell you should pick. Eh, it’s a bit of a wash. 35E and MJ1 are good choices. As well as Panasonic GA. Buy whatever is cheaper.

[WTF]

@justanotherguy

I wish neal could find out what happened to my #2… ordered at the same time as #1 - which arrived two weeks ago

You are not alone, I too suffer from buy two get one syndrome.

No response to my email. Order number 3482.

[Meyer]

@ToyKeeper

… A useful version string would end up being very long and difficult to read…

What about Morse code ?

ışık ile mors alfabesi - morse code flashing / signal light - aldis lamp - код морзе - азбука морзе

• − − • • • − • − • • • − − •

[JasonWW]

@WalkIntoTheLight

@JasonWW

@WalkIntoTheLight

@mortuus

so 35E batteries are the best if u looking for best runtimes yea ?

Those are 8A cells, which is certainly plenty for the regulated modes. 7x7135 chips should max out at 2.5A, assuming they are 350mA chips.

I don’t know what the max current is on turbo, which is pure FET driver. I would guess it’s pushing around 8A with a full battery, less as the battery depletes. Anyone measure it? IIRC, I think the max discharge of the 35E is rated at 13A, but that would be for brief periods.

Given how quickly the light will ramp down on turbo, I doubt the battery would be draining more than 8A for very long, if at all. So the 35E should be fine. Or, you could go with a Sanyo GA cell (10A) which gives you some margin. Personally, I wouldn’t worry about it, though.

The only thing I’d stay away from are older low-drain cells, like the Panasonic NCR18650B.

I think the continuous discharge rating is pretty irrelevant. It’s more of a way to compare batteries and not so much a way to match a battery to a light. You are taking it way too literally. It’s kind of a subjective number, so don’t pay too much attention to it.

The best runtimes might be from the Panasonic NCR18650B, assuming you don’t care about measuring the Turbo output. The 35E and GA (and MJ1) are also fine cells for this light.

You’re most likely safe, even with the lower-drain NCR18650B. FET drivers tend to adjust current down with low-drain batteries, because the voltage-sag reduces voltage and thus drops current. Boost drivers ignore that, and just suck as much current as they need.

But I don’t think you should ignore the continuous discharge rating of batteries. It’s there to make sure things stay safe. Low-drain cells will heat up much more at high discharge than high-drain cells. You don’t want the battery to get too hot. They’re usually rated for somewhere around 70-80C.

Firstly, Boost drivers don’t just suck as much current as they need. They have voltage limits programed in. If you put a weak battery in, weak as in big voltage sag under load, the boost driver will sense this and not activate it’s higher current modes. Same thing for a high cuurent battery that does not sag as much under load that is partially depleted. The driver will sense the lower voltage and limit it’s current draw by only turning on at lower brightness levels.

Back to the cells heating up…
I think a lot of what your saying is theory, in reality I don’t believe there is a single light on the market capable of heating up the battery due to high current use. Whenever you have high current drain you also have high led temperatures. The poor efficiency of leds and all the heat they generate (roughly 25–30 light and 65–70 heat) will cause the light to overheat well before the battery gets over heated. Even people that let their flashlight heads get up to 70-80°C still have the battery temps at safe temperatures.

So I think your kinda worried about nothing. Just my opinion, no offense meant.

(We do need to keep in mind that all batteries are not perfect. If you have an unprotected cell that gets deeply discharged, like below 2.5v, it’s most likely compromised and dangerous to use. It could vent at lower than normal temps or simply overheat under load or more likely during charging. This happens quite a bit with unknown used cells that people recycle from other devices. This type of situation would be an exception to what I said earlier. I an assuming we are all using good quality cells that are not damaged in our lights.)

Does anyone know of any lights capable of overheating a battery before the head overheats? I don’t know of any, but I’d like to know if it exists. (It’s certainly not the FW3A)

[Melez]

@contactcr

That should be compatible. That will come with wires pre-soldered on that you wont need but no big deal. If you have a little soldering experience it should be fairly straightforward.

@teacher

If you can unsolder the two wires the new MCPCB comes with & the two wires on the FW3A MCPCB, swap the MCPCB’s & resolder the two wires in the FW3A on to the new MCPCB… your good to go.

@ToyKeeper

@Melez

Full disclosure: I am something of an idiot.

Then you’re in good company. Most of us are idiots around here. At least, I know I’ve done some pretty dumb things…

Well those replies are confidence inspiring! I remember the basics of soldering, but I should probably watch a YouTube refresher. I mean I’m relatively handy… Definitely won’t do this anywhere near my woodshop. But at least when I mess up I’ll know some understanding people.

[joechina]

@Boaz

Has anyone baked one of these yet .

That light in a bag looks like maybe it was done in the microwave. you know how they tell you NOT to cook in those plastic bags … :P 

TLF and colored body parts:
(sorry in German)

Someone colored the tail switch cover golden with lighter fluid and heat
Pic:

Lumintop FW3A - Erfahrungen, Probleme, Fragen

The next heat-treated the whole lamp
pic:

Lumintop FW3A - Diskussion - Neue Bilder - Wahl des LED Typs

A few posts above one has a blue switch

[JasonWW]

I’m not subscribed to TLF so I can’t enlarge the pictures, but I can see the gray turns a goldish color.

Are they having the same issues over there as we are with lights needing to be cleaned and tightened properly to get working?

[teacher]

@JasonWW

Are they having the same issues over there as we are with lights needing to be cleaned and tightened properly to get working?

A little birdie told me they paid $1 US extra to have them all cleaned, lubed, inspected, tightened, & pre-tested before theirs shipped.
Not a bad deal… :+1:
.
.
.
.
...if it were actually true.... .

[BlueSwordM]

You mean 5$US?

[Figgy]

hopefully a F3WB = brass comes together with the F3WCopper… I wanna see what the light looks like with both metals haha…

[teacher]

Naah…. $1. They got a special deal.

[teacher]

Naah…. $1. They got a special deal.

[ToyKeeper]

@ikkentobi

Is there some estimation how long the FW3A will run on the lowest moon mode, for example on a 30Q cell?

It averages about 1.7 mA on moon, and a 30Q cell has 3000 mAh, so that’s 3000 / 1.7 / 24 = 73.5 days.

The 35E cell is probably a somewhat better choice for this light though, especially if you want to use low modes a lot. It should last about 85.8 days on moon.