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
The light in the bag is a prototype FW3C, made of copper.
Copper isnāt really my thing, but I do like titanium and Iād 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.
I wish neal could find out what happened to my #2ā¦ ordered at the same time as #1 - which arrived two weeks ago
By the way, I havenāt seen anyone mention the LG āchocolateā (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 thatās the next cell Iām going to try unless anyone has a 3500mAh they recommend.
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!"
Thatās fine, too. Itās 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.
Youāre 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 donāt think you should ignore the continuous discharge rating of batteries. Itās there to make sure things stay safe. Low-drain cells will heat up much more at high discharge than high-drain cells. You donāt want the battery to get too hot. Theyāre usually rated for somewhere around 70-80C.
Yes, you can probably run a battery even hotter than that, but the risk increases. Itās 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 canāt run in turbo very long.
Itās a good cell. Not as popular nowadays as LG Chem doesnāt 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 Iāve seen more Samsung cells than LGās.
Also the HG2 is not an INR cell. Itās just a name and actually nowadays thereās hardly such a thing as a Nickel (INR) or a Cobalt (ICR, LCO) or a Manganese (IMR, LMR etc) cell. āHybridā 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, itās a bit of a wash. 35E and MJ1 are good choices. As well as Panasonic GA. Buy whatever is cheaper.
You are not alone, I too suffer from buy two get one syndrome.
No response to my email. Order number 3482.
What about Morse code ?
Firstly, Boost drivers donāt 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 itās 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 itās current draw by only turning on at lower brightness levels.
Back to the cells heating upā¦
I think a lot of what your saying is theory, in reality I donāt 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 25ā30 light and 65ā70 heat) will cause the light to overheat well before the battery gets over heated. Even people that let their flashlight heads get up to 70-80Ā°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, itās 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 donāt know of any, but Iād like to know if it exists. (Itās certainly not the FW3A)
Well those replies are confidence inspiring! I remember the basics of soldering, but I should probably watch a YouTube refresher. I mean Iām relatively handyā¦ Definitely wonāt do this anywhere near my woodshop. But at least when I mess up Iāll know some understanding people.
TLF and colored body parts:
(sorry in German)
Someone colored the tail switch cover golden with lighter fluid and heat
Pic:
The next heat-treated the whole lamp
pic:
A few posts above one has a blue switch
Iām not subscribed to TLF so I canāt 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?
A little birdie told me they paid $1 US extra to have them all cleaned, lubed, inspected, tightened, & pre-tested before theirs shipped.
Not a bad dealā¦ :+1:
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...if it were actually true.... . 
You mean 5$US?
hopefully a F3WB = brass comes together with the F3WCopperā¦ I wanna see what the light looks like with both metals hahaā¦
Naahā¦. $1. They got a special deal.
Naahā¦. $1. They got a special deal.
It averages about 1.7 mA on moon, and a 30Q cell has 3000 mAh, so thatās 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.