FW3A Troubleshooting / FAQ

This looks like you have a short circuit in the head. Nothing to do with the tail switch since the inner tube is not even touching until screwed down fully.

Did recentering the driver fix the issue? If so, some part of the driver might have been shorted to ground.

Try this.

I am thinking about buying parts for firmware upgrade, but cant find pictures about how wires connect to driver. Do I need to use this clip - Aliexpress ?
I found This guide but I suppose FW3A connection is different, right?

A quick way to tell if your in muggle mode is to ramp down. The normal moonlight is very weak and hard to see in a bright room. I can stare into it fine right up close to my eye.

The muggle mode moonlight is much brighter and no way can I stare into it at close range.

Once you see both, it’s quite obvious which mode your in.

Basically the FET is a very fast on/off switch. It can turn on/off about 18,000 times a second. So it “pulses” and it’s so fast our eyes can’t see it, so it looks smooth. In each of these pulses it can fully turn on a certain percentage of each pulse time. A 50% duty cycle means it stays on 50% of each pulse.

A 100% duty cycle is like the switch is on constantly. Similar to a straight wire directly to the battery. In this scenario you can see that the batteries internal resistance and overall power will determine how many amps are drawn.

Same at 50% duty cycle, the type of battery still has an influence on the amps drawn.

The FET style driver does not measure any amps, it’s basically an on/off switch and things like spring resistance can have a noticable effect.

Other driver types like Linear, Buck and Boost DO measure amperage and can put out an exact amount.

So there are pros and cons to each type. FET is cheap to build, works well and can deliver the highest outputs. It’s also the type that BLF user interfaces like NarsilM and Anduril are designed to use.

Note, NarsilM was also made to work on the Buck driver in the BLF GT. I think it’s also been made to work in some Boost drivers, but they are not released, yet.

Cons of the FET driver is the output is not controllable. Certain led and battery combos draw too much power and can burn up emitters. This is why it’s important to choose the right battery/led combo.

Another con is the linear drop in output. Lumens are highest on a fully charged battery and the output slowly drops over time as the battery drains.

The other driver types also have their pros and cons, but it’s a lot of info to go into. There are whole threads talking about the different driver types.

Yes, that clip goes right on top of the ATtiny85 chip instead of the driver pins on the D4S.

Lots of info here.

Thank you very much! Ordered parts from aliexpress.

Maybe someone can recommend which solder wire is suitable for soldering wires on driver? I have about 2mm solder wire but it will be too thick I think. Will order on aliexpress.

@ToyKeeper and @JasonWW, thanks!

It might be what Toykeep said! I didn't have the time to put everything back to normal, but that is what is probably going on. My muggle mode was actually my normal menu... and visa versa.

Good you helped me, otherwise I would have felt very uncomfortable ;)

But I think it's still important to get that "Reset to factory settings" option if that is possible, in every UI that is customizable. This is a really important feature imho.

I guess it’s importance varies from person to person.

This reset feature is fairly new to NarsilM and we did fine without it before.

If you write down what you want each menu option to be, it’s fairly easy to go through the menu and reset everything back to stock.

Maybe the key is if the light starts blinking and doing crazy stuff you have to recognize you might have gone into a setup menu. Don’t touch the button. Just let it keep blinking until it stops for a good 5 to 10 seconds. As long as you don’t push the button, it will automatically exit the menu and nothing will get changed.

Do you think a factory reset function would be beneficial for the majority of the people? I'm not really talking about BLF members, this thing is available in multiple stores, available for milliions of people. If they read the manual, they get bonkers :p

The first line in the manual could read like this: For factory reset: do ABC.

If you and me couldn't figure out what was going on with my FW3A, how would the average Joe even make sense of the UI.. (if it was messed up like mine). I can't imagine I will be the only person with this problem.

Without ToyKeeper's help I imagine the flashlight would have been sent back to Neal! Think about that as well!
Sellers don't want to answer emails about the UI. The seller could just say: Open the manual to page 1, and do the factory reset. Not every seller would have the knowledge of ToyKeeper.

Another reason is this: imagine you are in a situation where you messed it up like mine, and an emergency is at hand. If they grab the manual, it wouldn't help. The manual doesn't help. The internet also wouldn't help. It would cost them a day to search through all the threads to find a possible solution. And a factory reset would be so much simpler.

I'm trying to help people understand the benefits of having a Reset function (electronic or physical).

Hopefully people can think outside the Flashoholic box, and understand my concern :D

I tried my best, but I know other people could give even better reasons ;)

Interesting discussion about the need of a “Factory Reset” in the FW3A UI.

I pretty much agree with Jason’s train of thought… it is not needed.

But, that said; ChibiM brought up some very real reasons to possibly have it in post #530.

My questions are:

  • 1. Is it even possible to include a “factory reset” in Anduril?
  • 2. ’If’ it is ’possible’, how difficult would it be to include??
    Is there enough space left to code it without taking away any of the current neat features?

I would think it is pretty easy. Make a list of constants with default values corresponding to the variables used to configure the flashlight. These values probably already exist. Then make a method to load / reload these values into the configuration variables. Lets say with 10 clicks, config values are reset and the flashlight auto turns off, next time you turn it on, fabric reset is completed.

Hey FW3A team, can you tell me how to contact Neal if he’s been ignoring me on: Reddit, Facebook, BLF and Email?
Is it normal to not resolve an issue with a product for 3-4 weeks and the main guy to keep lying to the customer? If it’s normal then OK, no worries.

Yes I’m with you on this one , a factory reset would be very useful , I think all complicated ui’s should have one.

I asked that for the manual a while ago:
Yes, its possible.
TK has one firmware with it if I remember correctly.

Edit:
(found it)

I don’t know about free space.

Personally I don’t know if a reset helps. Normally it is “you clicked wrong” because you are new to it. Read the manual and try to understand what is wrong and ask in the forums. I know it is a lot to read for a flashlight, but then you maybe learn that little error you made instead of resetting it (and the next time reset it again, and again, …).

Every time someone says Andúril is easy I want to say “kinda”, because it has a lot of features. My guess is you must learn 50 command stepps to master everything.

10+ clicks is the new shortcut to thermal config.

As far I know reset comand can be: Hold the button while powering on.

Thanks Toykeeper. Its almost back to normal. Had some trouble with the modes, but that was due to the head not being tightly screwed down. It would ramp up, but when ramping down the light would just shut off.

But I have a question about this:

Click 4 times to enter ramp config mode. # At the three prompts, respectively, click 1 time, then 21 times, then 7 times.

I only get 2 prompts... there is no 3rd prompt. After the secon prompt, the light will stop flashing. Is that normal behavior?

Thanks for the info & quote from TK joechina. :beer:
It appears then a ‘Factory Reset’ would not even be possible/practical for the FW3A.
I agree… it may take a bit of effort with trial n’ error, but reading & learning is the best way. :+1:

The third prompt is for the steps.
And it depends on what ramp you are at the moment.
When you are in SMOOTH RAMPING you get only two prompts for floor and ceiling.
If you are in STEPPED RAMPING you get three.

When you are using smooth two prompts are normal.

Great! Thanks!