FW3A Troubleshooting / FAQ

[miswas]

Hi all

I'd like to set the Party Strobe to a specific frequency. How would folks recommend I do that? I'm looking for 40Hz.

And I know there are limitations to accuracy and consistency for this kind of setting, but close to 40Hz will be close enough! :)

Many thanks,

-Ben

[Man_Without_Shadow]

MoodLight - Free Online Strobe/Disco/Party/Mood Light

set that up so it flashes 40x/second

get rid of the glow and blend options, change the colors to black and white…(or whatever)

just the flash timing is what matters

try and adjust light to that…

maybe computer screen in a darkroom, lighting up the wall…adjust flashlight to sync

I shut off 6 of the color choices and chose one black and one white for most flash contrast

[miswas]

Wow, GREAT REPLY, friend!! Worked perfectly. I used my phone to flash at 40Hz, then ramped the light back and forth until the flash from my phone became a solid white light when the FW3A shone on it.

I'll try it again on my comp to make sure the flash rate is set correctly. But it all was amazingly simple.

Thanks SO much Man Without Shadow! :) :) :)

-Ben

[miswas]

@Man Without Shadow

MoodLight - Free Online Strobe/Disco/Party/Mood Light set that up so it flashes 40x/second get rid of the glow and blend options, change the colors to black and white…(or whatever) just the flash timing is what matters try and adjust light to that… maybe computer screen in a darkroom, lighting up the wall…adjust flashlight to sync I shut off 6 of the color choices and chose one black and one white for most flash contrast

Since there's no way to directly set the flash Hz; and this solution is so elegantly simple; I propose it be added to the FAQ.

Thoughts? Thanks! :)

-Ben

[Man_Without_Shadow]

Thanks for the gracious shout-out!

[xevious (Gary)]

@miswas

Wow, GREAT REPLY, friend!! Worked  perfectly. I used my phone to flash at 40Hz, then ramped the light back and forth until the flash from my phone became a solid white light when the FW3A shone on it.

I’ll try it again on my comp to make sure the flash rate is set correctly. But it all was amazingly simple.

Thanks SO much Man Without Shadow!

What kind of phone do you have? Is it using an Android app, a flashlight with configurable strobe?

[Coscar]

Yeah, Im curious how it is done too? And why 40Hz?
MoodLight - Free Online Strobe/Disco/Party/Mood Light That is neat……

[miswas]

@xevious

@miswas

Wow, GREAT REPLY, friend!! Worked perfectly. I used my phone to flash at 40Hz, then ramped the light back and forth until the flash from my phone became a solid white light when the FW3A shone on it.

I'll try it again on my comp to make sure the flash rate is set correctly. But it all was amazingly simple.

Thanks SO much Man Without Shadow! :) :) :)

What kind of phone do you have? Is it using an Android app, a flashlight with configurable strobe?

I actually just went to the website MWS referenced in his post. The settings on the website are very intuitive, and I just set it up to flash my phone's display between black and white at 40Hz. Then,played with the Disco Mode flashing speed until the display on my phone appeared constant (in my case it was white).

It's an amazingly simple solution, I love those types of fixes! :)

-Ben

[miswas]

@Man Without Shadow

Thanks for the gracious shout-out!

Oh absolutely! Gotta give credit where it's due, and gotta holler to others about solutions that are so simple and elegant :)

[miswas]

@Coscar

Yeah, Im curious how it is done too? And why 40Hz? MoodLight - Free Online Strobe/Disco/Party/Mood Light That is neat…

The 40Hz comes from a study that showed in mice with Alzheimer's disease, the 40Hz flashing light helped "reverse" temporarily some of the major effects. There's a podcast about it somewhere out there, I'm hoping Google will turn it up.

So, trying some preventative maintenance on the ol' noggin here ;)

[xevious (Gary)]

@miswas

I actually just went to the website MWS referenced in his post. The settings on the website are very intuitive, and I just set it up to flash my phone's display between black and white at 40Hz. Then,played with the Disco Mode flashing speed until the display on my phone appeared constant (in my case it was white).

It's an amazingly simple solution, I love those types of fixes! :)

Ah, silly me, I was thinking you were using the LED on your phone, not your phone display.

:FACEPALM: Yeah, makes perfect sense to just go to the site with your mobile phone browser. ;)

[Man_Without_Shadow]

Here is an Android app for a phone strobe.

play.google.com

Strobily - strobe light

Strobily is the most accurate strobe light app on Android...

Free

not sure how helpful online strobes are, but at least can give an idea what you are hoping to see…though I find watching two strobes at the same time a poor way to achieve accuracy.

It would be better to have something spinning at some measured speed and strobe that…like a fan blade…

Searching for an app to measure strobe hz…something that might measure hz if you flashed it into the camera…

[Coscar]

@miswas

@Coscar

Yeah, Im curious how it is done too? And why 40Hz? MoodLight - Free Online Strobe/Disco/Party/Mood Light That is neat……

The 40Hz comes from a study that showed in mice with Alzheimer’s disease, the 40Hz flashing light helped “reverse” temporarily some of the major effects. There’s a podcast about it somewhere out there, I’m hoping Google will turn it up.

So, trying some preventative maintenance on the ol’ noggin here

That’s interesting. Im going to look into it but PM me if find any additional info. I am beginning to show signs myself plus suffer from CTE. :weary:

[7pot]

@Fubs261

Neal hasn’t replied to my original email from Saturday the 25th. I sent it to his Hotmail address listed on his site. I also sent a follow up email yesterday, the 27th when ToyKeeper suggested I reach out for a replacement. Is there an alternate method of contact available? I don’t have the knowledge, skills, and tools to try and fix mine.

I was hoping to have a light for when I go camping in June, next month.

Same for me, my original mail is from May 19th and no reply, also not to the followup.

Has anybody had chance in contacting Neal? I really love the design of the FW3A but would rather have a working flashlight.

If I don’t get any reaction I would consider using PayPal buyer protection, sadly.

[Atom00]

@teacher

@Atom00

Let me try to take it apart.

Just take it apart, clean it threads n’ all, reassemble in order… as ToyKeeper & Jason suggested.

Go HERE . Read it, do what is says step by step, and hopefully that will fix you up. :+1:

Loosen the retaining ring and retighten and it works now. Thx guys for the help.

[JasonWW]

@Atom00

@teacher

@Atom00

Let me try to take it apart.

Just take it apart, clean it threads n’ all, reassemble in order… as ToyKeeper & Jason suggested.

Go HERE . Read it, do what is says step by step, and hopefully that will fix you up. :+1:

Loosen the retaining ring and retighten and it works now. Thx guys for the help.

This is quite the finicky flashlight design.

Glad it’s all working now.

[teacher]

@ Atom00
Excellent!! Glad things are working now…

[miswas]

This is quite the finicky flashlight design. Glad it’s all working now.

If I may, I think it more a case of, this high-precision-build light doesn't lend itself easily to mass production, especially if the goal of production is quantity over quality/good QC.

It seems like the problems we are seeing are mostly the results of assembly errors on the part of the manufacturer.

My $0.02 :)

-Ben

[jon7]

I’m having an issue where the light flickers like crazy. It’s like it gains and loses 10% of its brightness a few times a second. It also takes almost a full second to turn off after hitting the button. Has anyone seen any issues like this?

[Lund1660]

I ordered glow gaskets from Neal on May 22nd paid for expedited shipping and order is still shows unfulfilled. Nothing from Neal, have several projects that are at a standstill waiting to get finished.