Oztorchfreak
Flashlight Enthusiast
Re: Fire Foxes FF3 -- World's Brightest Compact Light??
Hi Guys.
I forgot about this thread.
I have had my FF3 for about four months now and what the photos show is really true.
The FF3 is just an unbelievable little HID light.
I copied the photos below from another CPF thread on this light that was started by jayrob.
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?339713-Fire-Foxes-III-compared-to-Magic-Scorpion-40W-and-85W-Ebay-HID
If Jayrob objects to me using it here in this thread then I will respect his wishes and replace his photo with one that I will take of my FF3.
I will PM him to ask his permission to use his photos in this thread ASAP.
Jayrob's photos are very well done and I could not really improve on his work.
The photo below is my FF3 disassembled.
The tint of the FF3 beam is a nice Neutral one that improves the vision of anything this light is pointed at compared to a lot of other HID lights that usually but not always come with a very distinct harsh blue tint.
JUST BUY IT!
You will not be disappointed in what this little beast can do.
The real achievement of building this compact HID light was to wrap the ballast around the reflector resulting in a massive reduction in the length of this light compared to most other HID lights in the marketplace.
I have just been reading the other posts in this thread and all I can say about the alignment of the HID bulb is that my light is spot on centre and the throw and output is just unbelievable from this little light.
"Unbelievable" is a well worn word but in this case owners are believers in that word considering the size and the abilities that the FF3 can achieve and it sometimes sits in my back pocket when I am using another light when the FF3 is not really needed.
It is really hard to comprehend what this little HID beast is capable of in such a tiny package.
I still have my Stanley 35W HID and it will probably never be dusted off ever again after buying the FF3 40W HID light.
The FF3 absolutely beats the Stanley HID in every conceivable way.
The person that designed and built this monster from the future needs to be congratulated for letting all of us owners be amazed as most of us are pretty hard to please as flashlight enthusiasts.
The big time collectors of flashlights really need this HID piece of DYNAMITE added to their ARSENALS.
This is not a light for everyday use it must be pointed out as it has only one level and the push button switch at the tail end of this light should be labelled "INSANE" with a warning on the body stating "BE PREPARED FOR A WILD RIDE".
The photos do a very good job in showing what the FF3 is capable of and many thanks must go to RichS for doing a really great photoshoot in comparing all of those lights.
Keep up the good work!
CHEERS
Warning.
The only issue that I have found during my testing that I did on the FF3 is that the battery carrier "MUST" be inserted with the switch facing the tail end of the body.
I hear you say, well that is what anyone with a slight amount of intelligence would do.
In testing this light I tried everything in my list to check for current and potential problems.
The reversal of the battery carrier by accident most likely when using it in the dark results in the centre positive contact spring tab being pushed completely in towards the front end of the light.
The spring tab was bent very badly out of shape resulting in the user virtually being unable to use the light until the spring tab had been repaired.
This repair was hard enough for me to do on my test bench let alone a user out in the middle of nowhere without the correct tools or skills being able to repair the out of shape centre contact and that is if the user even noticed what was wrong with their FF3.
After I repaired the spring tab without wishing to break anything behind the thin insulating plate it looked like this. I have been able to bend this tab to make it a bit more rounder since I took this photo during my initial tests.
The battery tube issue is the main point that needs to be addressed in any future builds of this little HID.
The label stating "This side outward" regarding the orientation of the battery tube is not easy to read when first using this light due to the highly reflective nature of the colourful label on the the battery carrier near the on/off push button switch.
I read the label ok and noted that fact but when testing lights I do everything that a user could probably do in any real world use of a light.
This light is very powerful and obviously it should not be pointed at anyone nearby.
The highly intensive beam of this light can burn skin pretty fast.
This light can burn a hole through paper in a very short time in my testing of this great little light.
It is a great party trick but not very advisable to try out in my opinion as safety would be thrown to the wind in doing so.
The front glass of this light gets very hot and should not be touched at all whilst in operation.
My final words are "USE RESPONSIBLY" and have fun.
Hi Guys.
I forgot about this thread.
I have had my FF3 for about four months now and what the photos show is really true.
The FF3 is just an unbelievable little HID light.
I copied the photos below from another CPF thread on this light that was started by jayrob.
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?339713-Fire-Foxes-III-compared-to-Magic-Scorpion-40W-and-85W-Ebay-HID
If Jayrob objects to me using it here in this thread then I will respect his wishes and replace his photo with one that I will take of my FF3.
I will PM him to ask his permission to use his photos in this thread ASAP.
Jayrob's photos are very well done and I could not really improve on his work.
The photo below is my FF3 disassembled.
The tint of the FF3 beam is a nice Neutral one that improves the vision of anything this light is pointed at compared to a lot of other HID lights that usually but not always come with a very distinct harsh blue tint.
JUST BUY IT!
You will not be disappointed in what this little beast can do.
The real achievement of building this compact HID light was to wrap the ballast around the reflector resulting in a massive reduction in the length of this light compared to most other HID lights in the marketplace.
I have just been reading the other posts in this thread and all I can say about the alignment of the HID bulb is that my light is spot on centre and the throw and output is just unbelievable from this little light.
"Unbelievable" is a well worn word but in this case owners are believers in that word considering the size and the abilities that the FF3 can achieve and it sometimes sits in my back pocket when I am using another light when the FF3 is not really needed.
It is really hard to comprehend what this little HID beast is capable of in such a tiny package.
I still have my Stanley 35W HID and it will probably never be dusted off ever again after buying the FF3 40W HID light.
The FF3 absolutely beats the Stanley HID in every conceivable way.
The person that designed and built this monster from the future needs to be congratulated for letting all of us owners be amazed as most of us are pretty hard to please as flashlight enthusiasts.
The big time collectors of flashlights really need this HID piece of DYNAMITE added to their ARSENALS.
This is not a light for everyday use it must be pointed out as it has only one level and the push button switch at the tail end of this light should be labelled "INSANE" with a warning on the body stating "BE PREPARED FOR A WILD RIDE".
The photos do a very good job in showing what the FF3 is capable of and many thanks must go to RichS for doing a really great photoshoot in comparing all of those lights.
Keep up the good work!
CHEERS
Warning.
The only issue that I have found during my testing that I did on the FF3 is that the battery carrier "MUST" be inserted with the switch facing the tail end of the body.
I hear you say, well that is what anyone with a slight amount of intelligence would do.
In testing this light I tried everything in my list to check for current and potential problems.
The reversal of the battery carrier by accident most likely when using it in the dark results in the centre positive contact spring tab being pushed completely in towards the front end of the light.
The spring tab was bent very badly out of shape resulting in the user virtually being unable to use the light until the spring tab had been repaired.
This repair was hard enough for me to do on my test bench let alone a user out in the middle of nowhere without the correct tools or skills being able to repair the out of shape centre contact and that is if the user even noticed what was wrong with their FF3.
After I repaired the spring tab without wishing to break anything behind the thin insulating plate it looked like this. I have been able to bend this tab to make it a bit more rounder since I took this photo during my initial tests.
The battery tube issue is the main point that needs to be addressed in any future builds of this little HID.
The label stating "This side outward" regarding the orientation of the battery tube is not easy to read when first using this light due to the highly reflective nature of the colourful label on the the battery carrier near the on/off push button switch.
I read the label ok and noted that fact but when testing lights I do everything that a user could probably do in any real world use of a light.
This light is very powerful and obviously it should not be pointed at anyone nearby.
The highly intensive beam of this light can burn skin pretty fast.
This light can burn a hole through paper in a very short time in my testing of this great little light.
It is a great party trick but not very advisable to try out in my opinion as safety would be thrown to the wind in doing so.
The front glass of this light gets very hot and should not be touched at all whilst in operation.
My final words are "USE RESPONSIBLY" and have fun.
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