3/4 on top should have come bridged. If it was me I’d bridged them with solder.
If it was me while in there doing one bridging operation I’d bridge them all. Oh wait… it was me at one time and I did just that.
It won’t affect how low the light will go but gives a bit more lumens at the top end, at the expense of runtime of course. But I’d rather have the option and not use it rather than need it and not have it.
Update USPS has shown update it has hit sorting center in LA,CA.
Note - The pads on this board revision are in series. AKA - if 3/4 is open, no power goes to 5 or 6 or 7. If 5 is open, no power goes to 6 or 7, etc.
IMHO, I’d make sure t least your 3/4 and 5 are soldered.
just got mine,built very well . thanx DBSAR for all your work
Without going back and reading the whole thread for the past month, can someone explain the bridging that’s being talked about and what it’s benefits are? Also, provide a picture of what should be soldered/penciled on? Those of us who have not followed this post from cradle to grave would sure appreciate the quick detail.
Thanks in advance.
Mine arrived today (ordered 11/11) sounds like a large chunk all shipped at the same time from the last few pages.
Looks really good, pads 3&4 soldered both channels on mine, o-ring fell off before could get the batteries installed but easily fixed. Now just need to absorb the manual.
USB programmer arrived as well from fastech today, just waiting for pogo pins from banggood and boards from oshpark.
Really great light, well done to the whole team involved.
Does this mean five chips are connected?
Yes !
Thats good to know.
My initial impressions were that the LT1 was down on output and a little warm for my liking. This explains it.
Concerning quality control! I wonder how many other lights have been shipped with this issue?
If I attempt a fix, what will this do to my warranty?
Got my lantern a day early (estimated Monday). It was undamaged and the box undented, so it fared better than some 
. The bail handle is aligned well, but still has enough friction to stay down if you place it there. Everything seem okay so far, though I’ve only operated the lantern with the USB cable as I don’t have my cells ready yet. I plan to do that tonight.
[Edit] I put solder blobs on 9 Samsung laptop pulls and the light works great. However, I desoldered the tiny potentiometer from the driver to avoid any issues with having an imperfect solder blob accidentally touch the pot.
The button cover is indeed the Thorfire version. I found that the infamous orange o-ring actually stays on mine better than expected. Admittedly, I expected the worst, but I won’t have an issue with it coming off unless I hand it to a nephew or take it camping, neither of which I’m likely to do anytime soon. I’ll eventually glue or replace it.
In the following photo, it seems that the solder blobs are correct. [Edit] I have now removed (desoldered) the tiny potentiometer shown in the photo:
[Edit] Hopefully fixed ridiculous Google Photos links. These are constantly a problem. Thanks to raccoon city for letting me know, as these photos often appear to work correctly when you post them 
.
For the record, I received my first LT1 on 12/27, and, in my case, only the WW pads were bridged. None of the NW pads were bridged, which is the opposite of what pc_light discovered. This suggests to me that there was no intention, in batch 2, to change the driver in either of these ways. Can anyone confirm that the 3+4+5 pads are still supposed to be bridged on both NW and WW? Thanks, and Happy New Year to all.
I cannot see the images in post #10298.
I received my first LT1 on 12/24. The 3-4 and 5 pads are soldered on both WW and NW, while 6 and 7 remain unsoldered. I believe that is the correct factory configuration.
Yes - 3/4 and 5 should be closed for both NW and WW.
No - Batch 2 was already in production while driver updates were being worked on.
Yes - that is the intended default configuration.
For those who have lanterns with missing solder on the pads labeled as 3, 4 or 5, my recommendation is to connect the pads with graphite from a number 2 pencil. This won’t void the warranty. It also works if you want to add the additional driver chips at 6 or 7.
How much current can a graphite bridge carry? (can it handle closing 3/4 or 5 if 6 and 7 are also pulling current through the graphite?)
What hardness of pencil works best?
Does a graphite bridge have enough resistance to impact the amount of power getting to the driver chips?
Very little current flows through the graphite, as those bridges are in series with a control input for the drivers. #2 pencil as mentioned above. Other pencils may work also.
I also would like to know this as my orange ring keeps popping off so I would like to use a smaller o-ring but not sure what size to get.
A tighter Oring won’t help as the groove is too shallow.
I added a bit of superglue in the groove and this does the trick