*BLF LT1 Lantern Project) (updated Nov,17,2020)

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 :wink: . 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 :frowning: .

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

see if this link works / helps:

Save 10% on LT1

discounted code ” SAVE10% ”

Price will be $53.99 for LT1 without batteries; $65.69 for LT1 with batteries after code.

Happy New Year!

Received mine yesterday, Dec. 28. Ordered from amazon.com on Nov. 25 from list position in the very low 2,000's.

Amazon tracking still shows "Out For Delivery" as of Dec. 29 @ 08:35.

USPS tracking was much more accurate in the days leading up to delivery.

Minor dent in box, light undamaged.

Light itself is fully correct and in fine cosmetic & operational condition; pads are bridged correctly, bail is symmetrical & stays put when folded down. UI will seem smarter than me until I learn it better. ( I hate being out-thunk by a piece of rock...)

The set of BLF LT1 custom re-wrapped cells I purchased from amishbill fit perfectly, showing no interference with the pot on the driver.

My Lovely Wife, a competent motorcyclist & mechanic's helper in her own right (but hopeless muggle when it comes to tech) even said "Wow!"

LT1 will (mostly) take the place of our ancient Coleman liquid fuel lantern for camping, although it, too, will always have it's place due to sentimental value (Lots of courtin' & sparkin' occurred under it's illumination).

Thanks to Sofrin for making it a quality device, and for making it at all!

Our heartfelt Thanks to our dedicated and very patient LT1 development team. Well Done!

slmjim

Found my LT1 in my mailbox a few days ago …although tracking still says it’s in NY. My soldering is correct and I have no desire to make it brighter. It lights up my living room equally as well as a ~800 lumen ceiling bounced flashlight. Camping with this will be a joy.

Thanks DBSAR, LT1 team, and Sofirn for making such a great lantern!

Can some experts put a sticky around the bridging on why/hows or least point me one single post explaining it…yep… a muggle but goes by -have it and not need it than need it and not have it

My LT1 is due to arrive Monday. As others have noted, Amazon tracking doesn’t keep up with this once it hits the USA but usps tracking picks up the slack.