Please add me to the list
@ Toykeeper + DBSAR:
Please note that I have revised the manual once again, see updated post #7333. Both German and English manuals have been updated on the sharepoint as well, see link in the OP of this thread.
I decided to include those additional information on the Muggle mode as I was able get some additional room while revising the layout again.
I really hope we're done now and Sofirn can use the final version "2019-10-05" for the print job that will enable every customer as of batch #2 to have the correct manual of the LT1 lantern. I will now start checking the text that Sofirn will be using for Amazon US/DE as they want to list the LT1 very soon. BLF member fneuf has kindly offered his/her help to translating the manual into French language. I will check with Barry on Monday if there's enough time left but it appears we have about 2 weeks left until batch #2 starts with production. I guess we've all learned that it's always a good idea to start working on the manual sooner than later. ;-)
Once again, thanks to all people involved into this great project and special thanks to all BLF members that helped to get the manual ready in time. :THUMBS-UP: :BEER:
Now, I hope I can stop bugging you guys with boring stuff about the manual. Thanks for your patience. :-)
Cheers, Thomas
Thanks Lux-Perpetua for all your diligent work in making the manual the best it can be! 
I missed several pages of posts while on vacation, but somewhere along the line I thought I saw a post saying that the second batch of lights would have slightly different firmware. Am I imagining that or is that true? which post was that described in?
thanks!
You haven't been dreaming sbslider. :-D
It's right here: https://budgetlightforum.com/t/-/38215/7314
These changes - effective with the updated AndĂșril as of batch #2* - are already reflected in the latest revision of the manual.
(* provided that Sofirn will be using the updated LT1-AndĂșril, Toykeeper is about to send to them)
Thanks so much Lux-Perpetua! 
Does that mean that Sofirn is going to sell the LT1 on Amazon from the start and we donât have to order it from China?
Last I heard the LT1 would be sold via Amazon in multiple countries, and that it would ship from China. I suspect nothing is a done deal yet though.
As long as we have the best price and get the LT1 first, let them sell it wherever they want.
So, when we receive our LT1 we will be able to tell if we have first batch, second batchâŠ. by the date on the last page of the printed manual that will come with it?
Please add me to the list for 2 lanterns.
Please add me to the list. This looks great!
Looking at the official YouTube video, Iâd like to understand a bit more about the charging. It sounds like a charger which isnât capable of delivering 1.5A may get a bit hot unless you desolder a couple of the points inside, as shown.
I donât mind so much about the excess heat per se, but if I plan on mainly recharging this using a 8w solar panel, which will deliver 1W at best, am I going to get more recharging efficiency by desoldering?
My experience with solar charging suggests that you are unlikely to have an issue with overheating of the charging circuit in the panel - it simply wonât produce enough power to do that. (Although, sitting in hot sun on a summerâs day doesnât help.)
In theory, there is a chance that too much âloadâ may cause the panel voltage to collapse but Iâve never noted that happening with my panels. The built-in USB regulator perhaps prevents that? Even my little 7W Goal Zero still manages its full output into power banks that draw much more than that from a mains adaptor.
Den noted a small charge going in (140mA?) when charging the lantern from solar on an overcast day, so the circuit seems designed to just take what it can get.
I guess the only way to know for sure would be to do some tests with a USB power meter, solar panel and soldering iron.
Letâs hope someone with a better understanding of the electronics behind these things can chime in.
I agree with gadabout, I doubt youâll see overheating of your solar panel unitâs voltage regulator. Iâm not sure the adjustability between 0.75A and 1.5A is all that useful with the present design, but it is something DBSAR wanted as a capability for lower power solar panels. Hopefully he will chime in with the details as to why, as Iâm curious also.
This has been going on for a long time. Maybe I will have one for Christmas. Maybe.
Definitely by Christmas. Maybe Christmas 2020, but definitely by Christmas. And you wonât know how you lived without it. 
It has been a long wait and Iâve been gone for most of that time. But if past BLF projects are any judge, itâll be well worth the wait.
As usual, my hat is off to the folks who can and do get involved in these project lights.
If you draw too much current from a bare panel with no regulator, the voltage will plummet and youâll lose power.
Panels with regulators vary a lot, depending on the regulator design. A panel with a basic regulator will still see plummeting voltage and lose power if you try to draw too much current. A better regulator may be able to mitigate that effect, but it will still have to throttle down the output power to do it.
This then raises the question of how the device youâve plugged in will react to having its power supply throttled down. If it gracefully draws on whatever power is available - as many powerbanks do - youâll be fine. If itâs picky about its power - iPhones are infamous for that - then it may just give up and stop charging at all.
Thatâs why the standard recommendation for charging personal electronics from portable solar power is âsolar charge a powerbank, then use the powerbank to charge your other devicesâ. Itâs less efficient - having the extra charging step costs you energy - but itâs more likely to work reliably.
You donât need to do that for the LT1, though, itâs designed to pick up where it left off and charge whenever thereâs enough power.
On a related note, some solar panels have a regulator which will turn the power off and on again from time to time. This sometimes helps in variable solar conditions, because cycling the power like that may reset a picky device and convince it to start taking a charge again. It doesnât always work, though.
Unfortunately, manufacturers donât seem to specify what their built-in solar panel regulators can do - they just say â5V USB outputâ, maybe adding a current rating and thatâs it.
Ultimately, you just have to try it and see what happens (having first checked that the panel can never produce too much voltage, of course).
The ability to change the stock 1.5A charging current to 0.75A adds versatility, because a panel producing 5W - 5V at 1A, for example - will struggle (at best) with the stock 1.5A configuration. Letting people modify the LT1 to charge at 0.75A means they can adjust it to better match the lower-powered solar panels they might already have.
In addition, lower charging current also means that a larger solar panel can continue to operate even in less favourable conditions (thin, hazy cloud, for example). Some people might prefer to give their LT1 a better chance of charging in less favourable conditions, even if that means sacrificing full-speed charging in better conditions.
Ok, I dug through the group chat and found some testing DBSAR did with a few different solar panels. This may be in the first post as well, didnât check there.