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

Edited

Lex, Id be in for a LT1R if the host was bright red anodized. I have no use for something so yellow and dingy as 2200K 80 CRI, but would love the suggested 4000K 90 CRI. Fingers crosses for a red anodized version, otherwise I probably wouldn’t be interested.

Maybe another option would be to ask Sofirn if populated MCPCB’s could be sold in a variety of tints. The swap sure looks easy enough for anyone who can solder.

While I think the Sunlike project will be a fun mod to experiment with, I dont see the 2835 Chinese emitters replacing the robust Samsung LH351D emitters and DTP MCPCB of the stock LT1 over the long haul. If the 2835 SMD’s were Cree or Bridgelux, Id have a lot more confidence in them meeting certified lumen maintenance specs… which means they would meet published longevity standards if ran at spec, rather than the cheep Chinese LED light strip emitters being used, which are subject to burn out far more quickly. Ive sure gone through my share! Just my .02 cents…

Any news on the 8 x 18650 mod kit for the LT1?

The leds for the Sunlike boards are Sunlike, which is a cooperation between Seoul Semiconductors and Toshiba. So no chinese leds. And even if they were chinese (btw, even chinese leds are improving all the time :wink: ) there is no reason to expect them not no last many thousands of hours, if things go wrong with cheap led products, it is always the electronics, not the leds.

I disagree with your comments regarding the robustness of the Sunlike board. The emitters are made by Seoul Semiconductor which is a reputable company and not some noname Chinese manufacturer.

I have faith in BelMOR’s judgments because he is experienced in this field and has been selling his bulbs for some time.

I don’t believe a DTP board is needed. Each emitter is getting at most 153mA at 3V, that’s less than half a watt of power.
DTP is necessary when you’re driving high power emitter beyond specs. 150mA is the average rated spec of these Sunlike emitters with their max current being 300mA

7 AMC7135s active results in just 2.45A, being shared between 16 emitters is not a lot of heat to dissipate.

I wouldn’t move ahead with this project if I didn’t think the final result would be a good, robust design.

Thank you, and I stand corrected. So getting into it… browsing SOL’s 2835 data sheets were rather spartan and lacking, which did not inspire confidence. Nor could I find any of their emitters being used by large certified luminary manufacturers. Also, CRI was rated >80, not the high 90’s. I was also put off by the response I received from SunLike when I asked him about the higher binned 2835’s he had mentioned. He also ditched Sunnysunsun when he asked for a datasheet. Perhaps a language barrier, or just a sales driven ambitious fellow anxious to make a buck. Reading his older threads… I felt the same hard push to sell and avoidance to anything that might prevent that from happening. After further searching, I couldn’t find any independent reviews concerning the longevity of any of his products. Now having said all that, I was still interested in one of his boards… its only $20, but Id rather have the stated much brighter emitters he had mentioned that were in the works. I’ll see when those might become available through SSC/SOL, if I haven’t lost interest by the time he’s producing the boards. I often browse industry publications and business related articles because I sell large high value luminaries to local businesses (typically GE and RAB products), thus my interest. I have yet to ever see or read about one implementing SSC/SOL emitters. Probably because they do not appear to carry industry certification standards, which eliminates them from certified commercial markets and vendor lists. All comments welcome. Its another toy to play with, and I think the research is half the fun for most of us. Im probably done digging for now.

Im still much more interested in owning a nice red anodized LT1R. Hopefully it will happen soon.

Cheers! :beer:

SunLike products are not sold everywhere, just as you will not easily find Optisolis products. The reason I think is not so much the quality, but that the lighting industry is (still?) very much focused on 80CRI, 90CRI the most. 95+CRI products is a niche market. There is a rather large german company, Lumitronix, that has SunLike products in their standard assortment: https://www.leds.de/catalogsearch/result/?q=Sunlike

About the guy from Belarus, I think that he is doing interesting stuff on the boundary of DIY and professional work, that is too specialistic for most companies to be profitable. He has his typical way of communicating things, that may be a personal or a cultural thing, but I also think that he is starting up his company, is not rich and really needs the money, and is blunt about that.

Thanks djozz, I appreciate your thoughtful comments and insight. I wish all the best to him and for all those who participate.

I would be interested in a red anodized LT1 that ramped between deep red and 4000K high CRI. I would not be interested in one with 2200K LEDs, or anything warmer than 4000K really.

Same here

Just got mine today. I am curious what type of add-on accessory people are buying to use as a handle? Just a big lanyard, or is there some other accessory that can be added on?

I made my own lanyards for the LT1 from 550 Paracord. :smiley:

Has the option of a high efficiency driver been considered? I’d be cool to have that as an upgrade option when buying an LT1. Maybe Sofirn can commission Loneoceans like Fireflies did to build them an efficient driver? That along with SunLike LEDs offered stock would truly make this the endgame lantern for me.

Does the LT1 when fully charged, the on/off button/glow switch turn green. Mine is orange and I have put in on charge for like 5+ hrs still not turned green. Charging with battery charger that was shipped by default

The button is orange by default, and will turn red when you plug it in and start charging. It will turn green when it hits termination. It does take quite a while to charge all of the way, depending on which cells you have there’s a lot of capacity and I don’t think the charge current is very high.

Anyone know if Sofirn is still doing codes for those of us that weren’t able to place orders for more than one before the world shut down?

With completely flat cells, it can take as long as 10 hours to fully charge. The charge current is only 1.5A.

Make sure the red LED illuminates under the button cover to indicate that it is indeed charging when you plug it in. The older rev driver board will not charge with a USB-C to C cable (must use USB-A to C).

I got a code about a week ago for an orange one in one of Sofirn’s threads. It wasn’t as good as the initial deal, but it was better than retail.

The cost is not worth it. It might be as much as $15+ for components alone for not all that much improvement. You’re already getting 4+ hours on high with 7 7135s.

Yes, you’d gain maybe 15- 20% efficiency at the start at most but that efficiency gain decreases as the batteries discharge. It won’t even make a difference heat wise since the LEDs are far away from the driver.

On top of that, you’d have to pay people to design the driver and much more.

Some questions that have for the thread. Is it possible to run the device off a single battery? Or two? Or three? I’m looking for ideas to reduce weight. I can see that running off of USB directly is possible. I was thinking as an alternative, if there was a cap/base that could be put on the bottom to protect the inside of the lantern, and then just dedicate a USB power bank of my choosing?

It looks like I found one of my answers when I changed the search in the thread.

This has probably been asked before, but is there a pogo pin kit I can buy to flash the LT1 with a new firmware? I already have the kit Hank sells for Emisar / Noctigon lights, so if I can use the same with another pogo pin end, that would be nice. TIA.