Do I remember correctly that flat top NCR18650GAs are also suitable for this lantern (i.e. it is not necessary to go for its less common and more expensive button-top counterpart?)
(Because the flat NCR18650GAs also have a slight “bump” at their positive contact.)
Do you know of any reliable sellers with reasonable prices in the EU? Unfortunately NKON.nl don’t seem to have either variant in stock now
Has anyone asked Sofirn if they are willing to provide the new driver board, with power bank function, for someone who already has the LT1, to replace the old one?
Yeah, but Sofirn has been offering to email a coupon code to BLFers for an even better price, $62.24 including batteries, for most of this month. linky
You need button top, or the battery fouls components on the driver board as I recall, details are in the thread already if you use thread search (I know what you mean about the NCR bump but I think it would still catch)
I can use flat top batteries (Panny 18650B’s, 30Q’s, and various laptop pulls) in my 3 LT’s (part of the original buy) without any issues. It probably comes down to manufacturing tolerances on the LT’s.
It’s more of an issue of the top of the wrappers snagging on the POT (inside of the copper ring). It’s useless and can be removed as several people have done with their LT’s.
I suppose the wrappers can also be damaged if the copper ring has burs on it but those can be sanded out if need be.
The tops of the POT on my LT’s are low enough that they don’t snag on and damage the wrappers on my cells.
Makes sense. To be honest, in my mind, I was focusing on just the copper ring itself, and totally forgot there were other components installed on the bottom side of the PCB.
With the new (power-bank equipped) variant I ordered, I guess I’ll only be able to determine compatibility once I get my hands on it and see what the layout of the new driver looks like.
Removing unused components is not an issue for me. I know my way around soldering/rework stations. But if in the new version, there are vital components moved to the bottom, which are in the way, that’s another story…
It might be helpful if someone could share a photo, or 3D model of the new driver. If anyone from the BLF “project team” is still involved, that is… Is Lexel still around?
Just to add info re flat-top NCR18650GA’s = these are actually “raised flat-top”, and will work properly.
Regarding Samsung flat-tops though (30Q, 35E), I’ve notice sometimes these 18650s may be slightly recessed, and if the spring on the body tube is not so good anymore, there may be uneven contact of the Samsung flat-tops (which appear to be slightly recessed compared to other flat-tops like Sony VTC, which are very very slightly raised flat-top). Have also tested using genuine LG HG2 which works well on the LT1.
But as mentioned something raised (eg. “flat-top NCR18650GA) or button-top probably will make better and more uniform contact.
Do the size and posistion of the two screws (holding the driver PCB in place) not cause any problems when using GA’s or similar “raised flat-top” cells? The screw heads seem exactly as tall as the copper ring itself and are rather close to it. And if it were possible for the “bump” of the positive terminal (which is quite wide for the GA’s) to touch them, it could cause a lovely short, since they are at GND potential. Are they far enough from the ring to prevent something like this from happening?
Someone on Reddit took photos of the new LT1 with power bank functionality (there's also now photos of the driver which is quite nice). Looks like they removed the solder jumpers from the bottom of the driver, so I'm going to assume they run 7x 7135 by default now? That'd make lowest mode quite a bit brighter I'd imagine.
omg :FACEPALM: I didn't even really actively notice before. I did see 8 pads and thought to myself "well, guess we'll have to guess the pinout now" but I didn't even think about pad spacing. That's so annoying. Like, you'd think whoever sits in china designing these drivers is an electronics engineer and understands what these are for. But no, as so often features just get copied over or "improved upon" but also slightly altered in the process, which breaks them due to not a single thought being put into them. Sometimes (not limited to electronics) I really wonder if the people who do these things even understand what they're replicating. Annoying, ngl. Sorry for the rant.