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

No, but I also have a new driver and an original LT1. At first glance I could not see a marking on the ground wires regarding which connects to the warm and which to the cool LEDs. Or does not not matter, as i ramps both ways anyway?

I prefer my original as the low is lower and I use the lowest setting a lot I find when camping or using it as a night light for kids.

Thank you for this information! That decides it for me, lower low is much more important than power bank functionality.

No problem, the newer driver board has no pads to configure the drivers in use, your fixed with whatever they used. Side by side I find the original (on default 5 drivers I think it is) to be lower.

The usb power bank model does seem to go brighter, and hotter!

What’s the difference between the 3 versions Sofirn has on their official store?

1
2
3

I believe #3 is the newest with the power bank function. The difference between #1 and #2 is #2 has Anduril 2?

I lost count, but there are at least 5 versions of the original lexel pcp, these all have the pads to add the extra drivers if you want to add more output. The latest one, that is marketed as a power bank, is the sofirn driver the at has no pads, but you can use as a power bank.

The ones in the middle had small revisions to allow usb-c to usb-c charging and some other small increments I believe.

My two are the original first group buy, and the power bank one which I ordered without knowing it was a new driver as they had just switched over.

How did you manage that price?

11.11 sale, new user, and checked out with PayPal. $50-$60. I forgot which one of the 3 I ordered.

Yeah, when all is said and done, ordering from the AX store with discounts (11.11 sale, store coupon, AX coupon, PayPal payment discount) is cheaper than the Sofirnlight store or Amazon.

I ordered the newest version with Anduril 2.0 and power bank function, plus the case, for a total of $66 and change. Without the case, it would have been $60 and change.

Sofirnlight store would have been $67, sans the case.

Amazon, no better, due to the higher item pricing, and the wonkiness involving two different sellers/coupon codes, depending on color desired. The colored versions bundled with the case are $90, and the (now expired) 17% coupon would have knocked it down to $74. The other store had a 20% 11.11 code, but only listed the black version, with no case for $85, so $68 total.

Buying through AMZ provides other benefits, but not better value. And the split stores, with different discounts is something Sofirn would have to explain. Seems nonsensical to me, unnecessarily complicated, and confusing for shoppers.

I can attest that the lowest mode of the LT1 v1 is good. Go to the ramp menu and select “1” for the bottom end. If the v2 is brighter, I’d not be happy about that.

I ordered mine from the Sofirn website when they had an earlier sale. $51 shipped with batteries. Nice to see they repeated it for 11.11. So, it could happen again for Black Friday, if they still have stock.

If it’s using 7 chips per channel instead of 5, the lowest mode would increase from like 1.5 lm to 2.1 lm. It’s not a huge visual change.

The brightest mode would increase from about 600 lm to 840 lm.

If it gets updated to the most recent firmware with a “200% power” turbo, the brightest level would increase from 840 lm to about 1400 lm. However, since it has no temperature sensor, I would caution against using this turbo level for more than a momentary burst mode. The LT1 was built to handle 600 lm worth of heat, or perhaps even as much as 900 lm if you don’t mind the top getting hot. But it wouldn’t be a good idea to turn it up to 1400 lm and leave it running.

My LT1 arrived a few days ago. It’s great. Thanks to everyone who contributed to the design.

One minor design limitation I have encountered is that the USB-C charging port will not accept USB-C cables that have a thick overmold on the connector due to the limited size of the recess. As the USB-C standard is revised for higher speeds and higher charging currents, it has become common for cables to have thicker overmolds, though it varies from one cable manufacturer to the next. It may be possible to modify the cable in some cases by cutting or abrading away a portion of the overmold.

I point this out mainly for awareness, so that people who are traveling and depend upon using the USB-C port in their LT1 can confirm that the cable they plan to use does in fact fit.

Thanks TK! Glad to hear that it’s not an appreciable difference in low end brightness. Also thanks for the tip about turbo. Will definitely be mindful about not abusing the 200% turbo if and when I ever update the firmware. :+1:

If you want to update the firmware, how do you avoid installing the 200% feature? Will "we" need to recompile with that feature tweaked back to just 100%?

You should just be able to set the ceiling to 100% and use the advanced menu to set “no turbo”.

Anyone else with a green led button have a T on the button? Unsure why this was chosen versus a simple button without a T on it.

The BLF Q8 was a partnership with Thorfire, so they branded it by putting a “T” on the button.

Thorfire hired Sofirn for the manufacturing. This was back when Sofirn didn’t make much under their own brand, and mostly manufactured things for other companies. That has since changed though.

Eventually the entire project, and its derivatives like the LT1, went to Sofirn directly. Thorfire hasn’t been involved for a while.

… but apparently they must have made a lot of those buttons.

Very interesting! I’m wondering how many LT1’s are out there with the “T” on the button. I’m not a fan because mine isn’t centered (I wouldn’t mind if it was). I’ll see if I can maybe I can center it myself.

I’ve never seen one with a different button.

“T” is for terrific!