I have not been able to reproduce the erratic behaviour. The problem with things that go away by themselves is that they also can come back by themselves.
The only good reason to use a 2600 mAh cell is if it can do 20A or more.
Just a couple of bucks and you have a quality cell with so much more capacity.
I think Gearbest is too established to make such a choice. I’m sure the cell is perfectly fine. But it’s a generic cell with zero trace-ability, so I see no reason to use a GA instead.
I also dumped mine as I have standardised on Samsung 30Q’s. Camping/travelling, I now have T1 lantern, headlamp (skilhunt H03) and single 18650 handheld (Emisar D1 or D4) with a single 18650 charger.
The T1 provides backup charging capability and all the cells can be swapped between the lights as they run down etc which means I don’t carry a dedicated spare. Wouldn’t feel comfortable putting the stock mystery cell into the Emisars.
Used the T1 a few nights so far this week, seperate cool white mode is annoying, I would rather two seperate CCT &brightness programmable channels or just dropping the CW mode all together.
If the lantern is mounted on a magnetic surface, pulling it off to switch it off is a bit annoying, I’ve accidentally touched the sensor on the top while trying to reattach the lamp, which of course turns it back on.
Two T1 lanterns arrived today. Cute little fellows. :sunglasses: Charged both of them simultaneously with the supplied blue cell. After a bit over two hours one of them finished charging; the red indicator light turns blue. Only within two minutes or so the second one finished charging as well. This inspires confidence; the cell voltage was the same and the charging time as well.
Both cells measured 4.12V right when charging finished. Surprisingly, both lanterns shows exactly the same parasitic drain value. Initially the drain value is 2.7 mA, but after a couple of seconds it stabilises to 0.17 mA. With a 3000 mAh cell you have complete discharged cell in 2 years time. :+1:
Again it inspires confidence that both samples show the exact same value for parasitic drain, which is simply not always the case.
UI is indeed quirky, but the features are there. The capacitive button is easily activated unintentionally; I don’t think I’ve ever had so many accidental activation with a light. But… it’s not an EDC where UI should or must be intuitive and efficient; this is a lantern, so once you’ve set the desired temperature and output you leave it alone. So really, I have eventually no problem with the UI.
This light is a big win, and a fine example of how wonderful budget lights can be. :+1:
Great set-up, Ive been struggling to figure out how to rig something similar up as it obviously can’t stand on a desk upright and charge.
On the subject of charging, I tried charging mine using a 7W USB panel, had to place the light in the shade behind the panel carefully, the grass/ground turned on the touch switch.
The stand for the lantern I made from an old halogen desk lamp. Just pulled it apart and added a metal rod and that was it to hang the lantern. I use this stand with an alligator clip at the end of the rod to secure anything small that I want to solder too.
I was thinking of just cutting off a metal or plastic tube so that I could put the lantern upright too like you wanted and then dremel a slot in the side to give enough room for the micro usb end to connect to the lantern and then another slot so the usb cable to the pc routes out sideways.
I have not picked up on the lantern, it looks real nice and I can think of a lot of uses.
I do have the F1 flashlight and it is pretty good for $20 Can. in my initial assessment.