No, the cable is (mostly) irrelevant. The question is how strictly does the charger conform to the USB-C spec. Officially, USB-C should not supply anything unless/until it negotiates with the sink device and determines what it needs. Cheap USB-C chargers may not do this and simply source 5v at some basic current, maybe .75, maybe 2.5 amps.
The easy way around this is to use a charger with an A type output. This type of charger will always supply a base level charge rate. A USB A-C cord, such as supplied by Sofirn will have no problem charging.
The point being brought up that a few years from now when USB-A type outputs are few and far between, or when all your charge cords are C-C is valid, but I think it was a good idea to go for the more robust type C connector.
They might work, but there’s absolutely no way of knowing without buying one first, so you’d really be rolling the dice. The people who make the really cheap stuff never specify ins and outs like that.
You’re much more likely to get a working solution if you buy a USB-C to USB-A adaptor. Then you can plug the USB-A end of the cable that comes with the LT1 into the adaptor and plug the adaptor into your USB-C charger.
In the context of Emergency Power, you’re actually further ahead than you think. Thanks to the charging chip(s) used, it is possible to put 12v from a standard car battery or cig adapter into the charge port and charge the battery. Heck - I would not be surprised if you couldn’t hack in a 9v battery or just about any other DC source between 5v-14v or so. Check out one of DBSAR’s posts about the accessory kit. I believe he mentions it.
There’s no surface mount resistor to push around, or a place where you could conveniently place one. The only way this could be done is with traditional through-hole resistors. If you really want to play with it, information is available about how some Raspberry Pi 4 owners modified their systems inn this way.
But, as at least one other smart person has said, we can in no way endorse doing brain surgery on your driver. This is not a simple DIY change and should only be contemplated by those with modding and/or microsoldering experience, and a tolerance for accidentally disabling their new lantern.
This is a good discussion to have, and I’m glad to see it coming up. It doesn’t matter on the LT1, which looks like it will be an awesome light and totally useable(I haven’t gotten my code yet, much less ordered one). A LOT of good, hard work went into the LT1 and I’m not complaining one bit about it.
However, it seems that a lot of the more recent lights I’ve purchased are coming with USB-C instead of micro. The problem is, most of these lights only work with USB-A to USB-C cables, when I also have USB-C to USB-C cables. I could care less about USC Power Delivery on a flashlight, but I do wish I could charge my flashlights with the USB-C to USB-C cables, even at lower speeds.
I get it, I can use a USB-A to USB-C cable. I have them, they work. But as more and more things switch over to USB-C (Even Apple ditched their proprietary Lightning connector on the iPad!), it would be HUGE to have as much compatibility as possible.
It’s just annoying to me to have a USB-C to USB-C cable on my counter that I use for everything else, then a single USB-A to USB-C cable for flashlights that don’t play nicely together with C to C. Is there any way we can communicate with manufacturers to inform them that this is important to us? Is it really a big additional expense? (A resistor in the connection.) Or am I the only one that struggles here?
Sigh, first world problems…
This should really be a different thread, so I’m going to post a new one … wait one… OK, HERE it is. If you have lights with USB-C ports, please POST IN THIS LINKED THREAD about what works and what doesn’t.
That’s something that impresses me about Sofirn - they pay attention to discussions like this on BLF, and they’re willing to take improvements on board.
EDIT: that thread is an excellent idea, Amishbill. I’ll be very interested to see what we find out!
Simple fix for now for those who only have a USBC electronic/adaptive charger in their possession and have no other common USB charger or charging power source… -the USB-C to USB-A converter/adapters are available on Ebay for less than a buck for two of them, so the shipped standard charger cord with the LT1 can be used with your USBC charger.
I know this will be adding to the cost, but I’d wish the LT1 will have an adjustable coverage ‘curtain’ that can wrap around the lens up to a third of its circumference.
You’re absolutely right, though I will be very happy to have a C port on mine . I wasn’t part of the “plug type” conversation, but I do hate micro-USB connectors as they tend to have high resistance and fail quite rapidly even with careful use. From my experience with friends and family, I’m convinced that millions of Android devices based on micro-USB have been prematurely retired (and replaced :person_facepalming: ) simply because they eventually could no longer be charged. I do recognize, however, that having a USB-C port now opens up an unwanted can of worms for not supporting the full PD spec and such .
Sofirn includes an inexpensive round cell charger with most of their full kits, so perhaps at some point in the future they might want to include an inexpensive USB charger with the lantern+batteries kit (Not a desirable choice as customers would need a different plug for each region :person_facepalming: ). This may reduce complaints, but perhaps the manual should warn that only “standard” USB chargers are supported? (apologies if it already does)
Somewhat off-topic:
FWIW, I believe that mini-USB is superior to micro-USB in every way, except of course for size and cost, which are obviously the most important factors for design and manufacture . This is anecdotal, but I’ve actually had fewer issues with mini-USB than with USB-A, as A connections eventually become glitchy.
Earlier this year I came across some new Arduino Nano boards (from Robodyn) that used micro-USB instead of the traditional mini-USB. They were nice-looking boards, so I asked if they offered them with mini-USB. They politely responded that micro-USB (obviously) reduced the cost and offered to make a mini-USB custom version if I could order a few thousand. I thanked them, but passed on the bulk order .
Pardon my naivete, but to those who already received their LT1, does it come standard with a usb-A to usb-C cable as charging cable? I assumed it does, but can’t be sure now.
Edit: BLF member dta who already received his LT1 just confirmed with me that it does come with a usb-A to C charging cable as standard.
In short, to re-wrap the concerns of some members, their LT1 will not charge when certain types/brands of type-C to type-C cables are used.
Ah, yes… let’s throw away a bunch of efficiency by transferring electricity to magnetism and back and place hot inductive coils right against our heat-sensitive batteries. Sounds like the “future” to me .
Yes, IC is convenient and does avoid connector wear/conductivity issues; I just want those inductive kids to get off my good ol’ cable lawn.
after reading the last 3 pages of discussions of the usb-c charging issues there still seems to be some missunderstanding.
from my understanding its pretty simple.
1. Usb-a to usb-c cables (such as those that come with the light) are no issues and pretty much work as expected. all good.
2. Some usb-c chargers with a usb-c - usb-c cables dont charge the light. this is the charger working as designed.
To allow those chargers to charge we need to change the LT1 by adding the 2 resistors mentioned to enable the correct mode on the charger so that it turns the charging power on to charge the light.
This should not change the way that the light charges. As long as it gets the require power it should charge just as it does now.
It would just add the cost of the 2 resistors and the reworking of the board. so basically nothing.
As the current batches are already in production please do this on a later batch (3 or 4 what ever) .
Also if it was possible to buy a replacement usb board for the earlier batches at an additional cost then i would love this. and should make those who want to a way to upgrade the light happy.
Even if it was possible for the USB board layout to be posted then we could get some PCB’s made.
Are this correct?
usb-c charger what supports PD protocol (20V) needs trigger to start work. LT1 dont have built in trigger.
So needed usb-c female to usb-c male converter what can trigger 5V protocol and can fit to LT1 usb-c port?
I don’t have a way to lumens but I do have a lux meter (positioning the lux meter some distance away from the LT1 lantern).
Based on the lux meter’s readouts, I notice that the middle of the tint-ramp has actually a bit higher lux reading (higher lumens? or my lux meter is more sensitive to certain color temperature? it’s an HS1010A lux meter) than either end of the warm/cool. So, it’s probably due to what you mentioned.
~
I noticed too that on mine, the 6 & 7 pads are “tinned” (like they have been soldered and then removed but not that cleanly). That may also explain why my cool setting has a slightly higher power consumption. (possibly the “6” on the “NW” is still bridged, although I can’t clearly verify based on visual inspection, other than they are “tinned”, as SIGShooter mentioned his LT1 also has the “solder tinning” on “6” & “7” which should have been “clean”… Anyway, I’ll see if I can clean up the “tinning” on “6” on my unit.
I have a different question regarding the charging.
I recall reading somewhere in the thread that the LT1 charging circuit supports a higher USB input voltage (I think something like 15 or 18 volts USB voltage) — is this correct?
Now my question is how would the higher USB input voltage affect the charge current (0.75A/1.5A)? My guess is then it’s limited to the power (5v/0.75A = 3.75watts or 5v/1.5A = 7.5 watts). So if the USB input voltage is say at 12volts, and charge current is set to default “1.5A” settting, then that would be about 12v @ 0.6A, is this correct?
. I wasn’t part of the “plug type” conversation, but I do hate micro-USB connectors as they tend to have high resistance and fail quite rapidly even with careful use. From my experience with friends and family, I’m convinced that millions of Android devices based on micro-USB have been prematurely retired (and replaced :person_facepalming: ) simply because they eventually could no longer be charged. I do recognize, however, that having a USB-C port now opens up an unwanted can of worms for not supporting the full PD spec and such 
.
. This is anecdotal, but I’ve actually had fewer issues with mini-USB than with USB-A, as A connections eventually become glitchy.
let’s throw away a bunch of efficiency by transferring electricity to magnetism and back and place hot inductive coils right against our heat-sensitive batteries. Sounds like the “future” to me