BLF LT1 Lantern, Whining, Ranting about USB C port issues go here.

Other Types of Lights LED Lanterns
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Agreed that the target was missed, however in their defence, that target was set before a significant number of features were finalized. If I’m not mistaken, that target was set while the LED count was only 2 (maybe 4) and of a single color temperature. It was set before a charging circuit was decided upon. It was set before Toykeeper even developed the awesome features like candle, sunset and lightning…

I’m 100% fine with the slight bump in price considering all the awesome features I recieved. Given the choice I would have paid WAY more than what I did for the extra features that this lantern included.

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correct. :+1: The 40-dollar original target was for a more basic design similar to the original V1 and V2 prototypes, (no tint ramping, only 2 or 4 LEDs, (the LT1 has 8) no configuration for charging rates and amp-draw rates, and a more basic firmware & driver, no button LED, and a standard 5-volt only USB micro charging.

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Ok, enough whining, more doing. My LT1 arrived this morning, and before even switching it on for the first time, I modded it to solve the USB issue.
High-res gallery:

[Album] BLF LT1 USB Mod

The USB specs demand CC1 and CC2 to be connected to ground with one 5.1kohm 10% resistor each.

Source:
!https://www.microchip.com/wwwAppNotes/AppNotes.aspx?appnote=en574276

Here are the locations of the respecive contact pins:

Source:

Here’ what I did:
First, remove the driver board by unscrewing the retaining bolts and untwisting the twisted wires:

I carefully soldered 0.05mm² wires to CC1 and CC2. Not my proudest joints, but a firm tug confirmed a connection, and a DMM said the adjacent contacts did not get connected by accident. I used a Quicko T12 station with KF tip. Highly recommended.

To connect to ground, I did not use those tiny USB contacts, but a contact from a driver which happens to be connected to ground as well:

Next, I built a resistor. I carefully matched 3.3k and 1.8k resistors to get exactly 5.1kohm with about 1% tolerance. I took a slice of prototype strip board to mount the resistors on:

After tinning the boadd, I “glued” the resistors on top using what I assume to be AMTEC-NC-599 flux, If I was not defrauded:

I heated up the assembly with my 858D rework station:

I soldered on the wires:

I put it in clear shrink tube to avoid shorts, and glued it to a free place on the driver PCB using RTV silicone. The black wire could use some more slack though:

The wires get twisted and the driver bolted back on afterwards.

The only problem is that I cannot test it, as I do not have any USB C output device right now. Maybe I will check with the IT hardware guy in the new year.

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Superb!!!

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Then proceeds to plug it into usb-A anyway… lol

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I’ve got a mix of standard and surface mount 5.1k resistors, an old soldering iron, and as of tonight, an LT1 to do un-neighborly things to.

I expect to have images and narration to post in a day or three.

68

I am unaware of this. Can someone school me about lights that usb charge that are dangerous?
Because I am considering a few.

Btw, my LT1 only whines on low levels when it is plugged in :smiley:

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There is no dangerous issue with the LT1 USB-C design. the only issue is that the LT1 will not charge from a C to C type cable using a type C-only charger brick. Use the supplied A to C standard cable, ( or any other common standard USB-A to USB-C cable and charger devices and everything works good. The LT1 was designed to use the USB-C “port” because its more durable than the older USB-micro ports. ( and does not have the resistors in the port to “switch-on” the charging in the complex USB-C only chargers. The LT1 does not have fast-charging like phones, as it uses a regulated reliable TP5100 charge controller chip, configurable to either 0.75 amps or 1.5 amps maximum.

70

Quick question… using an A to C cable and a standard 5 volt A style block is good, but what about an A to C cable with a block that can do either 5 volts or 9 volts based on QC3.0 (?)? I assume that it will just run at 5 volts because there is no hardware in the LT1 to trigger the QC stuff?

Thanks Matt

71

The LT1 can accept any voltage from roughly 4.5 up to a maximum of 18 volts through the port, as the TP5100 has a good voltage range of regulation. To be safe though, i prefer to keep it in the 5 to 12 volt range from various sources. As for triggering the QC3.0 to charge at 9 volts, the LT1 don’t have the circuitry to set the charger, so it will be at the default 5 volt USB standard voltage.

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A newt?

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I was specifically referring to the comment about “some other USB-C lights”. What other ones? Can someone show me where to find that info?

I am aware of the story on the LT1 charging port. I like it the way it is. Works with what I have.

I did not think or imply that the LT1 had dangerous usb-c charging so no defense is necessary.

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no worries, i misunderstood your question. :+1:

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I’m not aware of any, unless some deep diving reviewers had mentioned possible issue opinions when they monitored onboard charging profiles.

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You got better.

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That sounds like a neutral outcome to me.

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For all of those that care.

My original modded lantern is still going strong. Did charge it couple of times from different sources (different wall chargers, car chargers, battery bank), dragged it around the state couple of times, dropped banged and it is still working.

Also I have modded the second lantern that I ordered and I got that working too. However somehow in process I have damaged one of the legs of the resistor and only had one cc pin pulled down by resistor. The cable only worked one way. Once I replaced the resistor it works both ways. So you need both cc lines pulled down.

80

Good to know, thanks :+1: