Cheap Solar Garden Lights

[audioguru]

I bought some solar garden lights for only $1.00 each and some work well but most are awful (what do you expect for only $1.00?).
1) Some of the 1.2V/300mAh Ni-MH cells do not hold a charge. But they do not rust away in 3 months like the Ni-Cad cells did last year.
2) Some of the solar panels (real glass not plastic that gets sunburned) produce current that is so low in sunlight that the battery is poorly charged and the LED turns on too early in the evening and if there is any charge in the battery the light turns off too late in the morning.
3) The electronics are two different types: a COB (black blob of an IC on the circuit board) and a SIP inline pins IC. The inline pins IC draws 3 times as much current as the COB but produces the same amount of LED light.

So, I assemble the weak solar panels, weak batteries and inline pins IC and back to the store they go for my money back and I buy more and do the same with them. Now I have a fair number of them that work well with my own colored and very bright LEDs and some of the LEDs have their colors changing and/or flashing.

I guess the manufacturer made the solar garden lights so cheaply that there was no quality control. They are so cheap that most customers do not return the bad ones for a refund like me so the store staff probably think they are selling well. They are selling well but then most are thrown into the garbage.

 

[Ian Rogers]

We have a garden full.... After several years we still have some good ones.. As you said, the majority are nasty but you get the occasional one the does work well.... The garden is now full of mismatched solar lights.... In the dark, who cares that they are dissimilar...

I was planning to make little stainless steel frames and put all the good ones together... The little square solar cell is normally the same size... The AA batteries are also the same, so it's not unreasonable....

I feel that they are NEVER waterproof, and that's what lets them down...

 

[alec_t]

I've tried waterproofing them before use, using hot melt glue. But that stuff is affected by UV/weather and goes brittle or loses its grip after a while. Perhaps epoxy might be better? Also, unless you can hermetically seal the lights there's a problem with condensation inside them.
I've yet to find a light which came with an AA or AAA cell inside. All mine so far have had pokey little NiMh cells (since replaced with AAA in a home-brew holder).

 

[Ian Rogers]

Some people just cover the top with cellophane and it seems to work ( for a while )...

I find I have to manufacture new spikes as they are made from really cheap plastic and tend to break even if the dog walks into them..

 

[audioguru]

My Electrical Utility Company gave away solar garden lights for free to promote people to use less electricity. I asked, "Can I take more than one?" and the lady said to take as many as I want, so I took ten but I should have taken thousands.
The AA battery cells rusted away in three months and were replaced with Energizer ones with stainless steel cases and the amber LEDs were replaced with different colored ones. They must be at least 10 years old and still work fine.

The new ones for only $1.00 at Walmart have a very bright white LED that has a very narrow light beam and an AAA size 300mAh Ni-MH cell powering it. These very cheap Chinese cells do not have a manufacturer's name on them but THEY DO NOT RUST!