Solar shed-light teardown (with schematic)
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- Опубліковано 24 кві 2023
- An intriguing solar shed light that uses a YX8183 chip I've not come across before. It's from the same company that makes the generic 4 pin control chip used in most solar garden lights, but this one is optimised for use with lithium cells - both the common 3.7V type plus the LiFePO4 3.2V type.
The chip has two distinct sections. The charge control circuit, which allows current to flow from the solar panel to the lithium cell until it is fully charged, and a section with a current regulated LED supply that uses a single low value resistor to set the current.
Charge current is literally whatever the solar panel can provide until the internal charge control circuit cuts it off. The recommended maximum is 600mA. The LED current control is based on sensing a 90mV threshold across a sense resistor, so a 10 ohm resistor will allow 9mA to flow, while a 1 ohm resistor will allow about 90mA to flow. In this case a 0.33 ohm resistor has been used to set a current of about 270mA.
In use the light provides a useful level of light in a dark room. It could be useful as part of the lighting for an off grid application.
This unit was bought locally at Jac's, a chain of island stores that carries things like housewares, DIY supplies, toys and seasonal things like solar lights.
Theoretically the light can be hacked to use a LiFePO4 cell by simply lifting or cutting pin 6. The LED current can be adjusted by swapping the sense resistor, and it's also possible to adapt it to turn on automatically at dusk by adding the 1K resistor shown in the datasheet between the solar panel +ve and pin 2 after it has been isolated from the PCB.
If you enjoy these videos you can help support the channel with a dollar for coffee, cookies and random gadgets for disassembly at:- www.bigclive.com/coffee.htm
This also keeps the channel independent of UA-cam's algorithm quirks, allowing it to be a bit more dangerous and naughty.
#ElectronicsCreators - Наука та технологія
"It works"
"Let's TAKE IT APART!"
That's why we love Clive!!
I like how the battery label + and - are reversed!
Polarity is for chumps.
Good pickup, I didn't notice that, would that be a Northern/Southern hemisphere thing ? 😆
How did you like the "NO BATTERY" label inside the case?
Given how 'No battery' is upside down and the text on the PCB is also upside-down I suspect the polarity label is the true upside-down label.
@@creativejamieplays7185 I'll bet there's a label underneath that one saying "Place label here" 😆
The 14500 Li battery is designed to match the dimensions of a standard AA battery. I use them in a couple of my pocket flashlights, although you have to ensure the LED is designed to use the higher voltage.
Probably the biggest advantage of these is that you can fix the lights somewhere and then take the solar units outside during the day to charge them. A good idea for places where mains power is spotty or non-existent.
Love the speed you go between 'It lights' and 'lets take it apart'. The main reason i keep coming back :)
Hey I remember having this exact lamp in my treehouse as a kid! I took it apart too, but because it stopped working.
I was around 12 though, so I've had no idea what was inside anyways lol
But then I got mad at it and made a whole 12 volt light system with my dad, running on a car battery - that's also when I learnt how short circuits work and how they smell
Time for Clive to design and build the prefect solar garden light! Great tech teardown as usual - thanks Clive!
I'm glad you described the problem with freezing temperatures.
It's only LiFePo4 cells which cannot be changed below 0°C. Lithium ion can be charged down to -15 to -20
@@BrazzaB1 Don't think you are correct on that. Lithium ion should not be charged below 0C, it can be discharged down to -20C.
Comparing spec sheets of Panasonic NCR18650B with what they call their low temperature cell, the NCR18650F, both still have the same operating temperatures.
@@RenThraysk You are right - I was looking at a heated battery pack spec 🤔
If I was going to install this in a shed I think I'd seriously consider first installing a skylight and mounting the solar cell/battery unit to the inside of that. Minimal protection against exposing the battery to extreme cold is better than none. Also, it would eliminate water dribbling along the cable into the lamp enclosure.
You're right, that chip is interesting. I suspect it's more popular among manufacturers than we currently know.
You will probably lose solar gain through the skylight.
I have an almost identical one by looks. Mine has the added feature of a timer on the lamp of about 30 minutes, this can be a good thing when you forget to turn it off but a pain when you are doing something. Mine has been on my shed for about 3 years with no issues.
My local hardware store sells "solar light" 800mah 14500 LiFePo4 cells, and if I owned this light, I'd DEFINITELY switch it over to LiFePo4 from the typical Li-Ion cell. I've had some LiFePo4 solar lights where the cells lasted 11 years in them, compared to the typical 2-3 years for the Li-Ion ones. It's very nice to have a simple option to be able to switch the cell over instead of basically having to tear the entire circuit apart, and start from scratch.
love the YX8183. So versatile and useful. Take any solar panel from 5-9V and power up with up to 800mA . Output is up to 400mA and there is full BMS.
Thank you very much, now I understand why my fence light instructions say not to use in extreme cold conditions. It’s actually about the battery!
I didn't know that about charging the batteries at such a low temp. That was very very helpful!
Thanks Clive, that was quite interesting. I loved the new chip with its ability to set battery type.
I'm always learning something new in your videos. This time: I didn't know the numbers mark the dimensions of the lithium cells... Thank you!
You and I share the same appreciation for lighting. I do enjoy these episodes when you touch on the topic. Thanks big clive!
The battery label was stuck on backwards.
Hi Big Clive,I have built a few solar lights and I have used a couple of large farad capacitor's in series instead of Batteries as they are not affected by Temperature swings.
Thanks for a great channel 👍😁
That looks like the perfect schematic for Big Clive Industrial Corporation's first solar lamp! Good choice. Keep working. Good luck! 👍
Thanks for shedding some light on the shed light!
Thanks for another great video Clive 👍
Have a good day everyone
Clever chip idea with the dual lithium chemsitry support.
I love the LiFePo4 cells - four of them in series is an almost perfect 12v lead acid replacement (with BMS). Plonking something like high C ratr 6P4S 26650 cells over a regualr car battery greatly helps the Starter, eases the load of the lead acid, allows for RAPID recharging of the Lithium which then trickle charges the Lead Acid for a while even after engine off. Fantastic "mod" to a car battery that has to do a lot of short journeys.
Did you ge the email I sent re: the 16 channel "controller=less" fairground lighting? Was so impressed with the idea of these (inbuilt patterns for 16 channels with NO external controller and everything just wired up on a single copper pair).
I know some of my emails get lost - but as you have a love of fairground lighting, I thought you might like to see the links to the lamps - if you are not already aware of them :)
Are they the autonomous fairground lights that just run their own sequence in sync?
You make everything so interesting, it would be great if you designed stuff the way you think it would be most optimised. I assume they do things to be the cheapest but you could make it the best
Very informative! Thank you very much for sharing on UA-cam. Best regards and blessings.
Hi Clive, ive just bought a couple of these type lights and they are allmost the same but mine has got the square COB type lights and i bought them for my toilet so i can start going "off grid" so to speak. Thank you for this it was a great vid as usual! you take care and have a great day!
Interesting ASIC. It's all there! Makes the device really simple.
Great Video again!😊
Thanks for the educational and entertaining video.
Yep, those solar panels layers get separated often and some of them, even if give nice 6v power with lots of mA, top layer is cheaply made and get soft and gumy, gather dust and it lose its efficiency over time.
Im also not really fan of batteries directly behind it, as in places where sun really hit hard(Spain for example). Anything dark get boiling hot. I had few of similar but smaller panels(different brands and design) where battery was separated by like 2-3mm of plastic from solar panel and it just died after few months as batteries end being just flat, not explosion or leak, they just get baked... Best part is that one was lipoly and others were that small LiFePo so its make it even weirder as they should behave differently. So I always look for lights that have batteries where lights are as its normally in shade or have better separation from black plastic.
I have one close to this from Harbor Freight (US). I took AL tape to the seams before i put it up, for an extra layer of leak protection.
The semi-opaque diffuser on the light panel looks like it will do a really good job of blocking most of the light coming out of the LEDs! I think if I had the light panel inside my shed, then I'd take the filter cover off, possibly spraying / painting it with waterproofing lacquer.
i love solar lights teardown.thanks
Decent little light
I have a light with the same solar panel. So far it has survived a few 44°C summers and -27°C winters.
It's unfortunate that the lithium battery is in the outdoor section to be baked by the sun!
I bought a ginormous solar motion sensor LED light from Harbor Freight and mounted it over the door I use to get into my building. It's bright as hell, does its job. Now I want to take it apart. 🤣🤣🤣
ooh lithium cells and wooden sheds 👀
i wonder if the body of the solar panel is flammable 🔥
I've had a few "Smart Garden" products over the years, and they're usually halfway decent, even if a bit cheap on build quality.
Just now I'm trying out a pull cord light bulb. It uses three triple A cells, and like previous Smart Garden products, it produces a decent, usable amount of light.
When you opened up the lamp section, I expected a few LEDs on a panel. I wasn't expecting quite so many!
Nice .... If they'd just up their game on build quality.
Are you sure?
3 AAA lithium cells is a strange approach.
Are you sure it isn't just an old fashioned NiMh AAA arrangement?
What makes your products 'smart'?
Simply using lithium batteries doesn't do that.
Are they phone app controlled garden products?
@@procatprocat9647 _"3 AAA lithium cells is a strange approach."_
Where did he suggest they were lithium? They are almost certainly NiCd or NiMh if they are AAA size.
@@procatprocat9647 I never said lithium. In fact, I never even suggested that they were rechargeable. You can use conventional alkaline cells (1.5v) or NiMh (1.2v). Or if you wanted to NiCd (1.2v). There is no onboard charging facility - the lamp is primarily for indoor use, but can be used outdoors if required.
I never said anything about smart devices! - The brand name is "Smart Garden" and that's all that's smart about them. They're halfway decent for what they are, but would benefit from improving their build quality. If you notice, this lamp that Clive was dissecting is a "Smart Garden" product, which is the only reason I mentioned this pull cord of mine.
I bought a solar shed light very much like this from my local hardware store here in NZ about a year ago and I can confirm it is surprisingly powerful when it's dark outside (one of my roof panels is clear, so there's plenty of natural light during the day). I'm not sure if my solar panel unit has an on-off switch, but there are no issues with charging in Winter, because it almost never drops below 4-5 degrees where I live, although that's useful info to have.
I had a similar light with such a solar panel and because I knew about the problems it could cause by lower temperatures, I mounted the panel inside the garage just behind the window!
Nice find Clive !
Maybe the "chip" has some inherent Temperature vs Charge Current control ??
First thing I'd do is move the battery to the LED enclosure, every time.
I hate smell of Lithium Oxide in the morning 😠
;)
I love watching you hack open and gracefully explain WTF they were thinking! Thanks for another fun video
I live in Barrow in Furness and Walney and on a clear day I can see the isle of man from the beach.
AVE managed to get a 18650 to go up in flames in typical AVE style.
After a lot of intrepidation.
The dingus looper very fast
Looks similar to a kit I bought several years back that was also supposed to be able to trickle charge my lawn tractor battery, all it ever did was drain the battery so something wasn't connected right inside. This was before I started learning from this channel so I pitched it in the recycling instead of opening it up. 🙁
Would have put the battery and charge circuit inside the light, where they are less likely to be toasted and frozen, leaving only the solar panel outside. Enough space in the indoor side anyway, and you still just can plug the panel in.
i have 2 solar light string, the bare copper wire with the leds dotted along it. Its been outside full time for 3 years and canadian winters get to -40 and its still going strong. Only thing that slows it down is the amount of sun it gets. as soon as its a bright day its blinking away
thank you it was very interesting 👍😉👏👋
"plug it in, and it lights. that's not bad!" - well, we don't have very high expectations... :D
The solar cell could be outside and the light inside. Useful!
😂 Love Shack ! Welcome to Clive's electric bordello ! 😂😂😂
thank you
Could have the solar cell inside the shed window?
I have a unit that is similar in the solar panel/base unit, but has a very different hanging light unit with a pull chain switch and IR remote receiver on the cord. I use it in my garden gazebo for summer nights. It goes into storage for winter. It uses a replaceable low-voltage Edison filament looking led bulb, and lasts about 3 hours continuous light on a charge. Thank you for reverse engineering this, I've been wondering what it looks like inside!
That resembles a "Double-A" or Penlight cell. Nice that they get them that small, since one could fit those in manny devices with a small conversion to run on that higher voltage.
There are dummy zero volt "batteries" (hollow batteries with an internal wire joining both poles) to put in series with those lithium batteries on devices designed to use pairs of 1.5V batteries in series to make 3V, 6V or 12V
I use one combined with a 14500 LiFePo4 battery in a portable radio because I don't like to put over 3.6V on devices made for conventional batteries. And a LiFePo4 seems a bit safer too.
For a lot of devices that use 2xAA you can use a 14500 and a dummy cell that can be bought or 3D printed. 1.2V over the nominal 3V is rarely going to hurt anything in a device like a flashlight, granted overall capacity will be about half of what alkalines have with a 500mAh lithium. For potentially more sensitive micropower devices like remote controls that might get unhappy with a fully charged 4.2V lithium you can put a diode or two in the dummy cell to drop the voltage a bit (one is probably enough since LiIons don't stay at 4.2V for long and 3.6V is within 17% of 2xAA).
There’s also 10400 “AAA”-style lithium cells.
A lithium battery with a realistic capacity. WOW
Clive... you keep making me spend money for new gadgets.....😉
I have one of those in the out house at the cabin!
Solution to solar-panel cracking due to thermal expansion: Put it in the shade!! ;-))
I'm thinking that buying one of these would be easier than repurposing the solar panel I got from something else along with a string of LEDs from an old lamp... Laziness is the key to emptying one's wallet!
Bright sun, that little plastic enclosure is going to warm up and it will warm up that battery also so that may provide higher temperatures in the winter to perhaps eliminate some of these low temperature battery problems
I have one very similar to this in a closet. The solar panel sits in a window in another room. I was tired of using battery lights that I always had to charge.
Note that it's LiFePo4 cells which cannot be charged below 0°C.
Love the 'No Battery' label 😂
First time you did not destroy it beyond repair
Handy as an indoor emergency light too, keep the solar panel in a south-facing window, plug into the light wherever it is installed when there's a lack of mains electricity, assuming it lasted long enough that is... :P
Came the teardown, stayed for the science.
Interesting. The ones I'm getting for free off Amazon Vine have 18650's when I'm disassembling them. Larger chips, too. More comp and logic I think, one of them even came with a remote.
I made a solar LED setup for a decorative lighthouse that used an 18650 and now I'm interested to see how it handled the winter out there.
The light looks just like a gondola telephone, especially when the cord was plugged into it
7:01 EN and CDS chip pins.
EN & CDS are usual control signals in chips for computers and other complex devices, and their labels are usually overscored in chip or circuit diagrams to indicate they are active when low (e.g., connected to the negative), inactive when high (resp., to the positive; at least ~+1V or ~+2V, depending on chip technology.
• EN: Chip Enable. This signal lets a Chip Control Unit select what chips are to use the address or data buses or both as source or destination or both, e.g., the Instruction Register and the Address Bus Register, and the SRAM and DRAM, to read data at an address specified by a program instruction; some nanoseconds later, the SRAM and the Arithmetic and Logic unit, to compute something from the data read.
• CDS: Chip Data Select. When active, allows data in the chip to be output to the address or data bus without conflicting with other bus-connected outputs. When inactive, data in the data bus from another enabled chip can be read by the chip.
On a side note, I'd been wondering if the technology in Russia was declining, because of the supply issue, looks like the majority of their lights are all on capacitive droppers
I purchased a very similar unit about 15 years ago that used a little tube light, they had also put the battery inside the light unit and only the solar panel was outside...
I've got quite a few "smart solar" products and they are the only ones that actually do half decent job and actually last. They arent the cheapest but they are one of the better brands.
After making a couple of PCBs and stuff based on your previous DIY solar circuits this is pretty cool stuff for a lithium one with that extra layer of protection on a chip but I wonder if when you charge does the temperature start to rise in the lithium cell enough to keep it out of harm's way in a cold temperature I guess you know I'm not sure what that does but they certainly warm up when you charge them normally. I would love to see how it does compared to your other MOSFET circuit with regards to when the light turns on and off cuz that was a fun circuit but the light does stay on quite a bit longer than say the solar circuits based off the YX 8018.
Thought about those installations in winter as well. I guess they count that you get up to 10 times less energy here in Europe out of your solar cell in winter than in the summer. So the biggest energy 'burst' you can get is with clear sunshine that also heats the panel up.
Or they thought nothing at all. :o)
I bought a couple of those 14500's (for a Torch) they did not last very long.
I had a solar panel that got so hot it went milky and reduced its capacity by 50%.
Clive, have you ever taken a Blink solar camera mount apart? I found it takes 10 days to flatten the internal rechargeable battery, 25 days (according to Blink technical) to 3/4 re-charge the internal battery 'in ideal conditions' (I found it only generates voltage in direct line of sight to the sun, so it would have to track the sun to be in with a chance) even with a larger capacity battery installed and a larger (more efficient) solar panel attached, the only gain was it takes longer to flatten the new battery (which I pre-charged before installing) suggesting the charging circuit is useless.
The resin above the solar cells often get slurry over time, as observed on many solar powered garden lights. That makes them inefficient in the long time run and at least unusable.
T-cut or toothpaste applied with a sponge can abrade the oxidised layer off the resin quite well. Theoretically car wax could add a layer of extra protection.
Simple is reliable !
As ever a great video Clive, I got one of these similar sized solar lights but to a daisy chain of Led solid ball lights, not impressed by its brightness , I opened the back to find a battery compartment for 4 batteries but with only 1 battery fitted, I modded with extra battery terminals (they were missing) to fit 4 batteries, results were better:) Would love to see a deep dive by bigClive why it was designed this way, did they simply try & save money by not filling with batteries or did they use a ready made box that had extra battery slots. Certainly the design seemed to give a poor light.
More builds please.
2:10 That's the same capacity as the rechargeable Li- ion batteries in these discarded vapes. I've stopped collecting- they're so common and I've got over 40.
Nice 😁
It lit for a couple of seconds then it went forth and multiplied!
That label threw me off, had to double check I know my +/-es right
Clive, have you seen the recent disposable 'vapour' devices which incorporate either a micro or USB C charging socket? I was looking for a method to contact you and send a pair up or across depending on where are lol. Lower capacity batteries in them (650mah, as opposed to 1500 mah) probably hence the charging circuit because they are still the full size '3,500 use' devices.
I can't even add the photographs here. The charging circuit is about 1/4 the area of the regulated (and non regulated) boards you recommend. Cheers, hope you are well, Mark.
How long do lithium cells last while being constantly baked in the sun and frozen in the snow?
Where do I get one of these "Solar Sheds?" 🤣 (Sorry, that was the best gag I could think of!)
sup clive just wondered if you know of a good way to prevent shorting for a trs/trrs slot incase a cable is plugged in or taken out while its powered, as i wanted to make a small box that uses a pico pi and has breakouts in the form of trs/trrs connectors like how the handicapable controller for xbox does, i was thinking of using self resetting fuses but im not sure if it be as simple as placing them inline of the trs/trrs or if a circuit need to be build on the line with more then just the fuse.
Thanks for this one. Could you please show how this can be hacked to using a LiFePO cell instead and what would that do with the problem with low temperatures?
The switch should have been in the remote lamp unit, not in the PV/battery side which will be out in the open. No matter how well you think things are sealed, after a couple of years of service, the switch (and quite likely the battery holder) will rust.
On the other hand, I've got some flashing solar beacons intended for marine use that have worked for years--the works are all sealed in what seems to be an airtight unit. I've had a couple of the NiMH cells go out, but only after three years of service.
It wasn’t clear to me where the switch is in the circuit, but perhaps it disconnects the battery or the solar panel in a way that could prevent charging during winter months.
I like to keep my lithium ion batteries in a black case that sits in the sun for maximum temperature variations. 🤨
We have an outdoor motion sensor light version beefier than this. It has worked great for years. Solar light have come a long way
Hi could you post a link for the chip datasheet please?
If the solar panel is for putting outside, wouldn't it be better if they put the Printed circuit board and battery in the light unit which would be inside the shed?
They are super useful. Have one that is really bright with a motion detector. Day or night it is working in the shed. Never have any problems. ♤♤ all the way.
2:24 - the polarity is incorrectly indicated on the sticker :D
Saw that also and was waiting for BigClive to comment on it but apparently he can't catch everything all the time.
Gives us something to do 😄
That'd get baked in the Florida sun. I like the idea of a separate enclosure, or a skylight. That's a very clever chip. It's essentially blind though as it doesn't have a light sensor. (not that something like this needs it.)
It does have light sensor functionality on the chip.