Garden Solar Lights: are they throwaway products after 1 year of use? Demo and questions (textbox)
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- Опубліковано 12 вер 2024
- Please read the description first. Much more info there.
I took apart one of my garden lights, made with (small) solar panels, say 2 years ago.
I tried to make it as long durable/working as possible, given its price (say 3 Euro’s), trying to extend its lifetime to the maximum. But corrosion took over.
Correction: I say somewhere (in the beginning of the video) that 1 solar cell gives out 1.8 Volt, but I mean (and it is real) 0,8 Volt (in general, now 2024).
The idea of this video is: why are these garden lights of China (with solar panels) kind of “throwaway” products?
I experienced that during the past 15 years. Made more video’s about it, with the same complaint.
They are (in general) made in China, exported everywhere, but they disfunction (in general) within 1 or 2 years due to:
1. Moisture, embedded in the enclosure/box
2. Bad battery quality (NiMH-NiCad), too cheap
3. Flimsy wiring, corroding, bad plastic isolation materials
4. Corrosion on/inside the on-off swith (extremely cheap switch)
5. Bad quality of the transparent plastics that cover the Silicium solar cells
6. Thus “haze” on that plastic layer, caused by UV Light of the sun
7. That UV light (+ the other things) makes such a solar panel, in general, disfunctional within 2 years
So, looking at it from an environmental perspective, this is an absolute “null” and spilling of good resources of our earth.
Thanks for watching.
A good approach to re-use them and extend their lifetime is here (1 July 2024)
• Video
Advice to the Chinese “makers”: make something much better in all kinds of ways. It can even be made quite cheap for everyone, with a lifetime of say 6-8 years when you use better materials and a better electronic setup.
Say using some ventilation, keeping the electronic circuits dry during different environmental situations, etc.
Earlier video's about the same issue, starting in 2017
• Something to get angry...
crappy Garden lights with solar panels from China video 1 (year 2017)
• Simple Chinese garden ...
Crappy Garden lights with solar panels from China video 2 (also year 2017)
• 1 LED cheap Chinese ga... (also year 2017)
Same issue here:
• Repairing and maintena...
Same issue on 26 May 2022
Thus in some/these earlier video’s on my YT Channel I have already indicated this problem. Up until now (2024) say 50 or 70 % of these garden lights are throwaway products, after 1 year or 2 years.
My You Tube channel trailer is here: • Radiofun232 on UA-cam...
Type there the keywords that you like (e.g. radio/audio/amplifiers/test/filter/) in the “looking glass” = search function” and give “enter”. Via that you can find specific video’s (under the say 1500 published).
When you search, search always “NEWEST FIRST” to get the right overview.
You can also search via the “looking glass” on my Channel trailer via keywords like ”audio”, “radio”, “amplifier”, “filter”, “Shortwave”, “transistor”, “FET”, “oscillator”, “generator”, “switch”, “schmitt trigger” etc; so the electronic subject you are interested in.
My books about electronics & analog radio technology are available via the website of "LULU”, search for author “Ko Tilman” there. www.lulu.com/s....
I keep all my YT videos constant actual, so the original video’s with the most recent information are always on UA-cam. Search there, and avoid my circuits that are republished, re-arranged, re-edited on other websites, giving not probable re-wiring, etc.
Some persons try to find gold via my circuits. I take distance from all these fake claims. Upload 29 june 2024.
Sorry for my dirty fingers, I was working in my garden before making this video.
REGARDING SOLAR UV light (deteriorating plastics):
• Ultraviolet C (sunligh... • Ultraviolet C (sunligh...
UV-C radiation detector (analog) schematic & demo. It measures Ultraviolet Radiation of the sun, in the UV-C NanoMeter range, showing its intensity. Thus UV-C are the higher frequencies/in general the more damaging waves in this sun spectrum. More info in the textbox of that video.
Schematic/demo/experiencies, sources for more and elaborated electronics/physics experiments
• Ultraviolet C (sunligh...
Ultraviolet radiator, tiny energy output, made with UV LEDS
Schematic/demo/experiences, sources for more and elaborated electronics/physics experiments
When I purchased new solar lights, I disassembled them, put dielectric grease on the battery and the small PC board. Then I sealed any gaps with silicon but leave or drill a small hole on the bottom for drainage. After six months, the solar cell top gets clouded, I wet sand with 2,000 grit to polish away the dull plastic. You're fighting the elements with cheap products but the maintenance does work.
Thanks Barry, that is an extremely good approach to get the best out of these Solar Lamps, via that way their lifetime will be extended much. Thanks, Ko, 30 June 2024.
I hope that other YT viewers use the same approach, it is the best for our environment, by not discarding them within a year or so.
The tiny chip is a dedicated LED driver. The simple (and older) version of it is the HH004F (TO-92 package), this chip in combination with the inductor (green part that looks like a resistor) forms a socalled Joule thief. With a very small voltage like 1.5V , many white LED's which normally need more then 1.5V to glow, can be powered with this setup. This HH004F doesn't have the automated on/off function like the newer versions have, and the newer versions have 4pins.
To replicate/reproduce a garden lamp and extend the lifetime, it may not have a switch, because that switch forms a gate for air and air contains moisture. So the switch need to be bypassed and sealed properly. When making such a garden lamp, right before you gonna assembly it, cover the pcb totally with a electric grease or silicone that doesn't contain acids like the cheap silicone that has the vinegar smell from DIY stores, but use the black silicone used to mount car glass. When the pcb is covered, then you can place the jar in hot water (not boiling water) throw in a small bag of silica gel and close the lid of the jar and use the same silicone to close the gap between the jar and metal lid. Why using the hot water? When heating the jar and closing it, it creates a vacuum when it cools down, the same technique is used to vacuum seal jars with fruit and vegetables. The small silica bag is for retaining the amount of moisture in the air what is left in the jar. Making a small hole for drainage on the bottom like many others recommend is not the way to preserve moisture, because switching temperatures between day and night, winter and summer, and switching air pressure during these moments, wil give condensation inside the jar, and the corrosion will start very soon after that. With a good sealed pcb, a small vacuum inside the jar, and good sealing between the jar and lid, the garden lamp will work fine for many years. And last tip, when making such a garden lamp, try to do this in a room or outside on a day with as low as possible air humidity. The air humidity plays a big role in such a project.
Thanks Bjorn, good info.
Moisture ingress is always hard on outside electronics and it takes a lot of good package engineering to keep it out.
Interesting video, thankyou for sharing 👍
You are welcome, thanks.
I've often had similar thoughts about the waste caused by the short life of these units. If they were manufactured a little better, they would last a lot longer. As hobbyists could we recycle some of the parts or make better housings? Thanks for the video.
Yes we (hobbyists) must do that and give other people (if possible) alternatives.
many simple circuits are useful devices
Happy summer from the great lakes here in Canada! what a coincidence i also found a bunch of garden solar lights thrown out and also found the PCB board eaten by the moisture, couldnt believe the weathering damage. One PCB board was so bad it looked like a book of paper after the layers split from each other. No wonder they were thrown out. I found the charge controllers IC's interesting and I bet still are fine. The haze on the panel I scraped off with a razor blade and didnt get any noticable improvement, surprising all that gunk didnt affect them much, the weathering/moisture sure did. Hot glue your projects for weather proofing? ...
Thanks! Good to hear from you. It is, in a kind of way, a common problem. When repair is possible (not everything eaten up by corrosion) it can be made to function again and, when all is cured and laquered, it can still work for many (depends on the quality of the components) years. Thus after (say) refurbishing/cleaning it can surely work for (say) 3 years, because the solar cells by itself (even when they are tiny & cheap) have a lifetime of (say) 20 Years. Bad thing is, like you say, the upper plastic layer positioned to the sun/light. Best thing is (like you did) to remove all the "haze" of the plastic face/coverage, directed to the sun. In fact they must be as transparent as possible to pick up the maximum energy of the sun. Good first idea is to measure the voltage & (max) current that such a tiny panel can give, when charging the/a battery, be it of whatever kind: Lead Acid, NiMh, NiCad. Even with a hazy plastic layer there could be enough charge currenmt/voltage. I dont do anything on my YT Channel with Li-Ion Cells, because they need a very specific way of charging. 30 June 2024.
@@radiofun232 Yeah lithium is tricky, you should be fine if you do it manually with a buck converter. Say your lithium cell is at 2.5v (empty) start your buck converter at 2.5v. Slowly raise the voltage until you see your desired current like say 500ma, then leave it, the current will go down and you can raise the voltage again. Repeat until you get to 4.2v. This is essentially constant current charging, but manually, and its done by raising the voltage to keep the current constant. You dont have to keep it constant, you can let it go down, just the pont is not to go over. If you simply applied to 4.2v to a 2.5 battery it will take on too many amps, so you apply 2.5v and raise it up. This way you can also find the problem cells, as their current doesnt go down like the others , it stays constant, meaning it doesnt charge it just passes the current through like a resitor and overheats. These are the cells that catch fire after being left on regular chargers. You can spot them manaully charging, and youll find them if you refurbish lithium cells.
@@mikejones-vd3fg I think I cannot follow your idea's of charging Li-Ion cells, but anyway.
@@radiofun232 Yeah its kind of hard to follow if you havent already done what im talking about, to put more simply its a way to safely charge lithium cells using a $1.50 aliexpress buck converter. I also use a $3 ammemter/voltmeter to watch the current and voltage. Or you can just get a lithium charge controller IC for $25 cents... but you dont really gain an intuitve understanding.
@@mikejones-vd3fg Thanks, good info. I avoid charging of Li-Ion cells (when publishing circuits on YT).
It's the chase for the lowest price. Cheap cells, cheap regulation (the cell is abused with irregular voltage), internals are not sealed...
The on/off switch could be easily replaced by a reed switch and a small permanent magnet, move the magnet away (on a lever or something) and the reed switch changes state.
A small LiFoPO4 cell (or one of the newer NaIon cells) could be used to give a couple thousand recharge cycles and ability to trickle charge with less chance of corrosion.
Good idea's & good info, thanks.
The answer is yes.
Its battery that's gone like yours rust and battery is not cheap as you say!
No, when you have to buy it "as new". But when inserted in such a "solar garden lamp" the price is no issue, the whole thing comes at a fixed price (say 2 or 3 Euro's), not comparable to the price that you pay when you order all the electronic/electric components via the www or shops. Important when you want to work with electronics on a hobby basis. 30 June 2024.
For on and off
I have to say, yes they are very throwaway. Back in the day my dad gad to throw out all these lamps because they started not working. I instead took them all apart and saw very bad rust develop on the battery contacts. I salvaged the solar cells and the batteries out of them. I still have the internals. They sell these by the pallets every summer for 1-2 Euro for a piece. Which to me screams it's some chinese junk. Not there there isn't any good cheap chinese stuff but still...
These have terrible IP (water damage protection) ratings.
The Chinese are clever in that the garden lights are made to last just one season,then you have to go and buy some new one's 😕
With plastic switch
The switch does not work any longer, because the contacts are corroded. Looks nice, but not in electric/electronic terms, thus bad electric contacts.
@@radiofun232 yes even tho electronics's can look clean the switch contracts can still be choroid
We have had same conditions