This panel can put out close to 100 watts ua-cam.com/users/postUgkxOqI2yqX0XVrhR2BMJciTWrHJpG8FhJyg when positioned in the appropriate southernly direction, tilted to the optimal angle for your latitude/date, and connected to a higher capacity device than a 500. The built in kickstand angle is a fixed at 50 degrees. Up to 20% more power can be output by selecting the actual date and latitude optimal angle.The 500 will only input 3.5A maximum at 18 volts for 63 watts. Some of the excess power from the panel can be fed into a USB battery bank, charged directly from the panel while also charging a 500. This will allow you to harvest as much as 63 + 15 = 78 watts.If this panel is used to charge a larger device, such as the power station, then its full output potential can be realized.
your videos make me so genuinely happy. lots of bad news cancer, heart break, death has come into my life these past weeks and I know you're just a normal guy making videos for fun but believe me when I say I'm not exaggerating the direct impact these have on my life. it's remarkable how happy I become after seeing one of your little take downs and talks of some cheapo eBay electronics. so thank you Clive, it may seem insignificant to you but these make my life better.
I really want to see a video tour of your "garden" with all your solar lights going! Maybe you could do it when you hit 250K subscribers! Keep up the great videos!
First time I’ve watched one of your videos. . . . absolutely loved it. You really dig into something. I can only imagine what you do when you get a new car !
Thank you so much for what you do here! I have been training with an electrical engineer and I asked for help with a diy project of mine. I'm self taught through trial and mostly errors and a lot he says goes over my head. This channel is just the kind of things I do. And you speak layman 🤣🥰
@@bigclivedotcomgood day. The new type use yx8628h chip with 8modes I want to use the steady on mode only when power is supplied as the chip default to blinking mode then you have to press mode button 4 times to get steady mode again. Pin 5 is the mode or key that uses ground to change mode If it is grounded for 3sec the chip switch off. Any idea Vcc on pin 5 does not affect mode
I had a parcel with one of those yellow non-compliance stickers on it last week. As it turns out it's nothing to do with safety standards or the like, it's just about tax. It saying that while the parcel has been redistributed from an EU country, the parcels origin is outside the EU and so could be liable for import duty or VAT. Which is much less exciting...
I have a set of Bright white LED's in my bathroom (no windows, just ceiling extractor) that uses that same construction (with a waterproof 3xAA case). They have been able to cope with all of the dampness in the room without any issues. They look fantastic wrapped around the edge of the mirror and can light the room when I don't want the extractor to come on with the ceiling light.
Thanks for the detailed description of the circuit. I have been given some of these to repair from a family member. The chip in it the current version is now marked as a "6N607" - and of course there is no data available on it on the web! BUT there IS now a considerable amount of information on the YX8616, which looks to be identical to the 6N607, - and your reverse engineering of the circuit was right on the money. Thank you.
I have one like this but it came with a 600mAh battery, non-dipped led icicles, and after about 6 months outside it died due to corrosion on the leds. thanks for reviewing! I found data sheets on the yx861a ic!
I have a set of these lights outside on my pergola, and even in the dead of winter here in Canuckistan, the dam things are still on in the morning. Crazy really.
😂 My wife bought something VERY similar from Amazon a few years back and they never actually worked. Only yesterday did I finally get around to opening it up and once I did I thought to myself "I wonder if Clive has taken one of these to bits?" 'Lo and behold, one search later, and I find what looks to be nearly the exact same thing. Only difference I've noticed is mine seems to be lacking any sort of control chip...which would explain why the mode button does absolutely nothing (I think anyway, from my understanding of course) 😅 I will double check once I'm able and update if I've given any incorrect information though. My thought process was really just to steal the solar panel from the unit and apply it elsewhere depending on how well it works.
Quick Update: I was incorrect in assuming it lacked a control chip...it's just on the other side of the pcb, hiding from me. The actual culprit seems to be a bad moisture barrier because the stuff on the other side looks to be corroded. Good thing I only need the solar panel 😉
The "non compliance" is probably because they have sent it through a European postal service (NL post, Sweden Post or Swiss Post) but from outside EU. The sticker is essentially a notice for the customs that they should check the parcel.
Re non EU compliancy. Most likely possibilities: 1) Lead (not lead free) solder. 2) Maybe some ship with NiCad battery (cadmium). Both metals have very low thresholds to comply with RoHS(2). No RoHS = No CE mark (though most Chinese suppliers selling on ebay take no notice.) Maybe they feel if they put a non-compliancy sticker on them then they will avoid trouble...
The notice on the package is not related to any properties of the stuff inside. Some sellers, especially the bigger ones, ship stuff in a 2-phase way: first parcels for many customers are sent in one common box to a place in Europe, whereby individual parcels are sent to the recipients using local mail. Probably this optimises costs. And when essentially forwarding the parcels without customs clearance, they have to put a sticker on, informing that the goods are of non-EU origin and are to be customs cleared despite coming from a location within EU.
My guess regarding the sticker: The (yellow?) sticker you got is by the postal system. It's referring to EU article, where one country first receives the package and sends it to another EU country without checking the contents. This means it's not compliant to the inter-EU postage standards and first has to be checked by the customs of the country of destination. Otherwise, they wouldn't check it because they think it's from another EU country. Example: China sent it to UK through PostNL. It first arrives in Amsterdam, where it is sorted. They put on the sticker and forward it like local EU mail (with an RS...NL code).
+Dima Oliynyk I was about to post this, I get more and more packages from those "eu gateway" shipping service. Surprisingly I've never had to pay taxes yet, only had one packages opened by customs, contained a windows tablet... no tax, guess they are just looking for drugs.
Regarding solar energy, recently in my town the council replaced all the street lighting lamps with new low energy LED lamps. but it got me wondering why street lighting don't use solar functionality as a primary source of power which would effectively be free power. Obviously they would still be connected to the mains for secondary or back up power when there hasn't been enough sunlight. They are often highest item a street so a solar panel on the top would seem to make sense. But I have only seen it in use recently, in some road traffic signs which illuminate as a vehicle approaches.
TheKentpaul. I know I'll be a good question they're putting up these LED lights in the city where I live at two. But i was wondering but if itz got a solar panel on the top it's going to need a battery the store the power and of course. Not just the city mains
In the U.S., many congresspersons are heavily invested in utility companies ($$$ in the bank), so they're in no hurry to bring solar into widespread use.
This is the datasheet for the YX861, which seems to be basically the same part: www.docin.com/p-447833179.html I went ahead and mirrored the PDF: www.dropbox.com/s/yil7bn6d8c3oajr/YX861.pdf?dl=1 Protip: searching on baidu.com can be a good way to find info on some of the more obscure Chinese ICs.
The sticker probably said the description of contents wasn't conforming European regulations. Meaning it was probably just marked as "gift" without any detailed description about what was inside. I've had that many times. You'd think they'd open it to check the contents but they don't. It's kinda odd.
They should have put A diode over that power switch so that the battery keeps getting charged when the switch is open. For the rest indeed it's A really good LED string!
I get these yellow stickers "non compliant goods" or something whenever I order B22 or E27 LED bulbs from Hong Kong, kinda annoying. I guess it's because they can burst into flames for no reason.
Kind of tired of solar garden LED lights since they don't seem to last too long before breaking and when they do work they really struggle to stay on until late enough in the winter. They don't seem to have improved at all for 10 years either, I can buy a set online now and I bet it's identical to the one you have here 7 years ago. Thinking about connecting my garden 12v light supply to them. Do you think I could do that simply by just using a buck converter to put the 12v down to 1.5v or so and then connect it up to the battery terminals shown in your video? I've seen another video connecting 5v from directly to the LED light string which sounds odd to me since I figured that would blow them with no resistor but it seemed to work. But i figure my method of using the original hardware would make sure nothing is missed would be better. Might sound over the top but at least then they'll turn on when i switch my normal garden lights on.
I've purchased some of the multi-colored versions of the copper wire sets and have been very pleased with the strings. The ones with discrete color LEDs have some great colors, too. (The colored resin-dipped ones, not as nice.) By the way, could you measure the current drain of these, both at battery voltage, and string voltage? Get an idea of run time. It is unusual to see a full capacity NIMH cell in a solar light, as you noted. Looks like a good unit. Thanks, as always, for these videos..
I ran across and subed to this channel about two weeks ago and have found it quite interesting. most of the videos I'm left just wondering "why?" other times I'm hoping you've found a back alley Ebay seller that has developed a device that will cut my electricity bill in half or be able to maintain an erection indefinitely with no adverse effects, so I'll keep watching. I would like to suggest that when you mention an Ebay seller you would shoot a close up screenshot of the sellers name and listing to make it easier to look up the product you're showing, I ordered the LED head lamp you took apart a while back and it took some time to make sure I ordered the same lamp. Since you seem to know a lot about LEDs maybe you could show me how to build a cheap but efficient grow light panel/bar. I grow vegetables with T5s now but marijuana will be legalized by next year here in California so I'm gona give that a shot and premanufactured lights are outrageously expensive. Keep the vid coming they are very entertaining.
I have same ones but one for my grams she shed I helped my dad build been holding up great I finally decided to use the other one I bought tangled so bad took me hours to untangle snd before I was almost done it comes apart amd idk how the wire reconnects to nfle the rest work
Great video .I have a set of these and cut through the copper wire accidently in one place. Is it possible to rejoin the copper wires to get them working again?
Your videos have inspired me to jump into doing fun LED projects. I bought a similar set of these string lights and hacked it to bits in order to use the string of LEDs inside of a Welcome sign I'd built. The sign only lasted about a year in the weather (it was made of wood that wasn't very well sealed or protected) so it's time to rebuild it. The lights and circuitry still work fine but I bought, on your recommendation, a huge quantity of 3W warm white LEDs and I want to use them instead of the cold white original ones. I also want to drive it with 2AA batteries (so 3v) rather than the single 1.5v cell from before. This is my first LED project and I'm really quite a novice with electronics, so pardon me if my questions sound dumb. I've got the new LEDS all connected in parallel. They all light up from both the naked batteries and from being connected to the solar panel circuitry. Everything seems to work, except that when the panel is absorbing light the LEDS are supposed to turn off. Instead they just get dim. They do turn off properly when using a single battery like before, but in that case the LEDs are significantly dimmer. I've ordered a 3v solar cell to hopefully fix this issue but now I'm not sure if the other circuitry is robust enough to handle it. So, what is happening that causes the LEDs to stay lit when the solar panel should be charging the batteries? How do I determine the specs of the solar panel I have currently? Can I just swap in the new (ostensibly higher capacity) solar panels directly? Are the components cheap enough that I could just reconstruct the whole thing from scratch?
The circuit uses a small inductor to boost the voltage to drive the LEDs at dusk. By using the higher voltage it is already high enough to drive the LEDs and passes straight through the inductor. You could use a bigger solar panel by connecting it in place of the existing one. A lower voltage one will be more efficient as the maximum voltage needed is around 2V for a single cell.
I appreciate your reply. I think I understand but I'm a little confused still. Would changing the inductor for one of a different value (or removing it altogether) cause the circuit to work as desired? For what it's worth, having looked more closely at my circuitry, it's almost exactly the same as in your video. Same chip (YX861A), same schematic based on your doodle, etc.
Don't remove the inductor, it's needed for operation. If you used a lower value inductor it would increase the intensity of the lights. But you will still need to use just one battery with the unit.
Fair enough. The markings on mine suggest 47µH (Yellow, Violet, Black, Silver). Do you have a recommendation for a replacement? I really appreciate all your help. I'm sure you noticed already but I made a pledge on Patreon for you. Just watching you effortlessly solder and desolder all of these fun cheapo electronics has really upped my confidence and subsequent skill level with the iron. Thank you for that as well.
47uH is already quite a low value, although you could try 33uH. But keep in mind that these devices are only intended for low level illumination to allow operation from small solar cells and batteries.
I know the sticker you mean ""goods not fulfilling the conditions prescribed by articles 9 and 10 of the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community" It's put on items that orginiated outside the EU but went through another EU country on the way. its to let customs in your country know that it's not an EU originating item so customs charges may be due.
You got the chip number wrong. It's not a YX8616 it's either a YX861 or a YX861A. Mine has the YX861A in it. If you google either of those numbers, you'll find a number of datasheets for the chip on the web, however most of them are in Chinese, but there are example schematics that are easy enough to read.
I'm wondering I have lots of these and I love them I had a string get broken. The small part coming from the solar panel still works but I have tried to twist the wires together and I can't get it to work any thoughts?
YX8616 1.2V rechargeable battery applications Current: 200MA Features: Boost, light control, charging / lit, flashing (a string of lights) Features: Blinking frequency adjustable duty 1/2 Packages: DIP8/SOP8 Periphery: L+C+R Operating Frequency: 1.2V 79KHz / 2.4V 61KHz Couldn't find an actual datasheet, but this is as close as you are going to get, with application notes and pinout- detail.1688.com/offer/520831491609.html
They may have copied the text from the modern multi mode version. The older ones had a switch for choosing between off on and flashing. There are advantages to the simpler version.
i have garden lights that are controlled from one central unit that powers 10, 12V bulbs, i want to run two small wires from the end to the lights, over the gate and into the back yard to power some other lights, since the garden lights don't supply enough power for more than 10 lights, and only turn on at night i'll use the signal to turn on a transistor to power additional lights from a different power source. my question is do I use a mosfet or an NPN transistor? they both seem the same in this instance. also, if i run a string of 1w leds off a capacitive dropper (with a 68v zener diode so no high voltage), how will the voltage change going through the transistor? thanks!
I got a very similar set to yours with the same looking circuit board and right out of the box it didn't work when I opened it up I noticed that the one positive wire was not stripped or soldered at all so I fixed that and also the negative was soldered to the side of a capacitor which is weird I've never seen that ever before so I tried to take it off and put it in the negative spot that was marked but it's still not working maybe I should put it back on the capacitor what do you think? Ahh got to love Chinese electronics no information on nothing and usually backwards
Hi BigDaddyoClive, Love your videos for some time now. always a good antidote to a bad day. I have a similar Copper-wire LED string solar light. but sadly the power out to the LEDs are so feeble, it barely glows even in the darkness of night. I'd like to get more of the units I have and was wondering if you'd be able to recommend and suitable mod to bump up the voltage and get a little more light out of the LED strip. I'd be happy to send you a product to glean your expert mittens over (I might even include a mystery 'confectionary treat'). keep 'em coming
From my rudimentary memory back to school. I'm imagining a change in a resistor to a chip will determine output voltage, unless it has a set output regulor dudad
Hi Clive, I have 6 sets of these, worked for 2 years, now all the batteries are dead I thought, what If I chomped all the solar panels off, fed all the wires together into a single one of the solar modules and connected a DC 1.2 volt wall water to the battery input of that one module, this should allow all the lights to get power and still keep the auto on at dusk and flashing mode (as opposed to wiring them all to a 3v power supply) any thoughts on that?
I'm looking into getting a similar solar led light string thing, but a colorful one. A question is the battery just a rechargable 1.2V AA battery? If so then would it be fine if I modified it to take 2 rechargable AA batteries for more capacity and runtime?
If you are talking about the yellow sticker with: "Goods do not meet the requirement of Article 9 and 10 of the contract for the foundation of the European Community" or something similar, here's a bit of info on why it is there and what's the purpose of it: thomas.vanhoutte.be/miniblog/explained-yellow-sticker-on-package-goods-do-not-meet-the-requirement-of-article-9/
Hey clive, I bought a head torch recently on Amazon that was so badly wired, the spring contact(s) in the battery pack started glowing red hot and smouldered. Interested? :P
Quick question pls... We recently had some really hot days and I have one of these (colour LEDs) that just stopped working. I think my solar panel got 'hit' as you described. They were working well until our week of 25+ degree temps and the solar panel was in full sun. My question... Can I replace the little solar panel with a usb or direct battery power supply? I don't mind loosing the flashing sequence but how do I know how much voltage and current the led string needs. The LEDs look like yours in this video. The battery says it is a 1.4v & 800mA. Sorry for the newbie stupid question and thanks for the videos? 👍
Guessing by this video you might be able to tell me how to make these fairy strand lights permanently dim. I bought a strand that has 8 settings but not one is just dim. Mine plug into 110v (US) plug outlet with a USB plug going to the controller box (has remote too). All setting options are to busy flashing or just flat out too bright. Thanks for any solution to permanently dim them. They are LED lights.
+William Gracia thats a weird one ive not seen a 1.2v 18650 before but you are correct about the size. All of mine are 3.7v most are around 2600 mah hate to see what they would do to the poor LEDs
+William Gracia Unless Clive's got gigantic hands, and also comparing to the pokey plastic bits from the lights and the screwdriver, it looks more like a 14500 (about, if not exactly AA size) Common as 1,2V (as they can replace an ordinary 1,5V AA battery. 1500mAh is about right for a decent one.
Is there an option to make only solid mode lights? They have some memory of last mode, but from time to time it resets and mode changes into default blinking one. But my wife wants them to be solid always 😅
All well and good so far, Clive. However.....Could you go to the last LED on the string and have a look at it. Are the two conductors of the power line exposed?I bought a couple of sets very similar to these (indoor/outdoor) and they have the conductors exposed as the manufacturer has just simply cut them off and not sealed them up. After the first shower of rain the battery could be shorted out and possibly rendered useless.Maybe you could check yours to see if that is the same?
That's standard, as the strings are made on a continuous production line. It's very low voltage (just 3V or less) so safe, but I'd recommend bending them away from each other so they can't short out and to reduce the risk of corrosion from a drop of water sitting across them.
Thanks for the response, mate. I've got a few bits of heatshrink laying in the shed. It'll do no harm to cover them with that too.I know they're cheap stuff, but I don't want them failing sooner than they have to.Great channel - keep up the good work.
I have a few sets of these lights and wondered how to make them a little brighter. Do I replace the batter cell with a higher capacity cell? Your light set had a 1500 mAh cell. Would it be brighter with a higher mAh cell?
I have pretty much the exact same thing and am using them in a small home project. I finished using the length I need so will I be able to cut the extra off without any issues? The ones I have do flash and do all the fancy stuff
The batteries degrade over time (they are going through 365 charge cycles a year), some cells are big enough to overcharge cells in peak summer and sometimes the cells can fracture internally (visible white lines) or the connections to them corrode.
Clive, I have these lights and although great in winter they are poor in the light summer evenings as they only turn on after dark. Can i bypass the photocell?
Any thoughts on how to disable the dusk sensing part of the circuit? I'd like to install this in a child's cubby house but have it operate during the day
Im really sorry about my stupidity but i can't understand if the thing is on or off... When i press the on-off button nothing happens. Now im going day after day pushing the button 1 time and waiting all day...
Try clicking the button in a dark room. If it doesn't light then put it in an area where it is exposed to bright daylight. If it doesn't light for a short time that evening, click the button and try again the next day. After that it's time to explore the insides for any oddities.
Would wiring 2 or 3 rechargable Ni-Mh batteries externally be fine as a modification to extend runtime of the lights? Though getting them charged up by the solar panel is also a slight concern for me since there's more cells to charge.
@@bigclivedotcom Thank you. I plan to get a set of the Solar String Lights for use on a small christmas tree soon. It's nice that the rechargable cells I got a while back for Wiimotes that never ended up being used will find a new purpose.
I'm interested in doing my own garden type solar small solar panel with led light strip. To charge up battery and turn on at night how do I go about wiring up a solar panel and can you get 12 v as batteries or will 50 om resister allow normal single battery to power them. Or can I use old phone batteries in series to get 12v batt
i have a quick question for you i want a color changing led to replace a my light bulb but it has to be bright and i wanted to know if you knew of a good cheap one?
I don't understand the purpose of the inductor. If its resistance is small, then it is connected in series with the LEDs and the battery. The LEDs would be lit all the time. Even if it has high enough resistance for the LEDs to stay dim, it must be passing a small current through the LEDs all the time. What happens if you take it out of circuit?
+Hussain AlMutawa The LEDs will not light at the 1.2V of the single cell, so the inductor is used to boost the voltage by pulsing it at high frequency.
+bigclivedotcom Ah so the "coil" pin is pulsed to ground. That is a fly back configuration. I did not consider the forward voltage of the LEDs. That is a neat circuit! Thanks!
+Hussain AlMutawa Spot on. In datasheets/circuits I've seen for similar chips,that pin is often labeled "SW" for 'switch'. (typically the drain/collector of an internal mosfet/bipolar transistor,to ground.)
Agreed. It's probably not RoHS compliant. We see this in the flashlight hobby where Americans prefer leaded solder because it doesn't crack after hundreds of cycles of extreme heating and cooling, while lead-free solder will. But can't be sold in Europe.
+agvulpine "But can't be sold in Europe"... only if they actually checked. Hence the reason that almost everything has CE and RoHS stickers on it, so that all the Europeans know that everything is 100% legit.
Um ! just wondering why they used ni-mh and not Li-ion (phone battery)........I have some ni-mh running solar lights in the garden, and they have been running for years, could it be that Li-ion don't last that long.......Um.
+Graham R Dyer Some of the newer lights use LiFEP04 cells and do last a good length of time. They just use the higher voltage to drive the LEDs directly.
Hi nice video I have a set of these which have been broken near the end (opposite end to solar) and have stopped working.Would you know what I need to do to repair them. I already tried joining and separating the two ends?? Thx
It seems pointless to have a solar panel on the device since it will most likely be ON at night. Doesn't do much good. Maybe you should put a diode across the ON-OFF switch so it charges the battery in the daytime when there is light on the panel.
+Ken Franco Are you really that stupid? The ON-OFF switch is always "ON" except during transit and storage. The OFF position is simply to stop the battery being discharged back into the solar panel when the device is in storage. The diode that you think is needed is inbuilt internally within the IC, between pins 3 and 4.
great video, you seem to be the guy to ask, the insulated wire on the led's. the same thickness in silver... where can i buy it from, i have searched all sorts of names, but cant find it.. i just want the wire to extend my micro leds, as i use 3v and 4,5v micro led's..but want the wire on its own, on a spool if possible ..please can you help..thank you..
I'm looking at a bunch of these that have the LEDs alternatively (+ -) wired in parallel to the two power wires. This enables them to run on AC, or flash alternatively by running different polarities along the wires. Also, there's no polarity on the wires which makes hookup easy. You can snip off any length, or join more lengths at the end, and it still works. But since it's current fed the intensity will vary. Two things puzzle me: how do they reverse the polarity of the wires, and what good does the third wire do?
They use an H-bridge to switch the polarity. Basically four transistors switching either side to the positive and negative rails. The third wire usually goes to the far end of the string of LEDs as feeding positive from one end and negative from the other will result in better current sharing amongst the LEDs.
This is the closest thing to a schematic document I could find: www.ic37.com/htm_pro/ProductView/758699.htm At least it shows the pinout. You might have to put it through translation though.
Hi Clive, I have 4 sets of these in the garden that I got from Amazon, but 2 of the sets now default to the annoying Demo Flashy mode when they come on at dusk, The board looks slightly different, more "Proffesional" with smaller components, but I wondered if I could bridge a pin on the chip to give me constant "on" (ie no flashy flashy) but still come on at dusk. any thoughts? Many thanks from a fellow lampie.
It sounds like the battery is running completely flat, possibly due to being older or low output from the solar panel. The flashing ones tend to reverse polarity to the LEDs so they're not simple to bypass.
If it's the non multi-effect type then you can usually power the strings directly from a 2xAA battery pack or a chopped uSB cable with two 10 ohm resistors in series to protect the LEDs from overcurrent.
I recently bought a solar light like that and im very curious how come a single 1.2v 1000 to 1500 mah AA battery power so many little led for almost 10 hours? does the chip multiply the power from the battery to light many led at once without eating to much juice from the battery?
Thank you for the video! I wonder if you could help... We have set up a very similar solar light system (same circuit by the looks of it) but after some time the small Li-ion cell stopped charging. So, thinking that the cell had reached the end of its life, I replaced it with 3 NiMH AAA size cells in parallel (so 550mAh x 3). Strangely now though, the start of the LED chain is bright but several LEDs along and the light has faded gradually to nothing. The output of the controller is 0.98V with no current flowing, so I'm wondering if the internal resistance of the 3-cells in parallel is too much for the circuit and LED chain? Very grateful for any ideas you might have!
I have the same lights you show on this video. However, they don't really charge very well because the wire leading from the solar cell to the lights is too short to be able to put the solar cell where the sun shines openly on it. I need to extend the wire in order to move the cell when it can get direct sunlight. What kind of wire and voltage would you say is needed to make an extension if I clip the write between the solar cell and the actual lights? Seems it is diff to find such wire or I am not looking for it using the correct name and voltage.
Hey Clive, how can a 1.2v 1500mah battery light all 100 leds?? if each led gets 7ma, it shouldn't last more than a few hours. what sort of magic is going on here?!
This panel can put out close to 100 watts ua-cam.com/users/postUgkxOqI2yqX0XVrhR2BMJciTWrHJpG8FhJyg when positioned in the appropriate southernly direction, tilted to the optimal angle for your latitude/date, and connected to a higher capacity device than a 500. The built in kickstand angle is a fixed at 50 degrees. Up to 20% more power can be output by selecting the actual date and latitude optimal angle.The 500 will only input 3.5A maximum at 18 volts for 63 watts. Some of the excess power from the panel can be fed into a USB battery bank, charged directly from the panel while also charging a 500. This will allow you to harvest as much as 63 + 15 = 78 watts.If this panel is used to charge a larger device, such as the power station, then its full output potential can be realized.
your videos make me so genuinely happy. lots of bad news cancer, heart break, death has come into my life these past weeks and I know you're just a normal guy making videos for fun but believe me when I say I'm not exaggerating the direct impact these have on my life. it's remarkable how happy I become after seeing one of your little take downs and talks of some cheapo eBay electronics. so thank you Clive, it may seem insignificant to you but these make my life better.
I hope things eventually get better for you. Keep on
+lazaglider Gonner lol
I really want to see a video tour of your "garden" with all your solar lights going! Maybe you could do it when you hit 250K subscribers! Keep up the great videos!
+Golf Carts no Golf! ..I second that . It must look like Christmas year round with all the lights .
+Golf Carts no Golf! 3rd i bet it looks nice
4th
+Golf Carts no Golf! agreed
I love how the cell was actually socketed inside. A rare sight
First time I’ve watched one of your videos. . . . absolutely loved it. You really dig into something. I can only imagine what you do when you get a new car !
Thank you so much for what you do here! I have been training with an electrical engineer and I asked for help with a diy project of mine. I'm self taught through trial and mostly errors and a lot he says goes over my head. This channel is just the kind of things I do. And you speak layman 🤣🥰
Thanks. That's very generous of you.
@@bigclivedotcomgood day. The new type use yx8628h chip with 8modes
I want to use the steady on mode only when power is supplied as the chip default to blinking mode then you have to press mode button 4 times to get steady mode again.
Pin 5 is the mode or key that uses ground to change mode
If it is grounded for 3sec the chip switch off.
Any idea
Vcc on pin 5 does not affect mode
They dont look bad at all :-)
I like the sealing, they have pushed the boat out with this one, very neat too :-D
I had a parcel with one of those yellow non-compliance stickers on it last week.
As it turns out it's nothing to do with safety standards or the like, it's just about tax.
It saying that while the parcel has been redistributed from an EU country, the parcels origin is outside the EU and so could be liable for import duty or VAT.
Which is much less exciting...
I have a set of Bright white LED's in my bathroom (no windows, just ceiling extractor) that uses that same construction (with a waterproof 3xAA case). They have been able to cope with all of the dampness in the room without any issues. They look fantastic wrapped around the edge of the mirror and can light the room when I don't want the extractor to come on with the ceiling light.
Thanks for the detailed description of the circuit. I have been given some of these to repair from a family member. The chip in it the current version is now marked as a "6N607" - and of course there is no data available on it on the web! BUT there IS now a considerable amount of information on the YX8616, which looks to be identical to the 6N607, - and your reverse engineering of the circuit was right on the money. Thank you.
I have one like this but it came with a 600mAh battery, non-dipped led icicles, and after about 6 months outside it died due to corrosion on the leds. thanks for reviewing! I found data sheets on the yx861a ic!
I have a set of these lights outside on my pergola, and even in the dead of winter here in Canuckistan, the dam things are still on in the morning. Crazy really.
certainly good to hear, up here in canickistan. i was surprised to see them still on in the am, but it is also summer now. will buy more.
😂 My wife bought something VERY similar from Amazon a few years back and they never actually worked. Only yesterday did I finally get around to opening it up and once I did I thought to myself "I wonder if Clive has taken one of these to bits?"
'Lo and behold, one search later, and I find what looks to be nearly the exact same thing. Only difference I've noticed is mine seems to be lacking any sort of control chip...which would explain why the mode button does absolutely nothing (I think anyway, from my understanding of course) 😅
I will double check once I'm able and update if I've given any incorrect information though. My thought process was really just to steal the solar panel from the unit and apply it elsewhere depending on how well it works.
Quick Update: I was incorrect in assuming it lacked a control chip...it's just on the other side of the pcb, hiding from me. The actual culprit seems to be a bad moisture barrier because the stuff on the other side looks to be corroded.
Good thing I only need the solar panel 😉
Clives garden must be like blackpool illuminations with all his solar lights ;);)
Cool Video Clive. Keep up the great work. Nick.
The "non compliance" is probably because they have sent it through a European postal service (NL post, Sweden Post or Swiss Post) but from outside EU. The sticker is essentially a notice for the customs that they should check the parcel.
You should do a video of your garden one night.
I would be interested in seeing the solar lights in action.
Is it true that Big Clive's garden is visible from space, at night?
+Rob Fenwitch it would not surprise me.
+Rob Fenwitch When it comes over the horizon, the crew at ISS put on sunglasses...
+Michael Tempsch that almost made me pee my pants :)
HAHAHA, I could just imagine your garden with these lights and all the others you have put out there, bright as day in the pitch of night. :)
Re non EU compliancy. Most likely possibilities:
1) Lead (not lead free) solder.
2) Maybe some ship with NiCad battery (cadmium).
Both metals have very low thresholds to comply with RoHS(2). No RoHS = No CE mark (though most Chinese suppliers selling on ebay take no notice.)
Maybe they feel if they put a non-compliancy sticker on them then they will avoid trouble...
The notice on the package is not related to any properties of the stuff inside.
Some sellers, especially the bigger ones, ship stuff in a 2-phase way: first parcels for many customers are sent in one common box to a place in Europe, whereby individual parcels are sent to the recipients using local mail. Probably this optimises costs.
And when essentially forwarding the parcels without customs clearance, they have to put a sticker on, informing that the goods are of non-EU origin and are to be customs cleared despite coming from a location within EU.
that battery is probably most of the cost of the unit
is your house visible from space at night?
My guess regarding the sticker:
The (yellow?) sticker you got is by the postal system. It's referring to EU article, where one country first receives the package and sends it to another EU country without checking the contents. This means it's not compliant to the inter-EU postage standards and first has to be checked by the customs of the country of destination. Otherwise, they wouldn't check it because they think it's from another EU country.
Example: China sent it to UK through PostNL. It first arrives in Amsterdam, where it is sorted. They put on the sticker and forward it like local EU mail (with an RS...NL code).
+Dima Oliynyk I was about to post this, I get more and more packages from those "eu gateway" shipping service. Surprisingly I've never had to pay taxes yet, only had one packages opened by customs, contained a windows tablet... no tax, guess they are just looking for drugs.
I think those were originally called "Linear Mounting Technology" LEDs here in America
Regarding solar energy, recently in my town the council replaced all the street lighting lamps with new low energy LED lamps. but it got me wondering why street lighting don't use solar functionality as a primary source of power which would effectively be free power. Obviously they would still be connected to the mains for secondary or back up power when there hasn't been enough sunlight. They are often highest item a street so a solar panel on the top would seem to make sense. But I have only seen it in use recently, in some road traffic signs which illuminate as a vehicle approaches.
TheKentpaul. I know I'll be a good question they're putting up these LED lights in the city where I live at two. But i was wondering but if itz got a solar panel on the top it's going to need a battery the store the power and of course. Not just the city mains
In the U.S., many congresspersons are heavily invested in utility companies ($$$ in the bank), so they're in no hurry to bring solar into widespread use.
This is the datasheet for the YX861, which seems to be basically the same part: www.docin.com/p-447833179.html
I went ahead and mirrored the PDF: www.dropbox.com/s/yil7bn6d8c3oajr/YX861.pdf?dl=1
Protip: searching on baidu.com can be a good way to find info on some of the more obscure Chinese ICs.
I love watching this when I'm high
The sticker probably said the description of contents wasn't conforming European regulations. Meaning it was probably just marked as "gift" without any detailed description about what was inside. I've had that many times. You'd think they'd open it to check the contents but they don't. It's kinda odd.
I got a set like this from poundland! At least £3 though and I think maybe £5 in April 2020.
They should have put A diode over that power switch so that the battery keeps getting charged when the switch is open. For the rest indeed it's A really good LED string!
I get these yellow stickers "non compliant goods" or something whenever I order B22 or E27 LED bulbs from Hong Kong, kinda annoying. I guess it's because they can burst into flames for no reason.
Love these Vid's
Thanks
Kind of tired of solar garden LED lights since they don't seem to last too long before breaking and when they do work they really struggle to stay on until late enough in the winter. They don't seem to have improved at all for 10 years either, I can buy a set online now and I bet it's identical to the one you have here 7 years ago. Thinking about connecting my garden 12v light supply to them. Do you think I could do that simply by just using a buck converter to put the 12v down to 1.5v or so and then connect it up to the battery terminals shown in your video? I've seen another video connecting 5v from directly to the LED light string which sounds odd to me since I figured that would blow them with no resistor but it seemed to work. But i figure my method of using the original hardware would make sure nothing is missed would be better. Might sound over the top but at least then they'll turn on when i switch my normal garden lights on.
I've purchased some of the multi-colored versions of the copper wire sets and have been very pleased with the strings. The ones with discrete color LEDs have some great colors, too. (The colored resin-dipped ones, not as nice.) By the way, could you measure the current drain of these, both at battery voltage, and string voltage? Get an idea of run time. It is unusual to see a full capacity NIMH cell in a solar light, as you noted. Looks like a good unit. Thanks, as always, for these videos..
I ran across and subed to this channel about two weeks ago and have found it quite interesting. most of the videos I'm left just wondering "why?" other times I'm hoping you've found a back alley Ebay seller that has developed a device that will cut my electricity bill in half or be able to maintain an erection indefinitely with no adverse effects, so I'll keep watching.
I would like to suggest that when you mention an Ebay seller you would shoot a close up screenshot of the sellers name and listing to make it easier to look up the product you're showing, I ordered the LED head lamp you took apart a while back and it took some time to make sure I ordered the same lamp. Since you seem to know a lot about LEDs maybe you could show me how to build a cheap but efficient grow light panel/bar. I grow vegetables with T5s now but marijuana will be legalized by next year here in California so I'm gona give that a shot and premanufactured lights are outrageously expensive. Keep the vid coming they are very entertaining.
I have same ones but one for my grams she shed I helped my dad build been holding up great I finally decided to use the other one I bought tangled so bad took me hours to untangle snd before I was almost done it comes apart amd idk how the wire reconnects to nfle the rest work
For the IC try YX861A for the Datasheet.
I heard "So, I went on the internet..." and now all I can think about is Jeremy Clarkson saying "I've been on the internet, and I found this!"
Same here; I was expecting Clive to put one of his trademark printed screenshots in front of the camera with strategic blurring on it!
Great video .I have a set of these and cut through the copper wire accidently in one place. Is it possible to rejoin the copper wires to get them working again?
Same. I want to try to repair it. Maybe solder it together or solder onto a copper splice thing?
Your videos have inspired me to jump into doing fun LED projects.
I bought a similar set of these string lights and hacked it to bits in order to use the string of LEDs inside of a Welcome sign I'd built.
The sign only lasted about a year in the weather (it was made of wood that wasn't very well sealed or protected) so it's time to rebuild it.
The lights and circuitry still work fine but I bought, on your recommendation, a huge quantity of 3W warm white LEDs and I want to use them instead of the cold white original ones.
I also want to drive it with 2AA batteries (so 3v) rather than the single 1.5v cell from before.
This is my first LED project and I'm really quite a novice with electronics, so pardon me if my questions sound dumb.
I've got the new LEDS all connected in parallel. They all light up from both the naked batteries and from being connected to the solar panel circuitry. Everything seems to work, except that when the panel is absorbing light the LEDS are supposed to turn off. Instead they just get dim. They do turn off properly when using a single battery like before, but in that case the LEDs are significantly dimmer.
I've ordered a 3v solar cell to hopefully fix this issue but now I'm not sure if the other circuitry is robust enough to handle it.
So, what is happening that causes the LEDs to stay lit when the solar panel should be charging the batteries?
How do I determine the specs of the solar panel I have currently?
Can I just swap in the new (ostensibly higher capacity) solar panels directly?
Are the components cheap enough that I could just reconstruct the whole thing from scratch?
The circuit uses a small inductor to boost the voltage to drive the LEDs at dusk. By using the higher voltage it is already high enough to drive the LEDs and passes straight through the inductor. You could use a bigger solar panel by connecting it in place of the existing one. A lower voltage one will be more efficient as the maximum voltage needed is around 2V for a single cell.
I appreciate your reply.
I think I understand but I'm a little confused still.
Would changing the inductor for one of a different value (or removing it altogether) cause the circuit to work as desired?
For what it's worth, having looked more closely at my circuitry, it's almost exactly the same as in your video. Same chip (YX861A), same schematic based on your doodle, etc.
Don't remove the inductor, it's needed for operation. If you used a lower value inductor it would increase the intensity of the lights. But you will still need to use just one battery with the unit.
Fair enough. The markings on mine suggest 47µH (Yellow, Violet, Black, Silver). Do you have a recommendation for a replacement?
I really appreciate all your help. I'm sure you noticed already but I made a pledge on Patreon for you.
Just watching you effortlessly solder and desolder all of these fun cheapo electronics has really upped my confidence and subsequent skill level with the iron. Thank you for that as well.
47uH is already quite a low value, although you could try 33uH. But keep in mind that these devices are only intended for low level illumination to allow operation from small solar cells and batteries.
Thank you so much it work
I don't think it's a "sealer" that they used over the soldered wires. Look up "solder splice." TE Connectivity makes SolderShield splices.
I know the sticker you mean ""goods not fulfilling the conditions prescribed by articles 9 and 10 of the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community"
It's put on items that orginiated outside the EU but went through another EU country on the way. its to let customs in your country know that it's not an EU originating item so customs charges may be due.
can you make a video how to steady the light? without the button switch. i want to steady instead of blinking etc.
You got the chip number wrong. It's not a YX8616 it's either a YX861 or a YX861A. Mine has the YX861A in it. If you google either of those numbers, you'll find a number of datasheets for the chip on the web, however most of them are in Chinese, but there are example schematics that are easy enough to read.
I'm wondering I have lots of these and I love them
I had a string get broken. The small part coming from the solar panel still works but I have tried to twist the wires together and I can't get it to work any thoughts?
YX8616
1.2V rechargeable battery applications
Current: 200MA
Features: Boost, light control, charging / lit, flashing (a string of lights)
Features: Blinking frequency adjustable duty 1/2
Packages: DIP8/SOP8
Periphery: L+C+R
Operating Frequency: 1.2V 79KHz / 2.4V 61KHz
Couldn't find an actual datasheet, but this is as close as you are going to get, with application notes and pinout-
detail.1688.com/offer/520831491609.html
Bought these. Supposed to have 8 modes. They only flash or stay on steady.
They may have copied the text from the modern multi mode version. The older ones had a switch for choosing between off on and flashing.
There are advantages to the simpler version.
Do you know what the power draw of these lights are? Will be interesting to hear how long they run on a charge.
i have garden lights that are controlled from one central unit that powers 10, 12V bulbs, i want to run two small wires from the end to the lights, over the gate and into the back yard to power some other lights, since the garden lights don't supply enough power for more than 10 lights, and only turn on at night i'll use the signal to turn on a transistor to power additional lights from a different power source.
my question is do I use a mosfet or an NPN transistor? they both seem the same in this instance.
also, if i run a string of 1w leds off a capacitive dropper (with a 68v zener diode so no high voltage), how will the voltage change going through the transistor?
thanks!
Thank you for your video can you show a video how to connect a wire as one has come out there are 3 altogether xx solar lights x
I got a very similar set to yours with the same looking circuit board and right out of the box it didn't work when I opened it up I noticed that the one positive wire was not stripped or soldered at all so I fixed that and also the negative was soldered to the side of a capacitor which is weird I've never seen that ever before so I tried to take it off and put it in the negative spot that was marked but it's still not working maybe I should put it back on the capacitor what do you think? Ahh got to love Chinese electronics no information on nothing and usually backwards
Hi BigDaddyoClive, Love your videos for some time now. always a good antidote to a bad day.
I have a similar Copper-wire LED string solar light. but sadly the power out to the LEDs are so feeble, it barely glows even in the darkness of night. I'd like to get more of the units I have and was wondering if you'd be able to recommend and suitable mod to bump up the voltage and get a little more light out of the LED strip. I'd be happy to send you a product to glean your expert mittens over (I might even include a mystery 'confectionary treat').
keep 'em coming
From my rudimentary memory back to school. I'm imagining a change in a resistor to a chip will determine output voltage, unless it has a set output regulor dudad
That sticker means your package came from China, even it was shipped via NL or SE post, and therefore it doesn't fill EU's free trade agreements.
Hi Clive, I have 6 sets of these, worked for 2 years, now all the batteries are dead I thought, what If I chomped all the solar panels off, fed all the wires together into a single one of the solar modules and connected a DC 1.2 volt wall water to the battery input of that one module, this should allow all the lights to get power and still keep the auto on at dusk and flashing mode (as opposed to wiring them all to a 3v power supply) any thoughts on that?
I'm looking into getting a similar solar led light string thing, but a colorful one. A question is the battery just a rechargable 1.2V AA battery? If so then would it be fine if I modified it to take 2 rechargable AA batteries for more capacity and runtime?
If you are talking about the yellow sticker with: "Goods do not meet the requirement of Article 9 and 10 of the contract for the foundation of the European Community" or something similar, here's a bit of info on why it is there and what's the purpose of it:
thomas.vanhoutte.be/miniblog/explained-yellow-sticker-on-package-goods-do-not-meet-the-requirement-of-article-9/
Hey clive, I bought a head torch recently on Amazon that was so badly wired, the spring contact(s) in the battery pack started glowing red hot and smouldered. Interested? :P
+AlpakaWhacker LoL seems amazing :D
+ELECTRONTHORP I like the cut of your jib.
Clive answer! I need to see the teardown on this
+AlpakaWhacker Sounds like a dead short.
Juan Herrero Oh yeh, it was, I've opened it up myself so I know exactly what the issue is :P but I thought Clive might like taking a look at it
Hi I want to Run 20 micro light string from a solar panel, for my fairy garden just to come on at night can you tell me what I need to do this . Tia
i bought a set at home depot. had them fir a month and they stopped working.
Quick question pls... We recently had some really hot days and I have one of these (colour LEDs) that just stopped working. I think my solar panel got 'hit' as you described. They were working well until our week of 25+ degree temps and the solar panel was in full sun. My question... Can I replace the little solar panel with a usb or direct battery power supply? I don't mind loosing the flashing sequence but how do I know how much voltage and current the led string needs. The LEDs look like yours in this video. The battery says it is a 1.4v & 800mA. Sorry for the newbie stupid question and thanks for the videos? 👍
Guessing by this video you might be able to tell me how to make these fairy strand lights permanently dim. I bought a strand that has 8 settings but not one is just dim. Mine plug into 110v (US) plug outlet with a USB plug going to the controller box (has remote too). All setting options are to busy flashing or just flat out too bright. Thanks for any solution to permanently dim them. They are LED lights.
A 10 ohm resistor in series with the output may help.
Hi I want to run 20 micro lights from a solar panel can you tell me which solar panel I would need for my project
That cell is an 18650. so it can be upgraded to I've seen "3500 mAh"
+William Gracia thats a weird one ive not seen a 1.2v 18650 before but you are correct about the size. All of mine are 3.7v most are around 2600 mah hate to see what they would do to the poor LEDs
+William Gracia Unless Clive's got gigantic hands, and also comparing to the pokey plastic bits from the lights and the screwdriver, it looks more like a 14500 (about, if not exactly AA size) Common as 1,2V (as they can replace an ordinary 1,5V AA battery. 1500mAh is about right for a decent one.
Is there an option to make only solid mode lights? They have some memory of last mode, but from time to time it resets and mode changes into default blinking one. But my wife wants them to be solid always 😅
Some sets have memory, but it's not easy to convert the non memory units.
All well and good so far, Clive. However.....Could you go to the last LED on the string and have a look at it. Are the two conductors of the power line exposed?I bought a couple of sets very similar to these (indoor/outdoor) and they have the conductors exposed as the manufacturer has just simply cut them off and not sealed them up. After the first shower of rain the battery could be shorted out and possibly rendered useless.Maybe you could check yours to see if that is the same?
That's standard, as the strings are made on a continuous production line. It's very low voltage (just 3V or less) so safe, but I'd recommend bending them away from each other so they can't short out and to reduce the risk of corrosion from a drop of water sitting across them.
Thanks for the response, mate. I've got a few bits of heatshrink laying in the shed. It'll do no harm to cover them with that too.I know they're cheap stuff, but I don't want them failing sooner than they have to.Great channel - keep up the good work.
I have a few sets of these lights and wondered how to make them a little brighter. Do I replace the batter cell with a higher capacity cell? Your light set had a 1500 mAh cell. Would it be brighter with a higher mAh cell?
I have pretty much the exact same thing and am using them in a small home project. I finished using the length I need so will I be able to cut the extra off without any issues? The ones I have do flash and do all the fancy stuff
What is causing my lights to only stay lit for about 5 minutes? Been solar charging them correctly....ugh
The batteries degrade over time (they are going through 365 charge cycles a year), some cells are big enough to overcharge cells in peak summer and sometimes the cells can fracture internally (visible white lines) or the connections to them corrode.
@@bigclivedotcom I just got them last week, first time I've ever used them?
Clive, I have these lights and although great in winter they are poor in the light summer evenings as they only turn on after dark. Can i bypass the photocell?
Any thoughts on how to disable the dusk sensing part of the circuit? I'd like to install this in a child's cubby house but have it operate during the day
I featured exactly that in a project. ua-cam.com/video/tmHh7U5u_i0/v-deo.html
There is anyway to remplace the solar panel?
Im really sorry about my stupidity but i can't understand if the thing is on or off... When i press the on-off button nothing happens. Now im going day after day pushing the button 1 time and waiting all day...
Try clicking the button in a dark room. If it doesn't light then put it in an area where it is exposed to bright daylight. If it doesn't light for a short time that evening, click the button and try again the next day.
After that it's time to explore the insides for any oddities.
I have this light it’s the wire broke in two pieces now can’t fix ten lights are working try to fix with joint but no luck
The wires are covered in lacquer which will need burned or scraped off to make a proper connection.
So, if the switch is in the off position, the battery won't charge from the solar?
I sure would like some more dubious Hitachi adult toy rip-off clones off of ebay, hahaha
Would wiring 2 or 3 rechargable Ni-Mh batteries externally be fine as a modification to extend runtime of the lights? Though getting them charged up by the solar panel is also a slight concern for me since there's more cells to charge.
You can use a higher capacity cell.
@@bigclivedotcom Thank you. I plan to get a set of the Solar String Lights for use on a small christmas tree soon. It's nice that the rechargable cells I got a while back for Wiimotes that never ended up being used will find a new purpose.
I'm interested in doing my own garden type solar small solar panel with led light strip. To charge up battery and turn on at night how do I go about wiring up a solar panel and can you get 12 v as batteries or will 50 om resister allow normal single battery to power them. Or can I use old phone batteries in series to get 12v batt
How has this fared in the garden?
It's still working. The resin dipped copper-wire LED strings are very water resilient.
i have a quick question for you i want a color changing led to replace a my light bulb but it has to be bright and i wanted to know if you knew of a good cheap one?
I don't understand the purpose of the inductor. If its resistance is small, then it is connected in series with the LEDs and the battery. The LEDs would be lit all the time. Even if it has high enough resistance for the LEDs to stay dim, it must be passing a small current through the LEDs all the time. What happens if you take it out of circuit?
+Hussain AlMutawa The LEDs will not light at the 1.2V of the single cell, so the inductor is used to boost the voltage by pulsing it at high frequency.
+bigclivedotcom Ah so the "coil" pin is pulsed to ground. That is a fly back configuration. I did not consider the forward voltage of the LEDs. That is a neat circuit! Thanks!
+Hussain AlMutawa Spot on. In datasheets/circuits I've seen for similar chips,that pin is often labeled "SW" for 'switch'. (typically the drain/collector of an internal mosfet/bipolar transistor,to ground.)
+Aurelius R detail.1688.com/offer/1258272083.html?spm=0.0.0.0.ITAmHS
Could non-compliance be ROHS? Thanks for the mid-week BigClive fix.
Agreed. It's probably not RoHS compliant. We see this in the flashlight hobby where Americans prefer leaded solder because it doesn't crack after hundreds of cycles of extreme heating and cooling, while lead-free solder will. But can't be sold in Europe.
+agvulpine "But can't be sold in Europe"... only if they actually checked. Hence the reason that almost everything has CE and RoHS stickers on it, so that all the Europeans know that everything is 100% legit.
Um ! just wondering why they used ni-mh and not Li-ion (phone battery)........I have some ni-mh running solar lights in the garden, and they have been running for years, could it be that Li-ion don't last that long.......Um.
+Graham R Dyer Some of the newer lights use LiFEP04 cells and do last a good length of time. They just use the higher voltage to drive the LEDs directly.
+Graham R Dyer Ni-Mh is cheaper and plentiful....
I guess its not up to EU standards because it used tin/lead solder. :)
Is there an update on how these lights have performed in the garden? I'm really curious if they've held up!
They held up for years until my brother chopped them into bits with a hedge trimmer accidentally.
@@bigclivedotcom Thanks, that's very helpful!
Are these lights still working , its been a year ....
+mark layton Yes they are.
Hi nice video
I have a set of these which have been broken near the end (opposite end to solar) and have stopped working.Would you know what I need to do to repair them. I already tried joining and separating the two ends??
Thx
I made a video specifically about repairing the copper wire LED strings.
It seems pointless to have a solar panel on the device since it will most likely be ON at night. Doesn't do much good. Maybe you should put a diode across the ON-OFF switch so it charges the battery in the daytime when there is light on the panel.
+Ken Franco Are you really that stupid? The ON-OFF switch is always "ON" except during transit and storage. The OFF position is simply to stop the battery being discharged back into the solar panel when the device is in storage. The diode that you think is needed is inbuilt internally within the IC, between pins 3 and 4.
Wow!
great video, you seem to be the guy to ask, the insulated wire on the led's. the same thickness in silver... where can i buy it from, i have searched all sorts of names, but cant find it.. i just want the wire to extend my micro leds, as i use 3v and 4,5v micro led's..but want the wire on its own, on a spool if possible ..please can you help..thank you..
+ivan hodgetts Not sure about the silver version, but if you search eBay for enamelled copper wire you'll find a wide variety of sizes.
thank you..i'll look, but really need the silver.. :-(
Anyone know how a person would change a solar fairy jar lid from steady to chasing or twinkling?
It would really require a new PCB and also a new string of alternate polarity LEDs.
I'm looking at a bunch of these that have the LEDs alternatively (+ -) wired in parallel to the two power wires. This enables them to run on AC, or flash alternatively by running different polarities along the wires. Also, there's no polarity on the wires which makes hookup easy. You can snip off any length, or join more lengths at the end, and it still works. But since it's current fed the intensity will vary. Two things puzzle me: how do they reverse the polarity of the wires, and what good does the third wire do?
They use an H-bridge to switch the polarity. Basically four transistors switching either side to the positive and negative rails.
The third wire usually goes to the far end of the string of LEDs as feeding positive from one end and negative from the other will result in better current sharing amongst the LEDs.
@@bigclivedotcom good day. Do you maybe know how to disable the mode selection inorder for unit to have constant mode only when switched on?
This is the closest thing to a schematic document I could find:
www.ic37.com/htm_pro/ProductView/758699.htm
At least it shows the pinout. You might have to put it through translation though.
Hi Clive, I have 4 sets of these in the garden that I got from Amazon, but 2 of the sets now default to the annoying Demo Flashy mode when they come on at dusk, The board looks slightly different, more "Proffesional" with smaller components, but I wondered if I could bridge a pin on the chip to give me constant "on" (ie no flashy flashy) but still come on at dusk. any thoughts? Many thanks from a fellow lampie.
It sounds like the battery is running completely flat, possibly due to being older or low output from the solar panel. The flashing ones tend to reverse polarity to the LEDs so they're not simple to bypass.
How do I make this LED strings plug in instead of solar and battery as they are? My dog chew the solar panel and busted the whole thing 😭
If it's the non multi-effect type then you can usually power the strings directly from a 2xAA battery pack or a chopped uSB cable with two 10 ohm resistors in series to protect the LEDs from overcurrent.
@@bigclivedotcom can I do a AC 3V power adaptor directly to the cables to plug in instead?
I recently bought a solar light like that and im very curious how come a single 1.2v 1000 to 1500 mah AA battery power so many little led for almost 10 hours? does the chip multiply the power from the battery to light many led at once without eating to much juice from the battery?
It uses a small inductor to boost the voltage and runs the LEDs at low current.
Thank you for the video!
I wonder if you could help... We have set up a very similar solar light system (same circuit by the looks of it) but after some time the small Li-ion cell stopped charging. So, thinking that the cell had reached the end of its life, I replaced it with 3 NiMH AAA size cells in parallel (so 550mAh x 3). Strangely now though, the start of the LED chain is bright but several LEDs along and the light has faded gradually to nothing. The output of the controller is 0.98V with no current flowing, so I'm wondering if the internal resistance of the 3-cells in parallel is too much for the circuit and LED chain? Very grateful for any ideas you might have!
It sounds like you may have a bar LED or short circuit on your lighting string. That would also possibly have dragged the other battery down.
Thank you! I'll check that out :)
I have the same lights you show on this video. However, they don't really charge very well because the wire leading from the solar cell to the lights is too short to be able to put the solar cell where the sun shines openly on it. I need to extend the wire in order to move the cell when it can get direct sunlight. What kind of wire and voltage would you say is needed to make an extension if I clip the write between the solar cell and the actual lights? Seems it is diff to find such wire or I am not looking for it using the correct name and voltage.
Try searching for doorbell wire or speaker wire. The polarity is important.
Hey Clive, how can a 1.2v 1500mah battery light all 100 leds?? if each led gets 7ma, it shouldn't last more than a few hours. what sort of magic is going on here?!
LEDs will glow visibly at a fraction of 1mA.
@@bigclivedotcom Is the booster part a joule thief circuit? thanks for the vids, Clive!
@@VinJapanGuitarShop Similar, but runs on an internal oscillator.
Hi Clive, My contumacious cat has chewed my GDEALER tiny light set. Again. I refuse to buy a third set. Is there a way to repair the wire?
If it's the copper wire lights then they do tend to be repairable. It depends on how it's wired, usually determined by the operating voltage.