Garden - Solar Lights - not working

Conology

Hi
I have several Solar lights for the garden which are not working.
I left them out over Winter ( as I think you should be able to with solar lights ) and now most of them have given up.
Is there any way to get them working again.
There's some water inside them ok - so if I dry them out will they work again?

Pse advise
Thanks
John

langdang

Were they any sort of brand name or just disposable cheapy-china ones?
They might be alright if you dry them but I'd say it's more likely that there has been some sort of corrosion (if they were cheap brand).

paddy147

Conology wrote: »

Hi
I have several Solar lights for the garden which are not working.
I left them out over Winter ( as I think you should be able to with solar lights ) and now most of them have given up.
Is there any way to get them working again.
There's some water inside them ok - so if I dry them out will they work again?

Pse advise
Thanks
John

If the batteries are rechargable then recharge them and reinstall them again.

Mine are all lighting up fine again now for a few hours each evening,after sunset.

50 cents each in B&Q last year.:D

Conology

Mine were bought either in Aldi or Lidl.
I wouldn't say they were cheap though, but that's debateable I suppose.
I would assume they dont have a battery as they are Solar. ( powered by the sun )

Thanks

paddy147

Conology wrote: »

Mine were bought either in Aldi or Lidl.
I wouldn't say they were cheap though, but that's debateable I suppose.
I would assume they dont have a battery as they are Solar. ( powered by the sun )

Thanks

The small solar panel on the solar light charges a small AA or AAA sized battery in the light body and that gives you the light for a few hours every night.;)

In wintertime that battery usually goes completely dead,so a recharge is no harm to do.:)

paddy147

Some pics to show you the internals of a garden solar lamp.

Battery is an AA rechargable battery.

langdang

If the internals of your lights look like paddys, clean the battery contacts and terminals with some alcohol type cleaner. As suggested by paddy, a full on recharge in the warmth of your kitchen using a battery charger would be good - while you leave the rest of the light unit to dry out.

If the battery is really corroded or leaking you may just have to replace them with a similar type. If the contacts are very bad a rub of light sandpaper might be needed.

Make sure you've wiped off any alcohol on the battery before you put it in a charger haha!

Edit, aldi or lidl ones would be a several levels above the the cheapest chinese "cut every corner" type electronics. There's hope for those lights yet!

paddy147

langdang wrote: »

If the internals of your lights look like paddys, clean the battery contacts and terminals with some alcohol type cleaner. As suggested by paddy, a full on recharge in the warmth of your kitchen using a battery charger would be good - while you leave the rest of the light unit to dry out.

If the battery is really corroded or leaking you may just have to replace them with a similar type. If the contacts are very bad a rub of light sandpaper might be needed.

Make sure you've wiped off any alcohol on the battery before you put it in a charger haha!

Edit, aldi or lidl ones would be a several levels above the the cheapest chinese "cut every corner" type electronics. There's hope for those lights yet!

Good advice.:)

paddy147

Solar lights working fine for me,as of 8pm tonight.:)

Conology

Hi Paddy & Langdang
Thanks for the fotos and advice,
I know it sounds stupid, but I didn't "get it" that a battery might be in each one. Ive opened one and dont see any but I'll take a closer look later,
The alcohol tip is very good too - mite just have to pass thru me first tho......
Thanks again

Conology

Hi Paddy & LangDang
I checked... if it was a dog it would bite me - both of you are correct - there are rechargeable batteries in them and the contacts are a bit rusty.
I'll recharge the batteries and clean the contacts - so they should be fine.

Thanks for the enlightenment.

old_aussie

Thanks for this tip as it has also saved mine from being thrown out.

Conology

Hi old Aussie

That's great to know that I'm not the only one at sea...
Hope you get yours working good too.

SeaFields

A tip someone told me was to seal new solar lights with silicone anywhere where moisture might get in. I did it on mine and seems to do the trick.

Can i jump in and ask is there any such thing as a wind powered garden light set up that one could buy.

I kind of like the idea of the lights being constantly charged as opposed to the solar lights i currently have that die off after a few hours. Any web searches i do bring up diy projects tho.

Conology

Hi Seafields - I'd love to have ones that dont require any form of maintenance,
I'd love to know anything about wind powered ones - maybe Paddy or Langdang might have a suggestion.

Solarbay

Hi
Sounds like you got poor quality lights. Yes they should be taken in for the winter as frost etc limits the efficiency of the battery but they should still last about 3 years outdoors continuously. If you take them apart you'll probably find rust around the battery, if so clean it off thoroughly and reassemble. There are weather proof Solar lights available to save you all that hassle every time there's a shower of rain! Good luck

paddy147

Solarbay wrote: »

Hi
Sounds like you got poor quality lights. Yes they should be taken in for the winter as frost etc limits the efficiency of the battery but they should still last about 3 years outdoors continuously. If you take them apart you'll probably find rust around the battery, if so clean it off thoroughly and reassemble. There are weather proof Solar lights available to save you all that hassle every time there's a shower of rain! Good luck

Well my stainless steel solar lights from B&Q are still going strong 2 years down the line.

00:50am this morning and still lit up.:)





Oh and wellcome to boards too.

Conology

Hi Paddy147
Thank you for the info
I'l buy more carefully in future

peadar76

Lidl have stainless steel solar lights at the moment for €11.
2 different styles of bollard lights and a ground light. They had them this time last year as well, did anyone get them?
Are they any good?

vicwatson

Conology wrote: »

Mine were bought either in Aldi or Lidl.
I wouldn't say they were cheap though, but that's debateable I suppose.
I would assume they dont have a battery as they are Solar. ( powered by the sun )

Thanks

A lot of these items have a 3 year warranty with them, I sent back Christmas lights from Aldi after about 14 months and my postage and the price of the lights was refunded in full.

Have a look to see if you still have the box and/or the receipt (a Laser/Visa receipt might also do) and ask for the contact details of their "warranty" people, a little hassle but you'll get refunded - they should work a "reasonable" length of time, as they give you a 3 year warranty I'd take it "reasonable" is 3 years !!

mairepadraigin

I have solar lights both types ladybird and bee string lights and ones you stick in the ground - where do you find the batteries????? - I just cannot find them. HELP please.