Here I go again. This time it is garden type solar lights. I have a few of them scattered about my yard. They work well, yet, there seems to be 2 that just do not want to stay on all night. So I decided to see if I can figure out what is going on.
The first thing I did was charge the battery to see if the charging circuit was working. The 1.2v battery tested at 1.355v with load. So that is good. Next, how much current is the light drawing?
Well, that is going to be a trick. How to see the current with my meter without taking the whole solar light fixture apart. Got it!
I have some 1/2" wide copper adhesive tape. I cut off two pieces about 3/4" long. Put them together to cut out tabs. Then I took off the backing and fixed both pieces to an old business card. Trimmed all the edges.
Now that I have both sides with copper, I can insert this into the battery well between the battery (+) tab and the battery. I have to be careful because this could actually be used as a capacitor.
Once it is in the battery well, the voltage and current are blocked because of the insulator. So the light will not turn on. Now I can connect the meter.
As you can see, the light is drawing 37ma. With this setup, I can also check other things that use batteries as long as one side of the connection is accessible. For this test, the light stayed on for about 6 hours. The battery is 1350mah 1.2v NiMH. So there is something in the circuit that is drawing too much. By the time the light goes out, the battery is around .9v. Maybe a bigger battery. 300mah battery last only 4 hours.
So, thought I would share.
The first thing I did was charge the battery to see if the charging circuit was working. The 1.2v battery tested at 1.355v with load. So that is good. Next, how much current is the light drawing?
Well, that is going to be a trick. How to see the current with my meter without taking the whole solar light fixture apart. Got it!
I have some 1/2" wide copper adhesive tape. I cut off two pieces about 3/4" long. Put them together to cut out tabs. Then I took off the backing and fixed both pieces to an old business card. Trimmed all the edges.
Now that I have both sides with copper, I can insert this into the battery well between the battery (+) tab and the battery. I have to be careful because this could actually be used as a capacitor.
Once it is in the battery well, the voltage and current are blocked because of the insulator. So the light will not turn on. Now I can connect the meter.
As you can see, the light is drawing 37ma. With this setup, I can also check other things that use batteries as long as one side of the connection is accessible. For this test, the light stayed on for about 6 hours. The battery is 1350mah 1.2v NiMH. So there is something in the circuit that is drawing too much. By the time the light goes out, the battery is around .9v. Maybe a bigger battery. 300mah battery last only 4 hours.
So, thought I would share.
