Surprisingly good pound-shop solar light

[@iops94]

Thank you very much for producing videos like this. You are doing the planet (and most of its population) a massive service by teaching people to retrofit or repair their own devices, especially when those products are designed to be viewed as disposable items.

[@tonywebb9909]

They must know you personally at the pound shop££

[@Stefan_Van_pellicom]

@BreatheScotlandHe’s on the Isle of Man if I’m not mistaking.

[@arthurtwoshedsjackson6266]

@@Stefan_Van_pellicomThis video was filmed on the IoM but he is currently in Edinburgh at the Tattoo

[@tennicktenstyl]

he always gets pounded at my shop

[@RaunienTheFirst]

Him and Ashens

[@JenkinsUSA]

BC, thank you for sharing pound finds and being accurate (your photo blowups are awesome) with your observations and reverse engineering, I’ve learned a lot . It goes to show that while it’s a crap shoot, you bring reality and experience to the table. I’m in Orlando and don’t have a pound stop, but a dollar store (now $1.25 store). I’ll keep my eyes out for cool items and maybe even post some finds. Once again, well done and thanks for sharing. Hope you have a wonderful weekend. 😊

[@sihamhamda47]

Also in some online store there are also larger version of this, with some of them using like 1800mAh lithium cell (I'm pretty sure it's 18650 type) and brighter LED

[@PinePondCTDevilsHopyard-fy3hj]

Clive, thank you for the education of things we can do to reduce the chances of water damage. I have not had good luck with the solar lights. This may help change my opinions of blaming the chips. 😂

[@amorphuc]

Very cool and as always, thanks Big Clive. It's kind of shady that whoever was packaging it, turned it on and put it through even though the battery terminal was disconnected - if that was the case of course. I'm not sure most customers would take it apart to remedy the issue and would probably just bin it rather than go through the effort of returning something that cost 2 pounds.

[@Palmit_]

@BreatheScotlandi a scrapper... and same way furious, but i'm more the "i'll be fucked if i'm chucking something away if i can fix it" type. lol

[@scslre]

either way it's being binned, no?

[@Palmit_]

@@scslre too funny and, amazingly accurate 😜

[@petervisi5369]

I bought a cheap one 3 or 4 years ago in B&M, it was probably around £5 or £8. Still works fine. It's in a place that fully exposed to weather. One of the best value item I ever bought.

[@MrAdopado]

I'm actually surprised how well some of these types of solar lights seem to work (and continue working) these days. I bought some (only slightly more upmarket) solar flood lights with movement sensors. I first got them at the beginning of winter and never expected them to store enough power to keep working through the winter ... but they did ... and nearly 4 years later they are still working!

[@JenkinsUSA]

Woah - your doing good. I have a couple that’s survived that long, but the casing was “iron or something” and has completely rusted through. Lights are still working! Wishing you and anyone reading the best 😄 Take care all.

[@MrAdopado]

@@JenkinsUSA My lights were all plastic so no rust problem. They seem to be keeping the water out to must have been well sealed.

[@nigefoxx]

Thank you for this video in particular. I now have a working solar light instead of throwing one in the trash. Also considering adding a smaller inductor to bring the brightness up; it's always ludicrously sunny here.

[@Alan2E0KVRKing]

I bring my lights in for the winter, charge the battery fully for storage, extends the life of them a lot as there not out in the worst months of the year.

[@Alan2E0KVRKing]

@@Okurka. I hardly ever go in the garden in the winter, certainly don't sit out at night looking at the solar lights :)

[@bren106]

Nail varnish is also a good barrier on the circuit board. I'd suggest lurid pink Clive.

[@JaSon-wc4pn]

Vaseline splodged everywhere works well

[@MattyEngland]

Layer of horse semen.

[@JenkinsUSA]

You get the best award for that suggestion. My cat disagrees, but for lights it’s spot on! 😊

[@Palmit_]

@@JaSon-wc4pn EVERYWHERE.... ? what if it gets onto my skin! 😮

[@WECB640]

Clive, you should sell a T-shirt with your logo on the pocket and underneath it says "Let's take it to bits". The back of the shirt should say "One moment please". 😎

[@JaSon-wc4pn]

Better still a light up logo, fibre optic ribbon, and a flat usb phone battery wired in

[@tactileslut]

That would go perfectly with Jessa's "I void warranties" shirt.

[@RobertMcFarlane-i8t]

I've had the slightly older version of that lighting up the keysafe at my dad's house for a couple of years. I changed the battery to an eneloop NIMH cell, and ran a wee bit of silicone round the edges of the solar panel. Works fine.

[@bad.sector]

I already found two similar ones with small LED lampions attached on the streets (probably very German: We put out things we don't need, so others can use them)... do we trust the 600 mAh? Yes and no. The unused one had only around 400 mAh (according to my charger), the used one originally only 35 mAh (!), but after a few refresh charge cycles, it topped out at around 540 mAh. So two things: 1.The batteries MAY have 600 mAh, but mileage varies 2. If your's doesn't work properly, try a refresh charge to work around the memory effect, or replace the battery Anyway, interesting video, as always. Finally got an idea how they stepped up the voltage!

[@bevant8275]

I've had 6 of these that I got from Aldi here in Australia, I have them on fence posts around my pool and they put out great light for the price. They are probably 3 years old now and yes I've had to replace the batteries and bypass switch etc but they are worth repairing IMO.

[@vinnysworkshop]

They have Aldi in Australia?!

[@strongandco]

Bought one of these in the spring from Morrisons for around £4 with a built in PIR. It runs at low power all night and switches to high power when it detects movement. Didn't think to put grease on the connections. So far it's survived a lot of heavy rain, if it craps out, i'll replace it without hesitation and do the suggested upgrades.

[@JaSon-wc4pn]

Love these Solar lights, The spotlight one I bought a few years back Has a press button mode, off - floodlight and night floodligh mode. Now it only does off or On, so it drains its own battery during the day ???? Probable the optic sensor Great to see B&M sell 4 packs of AA rechargable batteries made for these in green

[@hughtube4me]

I have used one of these for a couple of months. The battery was only 300mAh so I stuck in a 1300mAh one. I found the main water ingress was through the mounting screw points so I sealed the back of them with some adhesive plastic tape (used for glass repairs)

[@nicmost3044]

Thanks for the reply Clive. I learn a lot from your vids... re

[@acmefixer1]

In my early experiments with Joule Thiefs many years ago (thanks, Clive, for introducing me and many others to JTs) I built dozens of the JTs, winding toroids using very fine enameled wire scavenged from small chokes. In order to monitor the current through the LED I put a 1 ohm resistor in series with the cathode lead and got 1 millivolt for every milliamp of current. After experimenting with over a hundred toroids I found that the LED current was dependent on the maximum saturation current of the transistor and the DC resistance of the collector winding of the coil, which depended mostly on the thickness of the wire. The inductance - the number of turns - determined the frequency but the effect on the LED current was minor. I used an LC meter to measure the inductance. Clive gives us a few choices for the value of the inductor, in order to lower or raise the LED current. But no information was given on what the DC resistance of the inductors would be. Using the small inductors that are about the size of a thick 1/4 Watt resistor, the higher inductances above 100 uH must be using very fine wire in order to get enough turns on the coil. I think that if the coil was allowed to be wound with heavier wire, the 330 uH inductor would give about the same LED current as a 47 uH, assuming the coil's DC resistance was the same. So I think that the inductor's value has less to do with the LED current than its DC resistance, so if you want to reduce the LED current, choose an inductor that has higher DC resistance. It might be possible to put a low value resistor in series with the inductor to reduce the LED current. Thanks so much for the video, Clive.

[@kimchristensen2175]

I usually put a bead of clear sealant into the gap around the solar panel since it's on top. That keeps most of the water out of it.

[@catherineharris4746]

Simply outstanding as usual👍👍👍

[@zyghom]

I have few garden bulbs with LEDs in them, powered by small solar panel and exactly the same control. But due to UK weather the battery was not charging enough to light through the entire night. So I replaced this NiMH battery with 4 small LiPo batteries from vapes (550mAh), put them in parallel, added a bit bigger solar panel (glued on top of this one), added LDO to 2.7V and that gave me around 50mA current and now it is working entire night. LDO is turning ON using photoresistor with potentiometer to set correctly the minimum light to turn on and off.

[@jmr]

I got a similar looking light with motion. It supports 2 18650 batteries although it only came with 1 installed.

[@LesFairall]

Would there be any advantage to replacing the battery with a lithium ion? Or does that cause problems with the charging circuit that is being used? I just thought it may give it a longer run time or extend the life of the device.

[@Majromax]

Nickel metal hydride batteries can be trickle-charged indefinitely. For low charging currents, the battery chemistry effectively turns the excess charging energy into heat. Lithium-ion batteries, however, must be charged and discharged very carefully. Over-charging them damages the battery, both greatly degrading its capacity and risking fire. An equivalent circuit built around a lithium-ion battery would need to include charge-protection circuitry, increasing the cost and adding more potential points of failure.

[@LesFairall]

@@Majromax thanks for the detailed response! 😁

[@ATMAtim]

I bought a 4 pack of these months ago and short the switch. Do an initial battery charge with a real charger then coat everything inside with Dow-Corning High Temp Vacuum Grease. That stuff keeps things dry forever. Thanks, Clive, for mentioning the diode for charging even with the switch off.

[@wisher21uk]

I normally take the switch off completely then silicone a piece of plastic over the switch hole from the outside, then bridge switch contacts

[@electronbox]

You could improve the design to accommodate winter/summer light levels by switching in another series inductor with a thermal switch when it's below 10C for example.

[@wizpin]

It's never below 10c where I live 😂

[@RS-Amsterdam]

@@wizpin then move

[@johndododoe1411]

Just don't use sell that configuration too near the poles, because it'll misdetect 5°C (40°F) long summer days as dark winter .

[@lezbriddon]

I'm old enough to remember the summer of 2023, 7-9th of July, what a weekend that was.... now winter is coming.....

[@jkobain]

I think a rust-proof version _with_ a switch can be done with a reed switch and a magnetic slider, while potting everything else in resin or nail varnish?

[@HolarMusic]

a simple toggle button with a soft barrier on top would probably be much cheaper

[@jkobain]

@@HolarMusic it would be, if only moisture wouldn't creep in gradually anyway.

[@Flashy7]

surprisingly good because our expectations are not very high and also can't mess up much when it is down to 2 components :D just disable the switch, make the pcb waterproof, fix the battery holder (or is it a new idea of a "push-tab" lock for transportation?), maybe cover the solar panel with some glue and you are done :)

[@ChrisD4335]

If someone else bought this it would have ended up in the bin since that battery was in backwards. Since big-C got it its gonna end up I assume in some big heaping pile of LED lights he has filling at least one room in that house.

[@DeltaMikeTorrevieja]

As a tramp living in Spain I could do with a few of these. My solar lights, retrieved from a bin at Christmas, are on their last legs. Only one of the three is currently working.

[@tactileslut]

"Making good use of the things that we find. This that the everyday folk leave behind."

[@jagmarc]

Guau I had to check , you really are living rough in torrevieja. ¿Have you got the basic tarjeta sanitaria?

[@DeltaMikeTorrevieja]

@@jagmarc Nope, I got nothing. I made some poor decisions back in 2016, rolled with them and then got bit on the arse by my UK bank who won't let me have access to my own money.

[@jagmarc]

@@DeltaMikeTorrevieja there's a base level one. For who don't have permission to reside. . Foreigners non euro too have right to 'empadronar' with the ayuntamiento and ways for 'sin techo' . Then 3 months use EX-15 get a certificate 'no permission'. With it and cert of padrón get the right to the base level T.S direct from health authority. segsocial not involved. A big city comisaría often knows the process.

[@josef596]

I buy one of these every year, because that’s as long as they last. 😂

[@T3-RIDER]

Useful sunlight??? Do you live in England? 😂 it's been raining for the past 3 weeks

[@jkobain]

On the Isle of Man, primarily.

[@MMuraseofSandvich]

This reminds me of the $1 flashlights at Harbor Freight Tools, which use a 3-way switch module which might contain ye olde ubiquitous Chinese microcontroller. One of them used an array of red 5mm LEDs, so I tried swapping them for white LEDs from Adafruit and it worked swimmingly. The other one looks very similar to this, except it uses no solar cell and there's no control PCB visible.

[@daveredden6083]

Bought these, lasted a couple of weeks, only 1 of the 4 still works ( the one I repaired). Even after full days of Australian sun, only stay on for a couple of hours max.

[@bigclivedotcom]

It might be worth upgrading the NiMH cell, even with an old used one.

[@wobblysauce]

Perfectly good cheap light to use as parts

[@d.t.4523]

Thank you. Keep working, good luck.

[@rogerhargreaves2272]

Nice one. Always good to bypass the switch, it’s often the first thing eroded by water Ingres. 😃

[@phils4634]

Contact cleaner can really extend the life of those switches (if you need them). Also helps living a drier Country . . . . . 🙂

[@RtqoopbFl9WpIP9fULuihzt6Sk4t9u]

I have one of these and they worked for a couple of years...though slowly the lights keep getting dimmer and dimmer and then it eventually no longer turns on years later. Fortunately just replacing the battery with a larger capacity fixed it and now turns on again.

[@bozilla9975]

I had a pack of 6 of those for a couple of years and almost all of them had the solar panel deteriated by UV light so they are cloudy and don't work very well. However, the silver lining is the LED diodes are better than the worst ones (LOL) since they are at least CRI 80 so I salvaged the LEDs for other projects. One trick to check LED phosphor quality is by shining a UV light onto it. Good LEDs will have orange/red fluorescence (even for cold white ones) when UV light is shone on them, which means its phosphor is wide band and contains lots of red spectrum. The bad ones will have very pale yellow and will give you bad quality light with terrible color rendering.

[@JaSon-wc4pn]

Clive have you covered the Heat pump saga, Thats getting threatened by Law on all scottish homes for sale ?

[@blipco5]

"It no work we send it out anyway" 😂😂😂

[@michaelmoore7975]

@6:14 What was that you said? Did you say Necromancer Hide Right Cell? Is that like an Electro-Thaumaturge?

[@Mark5mith]

I got a Blitzwolf one from bangoood and its survived two years outside in Scotland, not sure how long that one will last, even with waterproofing.

[@kerribasnett1209]

In the US we have a store called 5 below, everything is below $5 lol

[@hi-tech-guy-1823]

I would Beewax under the Solar Panel for self healing but use superhydrophobic coating on the PCBs & LEDs & Battery it allow them to Still Breath - "Ultra-Ever Dry" or "NeverWet" Brands

[@campermike8879]

Had some square solar lights I could hang on the awning of my camper Didn't last long that switch on both had that issue Got tired of messing with them finally just removed the batteries and tossed the lights in the trash

[@kgsalvage6306]

I found the life a lot depends on the plastic they use for the case. I've had some deteriorate probably from the UV light and weather.

[@7r0j4n]

i have some from amazon, they work perfect in summer, eventually the uv rays ruin the clear finish on the solar panel so i have to polish it clear.

[@Palmit_]

same with car headlights. a stern polish.. not steel wool or brillo pads but a drill with a sponge on the end and bit of ISO makes the world of difference :)

[@jagmarc]

What's clever about these is how they boost 0.9V nicad cell up to 2 point something for LED, and also bump up the half a voltage from the solar cell to charge the nicad at 1.25 somerhing

[@richardbriansmith8562]

Awesome Video big clive

[@davidfalconer8913]

These little lights work very well with an ( external ) 1v5 primary cell .... a D type will run your light all winter , and will even recharge ( when the cell is new ! ) ... ( tried - n - tested ) .. DAVE™ 🛑

[@volvo09]

Interesting Too bad D cells cost about as much as the light... Haha

[@ButterBallTheOpossum]

I wouldn't imagine solar power would be a thing in Scotland. Isnt it cloudy 99.9% of the time?

[@zorrosoxter4703]

You’re 0.1% out

[@UpLateGeek]

I'm imagining your garden must be quite well lit at night, since you've looked at quite a few of these and other similar lights in past videos.

[@williamromine5715]

Why would you want to by pass the switch? Would it be because the light would come on if it were a really cloudy?

[@bigclivedotcom]

The switches are prone to corrosion and failing open circuit.

[@alexmarshall4331]

What was the mA/H of the battery by the way?

[@patricklyons7683]

600

[@grahamparsons3406]

Ones I have bought in the past either corrode internally or the solar panel turns white within a few months. I now leave the protective film on the solar panel, and that prevents the whitening. Grease on the battery contacts? Conductive?

[@markmurphy3578]

I like the insight into these. I have a few “faulty” ones that I am trying to fix. Understanding how they work will be helpful (hopefully!)

[@alexmarshall4331]

Are you allowed to let us know a rough price Clive... ps...how come so few comments from your patreons? (Are they mainly technophilia orientated?)

[@JaSon-wc4pn]

I've seen these for £2.99 Or a four pack for £9.99

[@xerejuneseve6333]

What do you do later with those gems?

[@NikEastwood161]

I have about 7 of similar on my fence made from solid chinesium, one has stopped working just the other day but i have a spare, another used its battery up one night and didnt charge back up - fixable?

[@bigclivedotcom]

Check for water induced corrosion on the battery terminals, PCB and solar panel. It often pays to open a brand new light and add some moisture protection before it is used.

[@Johadart]

Hi Clive, I have something similar to this, but it uses a 14500 li-ion battery, and a solar panel same as yours, from Aldi in Australia, it has a PIR sensor, and I’ve checked the battery voltage and it’s full at the rated 3.2v 400mah claimed, but it’s duller than a candle. Any chance you could recommend a fix for it? Keep up the great videos mate.🤙🏼🇦🇺 Joe from Australia 🤙🏼🇦🇺

[@Datlaai1]

Ok. Lifepo4

[@pawek9528]

Still looking for lights like that working couple of hours when change 3-4hrs on winter...

[@clems6989]

Im not quite getting the inductor function what am i missing...

[@bigclivedotcom]

The NiMh cell can't power the LED directly as its voltage is too low. The circuit alternately shunts the inductor to the negative rail to build up a magnetic field in it, and then releases it so the field collapses and produces a voltage spike dependent on the connected load.

[@fredflintstone1]

Hmm not the YX8018 chip then??

[@nialstewart8263]

What's the advantage of the 18 over the 05? I haven't done a thorough look but can't find decent data sheets.

[@fredflintstone1]

@@nialstewart8263 I don't know either I had hoped Clive might know 🙂

[@phonotical]

What are those solar panels called that seem to just be a mash up of blue coloured crystals,in no real order at all? I've only ever seen them attracted to things by roads and never in consumer products

[@bigclivedotcom]

Polycrystalline cells.

[@g8xft]

But it’s not pink!

[@alexmarshall4331]

Barbie Brigade must have had it all away!!!

[@curtw8827]

I don't know, looks to me by your schematic whenever the switch is closed the LEDs are always lit.

[@nialstewart8263]

The battery voltage isn't high enough to turn the LEDs on unless the ic is doing the 'charge pump' thing.

[@davelea8919]

what if we run it on a vape battery change it round a bit

[@bigclivedotcom]

Solar panel is too low a voltage.

[@Roy_Tellason]

How about instead of all the grease, etc. just cover the silly thing with some clear plastic wrap (from the kitchen) and a bit of tape to hold it in place?

[@bigclivedotcom]

Because water will always find a way in.

[@25566]

The inside is exactly like one with top/botton LEDs that I got from temu. For only 2 bucks it makes a decent light and lasts for many hours. And the easy swappable battery is a nice touch. But the waterproofing is non-existent and it will kill the light with rust eventually.

[@notmodeling8070]

Hi clive well make jacobs ladder did not go well i blew the street transformer fuse the street lost power ,.note to self do not empty oil out of transformer when you run said backwards 240 in 33k out one inch space is to close quarter inch steal rods fused together

[@esecallum]

i have this exact one !!! on a inside window ledge.

[@travismoore7849]

Maybe a small 3ah lithium titanate battery?

[@nialstewart8263]

Does anyone have any experience of the yx805 ics going faulty? We've some fairy expensive garden lights that have stopped working. The cells and wiring seem ok so i have a few winging their way from China from eBay. I'm going these will fix them, but am wondering why they blew in the first place.

[@bigclivedotcom]

It's usually corrosion on battery contacts or the solar panel that causes failures. You can graft in bits out of other solar lights to get your favourite ones working.

[@philip1quillen]

Why do I always feel the compulsion to donate a magnetic bowl for all the screws Big Clive removes. :-)

[@henrikostrov482]

Where is the pixels video

[@10lauset]

Cheers to you.

[@twocvbloke]

Quite speshul of them to just let that one go without having even connected the battery contacts to the battery holder... :P

[@Robert-z8t4m]

But will it last even 3 or 6 months? I doubt it.

[@OctavioJackson]

Cheap But Nice happens to be the title of my autobiography

[@Thomas-yj8fd]

Maybe put in a grease nipple for regular regrease? 😅

[@dans.channel.]

We had some of these, they wouldn’t turn off.

[@bigclivedotcom]

That often means the solar panel or its connections have corroded.

[@wtmayhew]

These are fun and the quality is all over the place. I have a spotlight version which has two 18650 cells in parallel. Mid spring through mid fall, it’ll charge enough with moderate sun to run all night long. The LED is large and on a heat sink, so it is probably a couple hundred lumens output.

[@two_tier_gary_rumain]

Unfortunately, the solar panel component is potted in clear resin. In a UV-rich climate like Australia's, that will fog up in as little as 6 months. It would be better if they used glass instead of resin.

[@bigclivedotcom]

Try a wipe of abrasive cleaner like T-cut or toothpaste on your frosted resin panels.

[@keithvers569]

I have a technical question about rechargeable batteries. Does anyone produce a rechargeable 1.5 volt cell as opposed to 1.2volt? The application I have needs 1.5 volt and 1.2 volts isn’t enough for the needs of the motor.

[@jagmarc]

NiMH are about 1.5 anyway when on charge, and drops to roundabout 1.1 while running down. A "18650 3.7V " put a series regulator 1.5V Charge with one of the $0.50 thingys that plug in a phone charger

[@keithvers569]

@@jagmarc it’s for an automatic electric opening bin lid and has 4 D cells in needing 6 volts

[@jagmarc]

@@keithvers569 the terminal voltage of disposable cell drops to 1.2 something under load anyway, unless they're premium high cost alkaline cells. Ironically, some film camera power winders often told users not use ni-cad cells because the voltage is too high under load.

[@keithvers569]

@@jagmarc all I can say is the disposable 1.5 volt cells work and the Duracell rechargeable 1.2 volt ones don’t work

[@jagmarc]

@@keithvers569 :) You know, I'd just stick with using disposables from supermarket. Curious though about the branded rechargeable not working. I would suspect counterfeit or one or more are faulty. The proof of that would be tack wires on measure the actual voltage while running. Though I guess you'd had previously tested the cells apart somehow.

[@phonotical]

I always thought one beyond must be a seperately chain of shops, until I saw one, and the ball dropped 😂 10ma between 6 leds? Jesus that's dire

[@CatBroiler]

Huh, didn't realise we've got a new pound chain

[@piconano]

These solar panels turn milky white from the Sun's UV, in one season. They're all like that.

[@BPantherPink]

Lord Clive...why are your 'one moment please' sounding so constipated for the last few months ?? Hope no blockages... I do have a special plunger for that Sir 😂

[@neilhoganwa]

Is it a 3 volt Battery or are you just being generous?

[@bigclivedotcom]

It's a single cell.

[@neilhoganwa]

@bigclivedotcom As a techie myself, a single cell is only one set of lines. Each set is an extra cell. What you show is 3 cells or three volts.

[@neilhoganwa]

I'm picky when doing diagnostic work.

[@weerobot]

Wow Cool..

[@jamescollins6085]

It's cheap, but there's better value in getting a more expensive one that will considerably outlast it and have far greater light output. That said, I can see lots of hacking potential in this device.

[@sarathai2876]

I like it

[@jlucasound]

Clive!! You Big Galoot! (Is that the proper spelling?) Hmm..

[@JaSon-wc4pn]

Why the Hell has displate *luminos* not sponsored this guy already. The metal poster company now has light up posters. Suits a matue audiance

[@curtishoffmann6956]

"It's *good*?" "Surprise."