Silicone solar panel sealing. One year update.

Also You Will Not See The News Do A Recap Too Often...Kind Of Rare These Days.

I Like When There Is A Recap Of A Project Or Anything. How Else Can We Learn!!?

The fireproof bags are a good idea. I charge lithium packs in a metal baking tray in case things go a bit wild.

Big Clive

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/401588513632 I came across these on eBay as a suggested item. It made me think of Clive

Loscha

Yes. It's a harsh environment for any battery.

Big Clive

So far I have used 2 methods I learned here: One is the 3-M outdoor tape, the other is this silicone mod. Both work really well!

Michael Thompson

I was just wondering, could intense heat, due to long direct sun exposure, also made the battery more susceptible to leak?

elias

Inspired by the silicon idea, I have just tried clear resin. It's the stuff that cures with a UV light. Seems to go on pretty easy.

Neil Tonks

I've got a Poundland light that's been outside continuously for over three years, and it's still going reasonably well, all I did to it was spray the electrical parts with WD40, the others which weren't treated all failed after a year or so. I've got to get some of those abrasive pens now!

Heatshrink would have been a good idea. The originals came with masking tape wrapped round the cells, which wasn't a great idea as it absorbed water.

Big Clive

Some units come with AAA cells or a shorter variant. In winter the charge will be very low, but it would be nice to have the capacity to catch a good charge on a clear day to try and ride over a few nights. By increasing the value of the inductor you can reduce the LED intensity and current draw for longer run times.

Big Clive

I've had some success with clear 2" (50mm) outdoor repair tape. It's supposed to be UV stable, but does gradually go brittle over time.

Big Clive

The ideal circuit would be a simple current regulator to cap the current at around 10 to 20mA depending on the cell capacity. You'd want the maximum charge possible in winter.

Big Clive

They can be used for cleaning surfaces like non-plated contacts and tarnished PCB pads.

Big Clive

Nice. you could have used heat shrink around the battery, or would it cause it to get too warm ?

Acceptable continuous trickle charge of nimh is 1/10C, or 8ma in the case of your 80mah button cell. So yeah, your super summer could have overcharged it.

Cory Benjamin

I first came across those fibreglass pens when I worked at Mullard Research in 1976. We used them to clean up small parts before electroplating. I love them and use them for all kinds of small clean-up jobs. One thing I learned early on was that they don't like to work with any kind of liquid. The fibres wick up any liquid they touch and end up stuck together.

Dave Davies

I can't help but wonder if there could be a reason to use a larger NiMH cell if that solar panel is kicking out so much current. It would be interesting to know how long it takes the button cell to recharge in winter ... and if there's still a fair bit of daylight at that point, that's power there's nowhere to store and is thus wasted. Obviously, they put tiny cells in them at the factory because of cost, but we the techies don't have to stick with their cost-driven decisions. ;)

Be interesting to see a comparison between this method and the following 2 options. Low viscosity (wicking) superglue and Captain Tolley's Creeping Crack Cure. Run a bead of each between the panel and surround.

evilution

What would you recommend for the plastic versions to seal the panel?

Russell Peake

Thanks Clive. I was thinking of using clear heat shrink over the battery for our garden lights. Would a resistor and diode in parallel in the battery wiring limit the charging current and allow the LEDs to light at night?

Nuts 'n' Proud

I still have a few solar lights working from last Summer, and that is after them surviving a north Donegal winter. The clear nail varnish really works! A few of the failed one had solar panel fails.

John Carr

i now want to go do my 47 solar lights

God 420

I hadn't seen the abrasive pens before. What do you use them on?

Mark Trombley