Repair water damaged Solar Garden Lamp
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From: Dave_s on 22 Feb 2010 11:40 At http://s1001.photobucket.com/albums/af140/Dave_ss/Garden%20Solar%20Lamps%20Repair/?action=view¤t=Water-inside-solar-garden-lamp-CORR.jpg are pictures of my water damaged Solar Garden Lamps. Pictures show the damaged Solar Garden Lamps I need to repair. The OEM long ago discontinued this product making impossible to buy replacement gaskets and parts for the electronics. I am trying to repair these units. I need to buy replacement resistors and diodes. The resistors are smaller than normal 1/4W parts and the pad lead holes are too small for 1/4W parts. Same problem with the diode. It looks like a mini smaller 1N4001 package with much smaller diameter leads holes in pads. The transistor is marked STS but I cannot find any info for this part at STS web site. Is this a FET or bipolar. Need datasheet to find ratings. Thank you for any help. Dave_s
From: Martin Brown on 22 Feb 2010 11:49 Dave_s wrote: > At > http://s1001.photobucket.com/albums/af140/Dave_ss/Garden%20Solar%20Lamps%20Repair/?action=view¤t=Water-inside-solar-garden-lamp-CORR.jpg > > are pictures of my water damaged Solar Garden Lamps. > > Pictures show the damaged Solar Garden Lamps I need to repair. The OEM > long ago discontinued this product making impossible to buy replacement > gaskets and parts for the electronics. > > I am trying to repair these units. > > I need to buy replacement resistors and diodes. Why? What makes you think they have failed? Passive components don't often fail unless they are mechanically damaged or show obvious signs of overheating. A DMM will confirm if that is the case. Usually these devices have a couple of small inductors to generate the LED voltage. > > The resistors are smaller than normal 1/4W parts and the pad lead holes > are too small for 1/4W parts. Same problem with the diode. It looks > like a mini smaller 1N4001 package with much smaller diameter leads > holes in pads. > > The transistor is marked STS but I cannot find any info for this part at > STS web site. Is this a FET or bipolar. Need datasheet to find ratings. > Thank you for any help. Dave_s Looks to me more like the NiCad has vented caustic electrolyte and a quick wash and brushup followed by swapping the batteries for a new pair will fix it (any pair of AA's for quick functional test). Regards, Martin Brown
From: John Larkin on 22 Feb 2010 12:05 On Mon, 22 Feb 2010 16:49:10 +0000, Martin Brown <|||newspam|||@nezumi.demon.co.uk> wrote: >Dave_s wrote: >> At >> http://s1001.photobucket.com/albums/af140/Dave_ss/Garden%20Solar%20Lamps%20Repair/?action=view¤t=Water-inside-solar-garden-lamp-CORR.jpg >> >> are pictures of my water damaged Solar Garden Lamps. >> >> Pictures show the damaged Solar Garden Lamps I need to repair. The OEM >> long ago discontinued this product making impossible to buy replacement >> gaskets and parts for the electronics. >> >> I am trying to repair these units. >> >> I need to buy replacement resistors and diodes. > >Why? What makes you think they have failed? Passive components don't >often fail unless they are mechanically damaged or show obvious signs of >overheating. A DMM will confirm if that is the case. Usually these >devices have a couple of small inductors to generate the LED voltage. >> >> The resistors are smaller than normal 1/4W parts and the pad lead holes >> are too small for 1/4W parts. Same problem with the diode. It looks >> like a mini smaller 1N4001 package with much smaller diameter leads >> holes in pads. >> >> The transistor is marked STS but I cannot find any info for this part at >> STS web site. Is this a FET or bipolar. Need datasheet to find ratings. >> Thank you for any help. Dave_s > >Looks to me more like the NiCad has vented caustic electrolyte and a >quick wash and brushup followed by swapping the batteries for a new pair >will fix it (any pair of AA's for quick functional test). > >Regards, >Martin Brown Agree. The batteries don't last in these things. John
From: Hammy on 22 Feb 2010 12:20 On Mon, 22 Feb 2010 08:40:56 -0800, Dave_s <group78(a)dslextreme.com> wrote: >At >http://s1001.photobucket.com/albums/af140/Dave_ss/Garden%20Solar%20Lamps%20Repair/?action=view¤t=Water-inside-solar-garden-lamp-CORR.jpg >are pictures of my water damaged Solar Garden Lamps. > >Pictures show the damaged Solar Garden Lamps I need to repair. The OEM >long ago discontinued this product making impossible to buy replacement >gaskets and parts for the electronics. > >I am trying to repair these units. > >I need to buy replacement resistors and diodes. > >The resistors are smaller than normal 1/4W parts and the pad lead holes > are too small for 1/4W parts. Same problem with the diode. It looks >like a mini smaller 1N4001 package with much smaller diameter leads >holes in pads. > >The transistor is marked STS but I cannot find any info for this part at >STS web site. Is this a FET or bipolar. Need datasheet to find ratings. >Thank you for any help. Dave_s If after cleaning it up and changing the batteries they still don't work. You could just buy new ones Home Depot usually has some on sale every year for a couple of bucks each. I paid five bucks per about 3 years ago and they are still going even after being left out in the winter. My dogs getting older so I leave them out in the winter so he can see better. :-) I have everything I need here to test and fix them but for 5 bucks I wouldn't waste my time. I would just get new ones unless they just need replacement batteries. The batteries probably cost almost as much as the lights.
From: mpm on 22 Feb 2010 13:26
On Feb 22, 11:40 am, Dave_s <grou...(a)dslextreme.com> wrote: > Athttp://s1001.photobucket.com/albums/af140/Dave_ss/Garden%20Solar%20La.... > are pictures of my water damaged Solar Garden Lamps. > > Pictures show the damaged Solar Garden Lamps I need to repair. The OEM > long ago discontinued this product making impossible to buy replacement > gaskets and parts for the electronics. > > I am trying to repair these units. > > I need to buy replacement resistors and diodes. > > The resistors are smaller than normal 1/4W parts and the pad lead holes > are too small for 1/4W parts. Same problem with the diode. It looks > like a mini smaller 1N4001 package with much smaller diameter leads > holes in pads. > > The transistor is marked STS but I cannot find any info for this part at > STS web site. Is this a FET or bipolar. Need datasheet to find ratings. > Thank you for any help. Dave_s They make 1/8th-watt, 1/10-watt resistors, and even 1/16th and 1/20th- watt resistors. All of these are physically smaller than standard 1/4-watt resistors. Digikey carries them. Not sure what the diode function is (no schematic), but it's probably just being used to isolate the NiCad from the solar cell. (?) If so, I'll bet any diode that fits will (should) work. Maybe a 1N914. They're tiny. STS is probably the manufacturer. ?? Again, probably just used as a simple switch. So maybe a 2N3904 or 2N3906 would do? Keep in mind these are all total guesses. Personally, I would put a voltmeter on the solar cell first and make sure there's some output in direct sunlight. Would be a bummer to find the device basically works, but it's not charging itself. And as others have stated, I wouldn't "trust" a NiCad in the garden for too many seasons.... Good luck. |