Solar lights not working at front of house? why?

blackcloud

Hello all

I bought 2 different brands of solar lights to put above my front door and they worked great for a day or two and now they have totally stopped working after becoming bit dim.

I also put up some garden path solar lights which again worked for a day or two then totally stopped?

Why is this? I thought maybe if one of them stopped working then it would be faulty but all of them to stop working and all different brands cant be coincidence? why is this? I mean yes theres trees around but they are still getting light during the day I think? I dont understand why they have all stopped working? Do they need to be totally in direct view of sun light? I mean I had a solar torch and I never had it outside at all and in 1 year it worked all the time!

TheCyclingProgrammer

Not enough direct sun light at this time of the year to charge them sufficiently. Ours are much weaker in winter and sometimes they don't even come on.

Davesnave

I suspect it's the lack of strong light, coupled with circuitry built-down to a price.

These solar lights don't have to allow water ingress either, but most I've seen do, within a year or so.

If no one has a tried and tested brand to suggest, the way to go is low voltage, stepped-down from the mains.

adindas

If it is working 1-2 days and then stop. It is very probably because of faulty.

The good outdoor lighting is quite expensive as they will normally need to be protected against ingress of dust and water. It should be at least IP65.

Vast majority of cheap unbranded outdoors lighting is IP 44, IP45.

Try to replace it again ans if it is working then it is almost 100% because it is broken already.

blackcloud wrote: »

Hello all

I bought 2 different brands of solar lights to put above my front door and they worked great for a day or two and now they have totally stopped working after becoming bit dim.

I also put up some garden path solar lights which again worked for a day or two then totally stopped?

Why is this? I thought maybe if one of them stopped working then it would be faulty but all of them to stop working and all different brands cant be coincidence? why is this? I mean yes theres trees around but they are still getting light during the day I think? I dont understand why they have all stopped working? Do they need to be totally in direct view of sun light? I mean I had a solar torch and I never had it outside at all and in 1 year it worked all the time!

ellie27

The kids have solar butterfly lights along the fence in the garden and they are coming on for about 15 mins or so each night, thats just because the lack of direct light to charge them.

I would never have solar lights and expect to get any proper light from them, to me solar lights are a cheap novelty product that really are for kids lights etc.

Airwolf20721

\Each one has a switch.. turn them off few days then back on they will have a full charge then

blackcloud

Very dissapointed with them. 3 different brands and none work. I cant get more in the sunlight than in the middle of a garden and yet still not enough sunlight.

I really need a light for my front porch at least. Anyone recommend an alternative? battery operated probably wont work for very long without having to recharge the battery and getting a mains powered one will probably be expensive and mean having to have electrics wired etc.

cajef

Fitted one of these in our outside entrance porch nearly twelve months ago, good bright light that illuminates the area well and still using the original batteries fitted.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B010LYDV0U/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

red_imps_2003

Yes, the battery-operated LEDs are probably the way to go. We use a motion-sensing Mr Beams-branded product to light the patio area outside our back door and garage. They are quite expensive at the moment but the are sometimes on offer (I paid £19.99). It might be worth setting a camelcamelcamel alert to see if you can get it (or see if they are available elsewhere with a price comparison tool like Martin's shopbot).

It wouldn't be sufficient to light a whole garden but it does cover a reasonable area and is bright enough for the intended purpose. My In-laws have one to light some steps leading to their back door too. We both get at least a year of regular usage out of a set of decent batteries (they take 4x 'D' sized I think).

Risteard

Davesnave wrote: »

low voltage, stepped-down from the mains.

Extra-low voltage. The mains is low voltage.

runner2014

The solar panels need direct sunlight to recharge, its getting gloomier at this time of year, less powerful sun, and shorter daylight, so they just don't have as much energy to power up their batteries. As someone else said, keep them turned off for a few days and this might build up some power.