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my new pet project

 I have a back up light that some of you are probably familiar with  . its the magneto light that is sold all over the place esp at verimark  and builders for R199 . it looks like a brick and has 24 leds on the front . it has 2 settings low and high . works super and I think its the best value for money light on the market .  if plugged in it will even come on when the power fails and it also has a usb for charging your cell phone .

now the new ones have a charging port for a solar panel . a 9v input to charge it with .

my issue is where can I find  a pv panel that I can use  as it has a 4ah  6v battery . (12v solar panels can run up to 18v)(yes I could put  a small  12v solar panel on  it will pull down the voltage but would need overcharge protection for long term)

I could buy a 6 v solar regulator (cant find any local) off some site but was wondering if  any one has a cheap and easy  or nasty better idea

 

bottom line I probably need  a 20 w solar panel  to get a full solar charge in a day

awaiting any suggestions

cheers max

9 hours ago, maxomill said:

magneto light that is sold all over the place esp at verimark  and builders for R199

The charging circuits in those things are horrible. Cheapest possible way to get it done, basically kills the battery in about 6 months if you leave it plugged in permanently. I briefly considered fixing the one my in-laws use... in the end I fitted another 6V battery and bought 6 months more time. Told them not to leave it plugged in all the time. Of course now it will die because of not being charged...

  • 2 months later...
  • Author
On ‎2018‎/‎06‎/‎01 at 12:40 PM, PJJ said:

a cheap PWM 5-10A charger would probably be your best/cheapest bet

ah but  I need a local one

any body know where to get them

I also thought of a voltage regulator  like the ones used for a usb  (5.2 v is close to 6) but that would have no overcharge protection either

maybe I will have to get from china

cheers

 

  • Author
On ‎2018‎/‎06‎/‎01 at 7:28 PM, plonkster said:

The charging circuits in those things are horrible. Cheapest possible way to get it done, basically kills the battery in about 6 months if you leave it plugged in permanently. I briefly considered fixing the one my in-laws use... in the end I fitted another 6V battery and bought 6 months more time. Told them not to leave it plugged in all the time. Of course now it will die because of not being charged...

maybe placing it in the off position with a timer that charges it for some time once or twice a week or month or something along those lines

cheers

On 2018/08/03 at 1:39 AM, maxomill said:

just found this

http://www.elexco.co.za/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=829

anyone have experience with them

 

big question is      if the input changes does the output also change

like when clouds come over  will the output remain constant???

cheers

 

I use similar DC buck boosters and they're generally very stable, as long as the input is higher than the output. 

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