I have some solar yard statues that Id like to convert into electric. How do I do this? They are little solar gnome statues. How would I convert them into electricity
I was wondering if this could be done. I have some solar firefly lights. I dunny want to leave them outside because of the dinner heat would dry out the plastic. So they sit in their box. Thanks for the video!
Dont you still need a current limiting resistor so LED's are not over driven? The life span will be shortened with out one as the current will be too high.
Very Nice . What about if I have all my lights with remotes , I have so many of these and the battery packs fails and solars panels failed too . I have a ton of these wires lights that wont work LOL
This video was to demonstrate the concept. Also I released this video in 2022, they are still going to this day. I have them over my mantel and they go all day every day. So can't be too wrong.
I know zero about this, but want to learn this skill. Hate all these battery powered lights. So, why can't you just attach the USB wires to the now stripped string light wires? The voltage is too different? Sorry for the noob question
The voltage is not too different (5V vs. 4.5 V) but if you look closely there is a resistor inside the battery holder. So, you would need at least a resistor to limit the current in the LED string. Personally I use a constant current driver (two bjts and two resistors) so that the string can take any voltage between 3 and 12 volts (even 24v) and keep the same light level (actually below 4v the brightness drops).
Hi I'm wondering if you can provide some advice? I have 1500 led string fairy lights (150m). Solar panel no longer works and I am trying to convert to power. There were 3 batteries with a total voltage of 4.2v. How could I connect these to analternative power supply?
I don't think that's a proper buck convertor, buck convertors use a coil to transform the voltage. It looks like a simple voltage regulator. The difference is, a buck convertor takes a higher voltage in at a lower current, outputs a lower voltage at a higher current. A lot like a transformer, except it's all DC so it needs a little circuit. A regulator like this takes in a higher voltage and outputs a lower voltage, but at the *same* current. The extra power from the voltage is just turned into heat. Hence the metal heat sink on the main component. The difference in practice, is that a buck convertor doesn't waste power as heat, it's more efficient. And also therefore isn't likely to overheat. It's not a huge difference in practice, though if you were using batteries (eg a home solar setup or the like) then it's best not to waste power. Both types of convertor / regulator are available cheaply, but the type here is just a bit cheaper. Trust Chinese sellers on Ebay or Aliexpress or whoever, to sell the cheaper one labelled as the less-cheap one. Not a huge deal but better to get the real thing. Nice video though, it's a very practical idea. I did the same thing, my grandmother used a string of battery-operated LEDs just to be able to see enough in the bathrooom without the light on. They were 4.5V, 3xAA batteries, so I could just cut the wire off and attach them to one end of a USB lead. USB is 5V, close enough to 4.5V that it doesn't make a difference in most applications. So I didn't need a convertor, you could probably have done without one here. With a phone charger, plugged into the shaver socket through an adaptor, gave safe low-power light with no batteries to buy. In the UK, we aren't allowed mains sockets in bathrooms, for safety. An exception is a 120V "shaver" socket meant for just that, running off a small isolator transformer, so your shaver is isolated from earth. So to get a shock you'd have to touch both terminals, not just live. Same way a bird doesn't get shocked standing on a wire, cos he's not touching the earth. Then even if you did get a shock it would only be 120V, less deadly than the usual 240V. The sockets use an American style socket rather than the usual 3-pin UK socket, to stop people trying to plug in hairdryers etc. Electric razors sold here usually have the American plug on them. [I know you probably know most of this, but for the benefit of the viewer...]
@@TownshendChristmasLights Using the regulator of course gives you the added versatility that later you could run it off 12V or 9V or some other source if you wanted to, whatever it's rated up to. Then there's the opposite of the buck convertor, the BOOST convertor. That increases a voltage (at the cost of drawing higher current). Rather than higher voltage / low current in -> lower voltage higher current out, like the buck convertor, it's the opposite. They're often used in those solar lights, to allow a cheap 1.2V Nicad battery, charged from a cheap solar panel, to run white LEDs that require around 2.7V to light up. You can buy boost convertors as modules too, set up just like this one.
You are correct, this is not a buck regulator. It is an LM317 variable linear voltage regulator. You don't need the regulator, just use a 22 ohm quarter watt resistor instead. This will limit the current to about 100mA.
This is not the correct way to do this; you are overloading the LED's. Don't use the regulator module. Just use a 22 ohm quarter watt resistor in the positive wire.
I disagree. I released this video in 2022, they are still going to this day. I have them over my mantel and they go all day every day. So can't be too wrong.
Oh no! This is so wrong. Good idea but badly made. There was a resistor between batteries and LEDs to limit the voltage/current. You are overloading the LEDs if you bypass this resistor. 4.5V should never reach the LEDs!!!
