Eaton all-pro solar motion detector lights

oil pan 4 · 08-31-17, 07:38 AM

I bought one of these lights for around $70.
Wanted motion lights that will still work when the power goes out, I could easily run power to regular 120v powered motion lights.
I put one in my back yard intended to use it kind of a lot. With my dogs turning it on the most.
I bought one to test it out and will buy more if I like them and if I can replace the battery when it croaks. Well I do like them and the battery is a very easy to replace, an easy to find common 18650 cell.
Turns out they are easy to install too. But they are for low traffic areas. My dogs and I ran it dead in 2 days. I even installed it, turned it off for the first night, letting it charge for about a day and a half before using it at all.

I hacked it and tied in a wall wart 3.5v 100ma power supply that makes 5.5v OCV to recharge the battery to get it going and I am going to unplug one of the 2 LED lights so when it does come on it only uses half the power, until I modify it.

I am going to modify mine a lot. I am going to go from two 18650 batteries to 4 of them and install 1 or 2 more 6 volt solar panels. I am going to angle the panels so one picks up morning sun and one late afternoon sun if I install one additional panel then if I do 2 additional panels I will angle one for morning light, noon and afternoon. I'm assuming if I have all panels working together at the same time with 2x or 3x the normal panel power feeding amps into the charge controller could fry it so I'm not going to try.

I'm adding the additional battery capacity for times of exceptional heavy use.
And the extra solar panels just to keep it charged up. Hopefully I can leave both lights plugged in.

oil pan 4 · 08-31-17, 06:49 PM

After about 24 hours on the charger drawing 0.15a the battery voltage has risen to 3.73v. This is the bulk absorption voltage so who knows how long it will stay there.

oil pan 4 · 09-08-17, 09:45 AM

I have returned my solar light to service but I unplugged one light and turn off the whole thing for 2 or 3 days at a time.
I'm still waiting for my batteries and solar panels.

08-31-17, 07:38 AM	#1
oil pan 4 Land owner Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: NM Posts: 1,026 Thanks: 12 Thanked 127 Times in 107 Posts	Eaton all-pro solar motion detector lights I bought one of these lights for around $70. Wanted motion lights that will still work when the power goes out, I could easily run power to regular 120v powered motion lights. I put one in my back yard intended to use it kind of a lot. With my dogs turning it on the most. I bought one to test it out and will buy more if I like them and if I can replace the battery when it croaks. Well I do like them and the battery is a very easy to replace, an easy to find common 18650 cell. Turns out they are easy to install too. But they are for low traffic areas. My dogs and I ran it dead in 2 days. I even installed it, turned it off for the first night, letting it charge for about a day and a half before using it at all. I hacked it and tied in a wall wart 3.5v 100ma power supply that makes 5.5v OCV to recharge the battery to get it going and I am going to unplug one of the 2 LED lights so when it does come on it only uses half the power, until I modify it. I am going to modify mine a lot. I am going to go from two 18650 batteries to 4 of them and install 1 or 2 more 6 volt solar panels. I am going to angle the panels so one picks up morning sun and one late afternoon sun if I install one additional panel then if I do 2 additional panels I will angle one for morning light, noon and afternoon. I'm assuming if I have all panels working together at the same time with 2x or 3x the normal panel power feeding amps into the charge controller could fry it so I'm not going to try. I'm adding the additional battery capacity for times of exceptional heavy use. And the extra solar panels just to keep it charged up. Hopefully I can leave both lights plugged in. Attached Thumbnails

08-31-17, 06:49 PM	#2
oil pan 4 Land owner Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: NM Posts: 1,026 Thanks: 12 Thanked 127 Times in 107 Posts	After about 24 hours on the charger drawing 0.15a the battery voltage has risen to 3.73v. This is the bulk absorption voltage so who knows how long it will stay there.

09-08-17, 09:45 AM	#3
oil pan 4 Land owner Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: NM Posts: 1,026 Thanks: 12 Thanked 127 Times in 107 Posts	I have returned my solar light to service but I unplugged one light and turn off the whole thing for 2 or 3 days at a time. I'm still waiting for my batteries and solar panels.