Solar Lights

I have about 10 solar lights in the garden and am unsure what sort of batteries that i need for them ?
The funniest thing is that the cheapest ones that i got are as bright as buttons but the more expensive ones are dead. I got some of the ones that change colour and yet they have never really lit up !

 

Shouldn't the batteries recharge each day, thus negating the need to replace them?

I know what you mean but the cheapo ones giving the best light though. I love the pillar ones Wilkinson's sell. They've burned bright all winter, even in the weakest of sunshine. The recent bright sun has been so beneficial for solar lights.

 

Most solar lights are supplied with nickel cadmium (Ni-Cd) batteries, these will be harder to find soon as they are being phased out due to an EU directive. A suitable replacement is nickel metal hydride (NiMH) which to all intents and purposes does the same job. If you open up your lights and take out the batteries you should be able to read the battery rating which will be written in the form of ampere hours (i.e. how much current the battery can deliver over a period of time before it becomes discharged). A typical solar light battery will have something like - "Ni-Cd AA 600mAh 1.2V" indicating Nickel Cadmium, AA size, 600 milliampere hours 1.2 Volts. If you do decide to replace the batteries look for one of similar (mAh) capacity. You could fit ones of slightly greater capacity but not too much greater or they'll not charge fully during sunshine hours.
It might be worth removing the batteries and charging them in a normal Ni-Cd/Ni-MH battery charger if you have one this sometimes can give older batteries a bit of a boost. Another thing to do is clean the battery compartment contacts and give them a light smear with vaseline as the contacts corrode over time. We've had several sets of solar lights over the years and they don't last for ever. The main problems I've found with ours have been failure of the light sensitive cell that switches the lights on at dark and corrosion of the printed circuitry.

 

Thanks, it seems cheaper to replace the lot so i have ordered another 10. I love them.

 

I had the same problem, and was advised that it would be cheaper to buy new lights as the batteries were so expensive to replace. Still looking around for new ones.