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Step 5Charging and Operating the assembly
As you can see in the picture I used a stacking arrangement when I placed the assembly outdoors. This allows the photo-detector to operate and properly trigger the light in response to sundown/sunup.
The power and light assembly needs to be balanced so that the face is exposed to the sunlight and the light positioned so that it is viewable. The light, circuit board and power leads can be CAREFULLY inserted back into the lens to provide a weather resistant housing. You can see this in the intro picture if you look closely, the light and circuit board are both inside the original lens housing. With some thought and a little soldering of the leads the whole assembly should fit completely back into the lens housing which can then be reattached to its original base and the power leads going out through the original hole in the base.
Once the cells are in place they are charged with a mild saline solution. I used a 5% solution ( 5g of salt in 1L of tap water) and got satisfactory results. I charged each cell with approximately 300mL of electrolyte and began to measure performance of the circuit. As you can see I rapidly got 1.3V but this dropped to about 800mV after a few hours.
The device will operate without maintenance for about a week or so. With maintenance it will operate as long as there is fuel (aluminum) and oxygen. Overall I found this assembly more reliable than the solar lights which generally lose power by about 2 or 3 A.M while the al air run reliably from sundown to sunup.
I found it best to circulate the electrolyte a couple of times a day and replace every two or three days. I replaced the foil once a week and got satisfactory results.
Enjoy and good luck.
The power and light assembly needs to be balanced so that the face is exposed to the sunlight and the light positioned so that it is viewable. The light, circuit board and power leads can be CAREFULLY inserted back into the lens to provide a weather resistant housing. You can see this in the intro picture if you look closely, the light and circuit board are both inside the original lens housing. With some thought and a little soldering of the leads the whole assembly should fit completely back into the lens housing which can then be reattached to its original base and the power leads going out through the original hole in the base.
Once the cells are in place they are charged with a mild saline solution. I used a 5% solution ( 5g of salt in 1L of tap water) and got satisfactory results. I charged each cell with approximately 300mL of electrolyte and began to measure performance of the circuit. As you can see I rapidly got 1.3V but this dropped to about 800mV after a few hours.
The device will operate without maintenance for about a week or so. With maintenance it will operate as long as there is fuel (aluminum) and oxygen. Overall I found this assembly more reliable than the solar lights which generally lose power by about 2 or 3 A.M while the al air run reliably from sundown to sunup.
I found it best to circulate the electrolyte a couple of times a day and replace every two or three days. I replaced the foil once a week and got satisfactory results.
Enjoy and good luck.
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Jan 17, 2010. 8:31 AM
buteman
says:
buteman
says:
Like this, great idea. Could I just ask did you mean 0.5% solution which 5gm in 1L is or 5% i.e 5gm in 100mls?
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Jan 17, 2010. 9:14 AMegbertfitzwilly (author)
says:
egbertfitzwilly (author)
says:
Actually I used 5g in 1L, intended to use a 5% solution but ending up with a much milder electrolyte. I have not experimented with the salinity/energy ratio but I suspect the more salt the higher the current.
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