Retrofit an Outdoor LED Night Light Into a Bird Feeder

By taking apart any solar LED you can mount the whole kit inside any outdoor bird
feeder, house, etc.?
This example was my real first try. I was able to get everything mounted perfectly while
also keeping it all dry and hidden. I also used the best feature of these lights and that
is the photo-sensor for night only on action. You should have a basic knowledge of
soldering and dealing with fine gauge wire. Wood cutting tools and skills would also be
appropriate for this retrofit.

Items I used:
- old bird feeder or house
- Solar LED outdoor light with photo-sensor
- new Rechargeable battery with full charge

Tools:
-drill
-dremel type tool with wood/plastic cutting bits
-soldering kit (for back up or wire extending)
-glue or window caulking

Step 1: Disasseble Your Night Light

Your model of LED night light will dictate your approach to getting down to just
the basic guts of your project. Try to keep all the wires still attached. My wires
were thin and kept braking so be forewarned.

Parts to salvage:
-solar panel
-photo-sensor
-LED
-circuit board
-battery tray

-I unscrewed the two halves of my light and popped the small solar panel and photo-sensor
out of the top half as they are glued on.
-unscrew the circuit board from the bottom half
-Then I used the dremel tool to cut the battery housing off of the bottom half.
-Fix any loose wires or now is the time to make them longer if necessary.

Step 2: Cut and Fit

This is were things get personal and only you can create your light.
My old bird feeder is tall and has the trapdoor lid so I placed it all under the lid.

1. Dry fit and mark how all the pieces of where the LED bundle are going inside your housing of choice.
2. Cut your hole for the solar panel.
3. Drill hole for the photo-sensor.
4. clean up your edges.

Step 3: Install All Items

-Now as you can see I have used glue to attach my solar panel and then I sealed around it
to help make it water resistant.

-I screwed the battery tray onto the side

-Then i placed a small cut piece of old bike tube under the LED poles and stapled both into place

-Push photo-sensor into hole

-The circuit board just floats in the air

I figured that this is about as weatherproof as the plastic housing, so I did not get to crazy with sealing.

Step 4: All Done!

Add your new Battery and check that your photo-sensor is working and presto! new garden art action.

You could really go to town in your yard with this mod. I have plans to retrofit an old mexican hanging
lamp next. This one will involve using the solar panel from a motion type light. Hope you can make something cool from my instructable.