Hi, I’m a total noob - please excuse my ignorance.
That said, I have just purchased a flag pole light with 3 LEDs that shines on a 3x5 flag that is positioned roughly 4.5 feet away from it. It was so dim that my heart sank, but I thought the batteries could have been an issue. I popped the compartment open and found two 600mah Ni-CD 1.2v rechargeables (solar panel recharges it). I tried some Amazon Basics 2400mah Ni-MH 1.2v batteries, and then some alkaline 1.5v. The alkalines were 60-70% brighter according to an app on my phone to measure lux. That makes sense since I fed 3.0v total instead of 2.4v to it.
So I started thinking about replacing LEDs or trying Li-ion batteries since they’re rated at 3.6-3.7v. But 3.7v times 2 = 7.4v and that’s more than a little jump in power. I don’t dare do anything until I talk to someone knowledgeable about this stuff.
1. Does this sound doable or would I just melt my new light?
2. If it shipped with Ni-CD, would the solar charger even work with Li-ion technology?
3. I think I understand the size I would need to match the AAs is 14500 and batteries marketed for garden lights seem to be LiFePO4 types. Do I need to stick to those? Or stick to low voltage Ni-MH/Ni-CD since that’s what it was designed for?
Thanks for any advice.
By the way, I don’t know anything about measuring light, but when I held my Android phone up where the bottom of the flag was (4’4” from light) it measured about 14-15 lx with the Ni-MH and 24 lx with the alkalines. It’s so lame… barely better than moonlight it seems. Had to turn off my porch light and cut off the lights from my windows just to see the illumination. shaking my head