So I’ve got a bunch of those solar led lamps from China and they worked pretty good all summer, but now they only work for like 2 hours, then get very dim and eventually stop, even when there’s sun all day
I suspect the noname 18650 cells are not that good and I was thinking to replace them with some good cells with 3400 mah capacity.
But because these lamps are very cheap, I think the solar charger is tailored for the noname cell that comes with it. Could the charger damage the good cells, like over charge them? And the led driver to over discharge them?
Would it help if I bought protected cells, or the protection would not work in this situation?
I am pretty sure even the very cheap lamps have OC/OD protection circuits. It cost ~0.3USD and will drain the cell on the first use without it . Protected cells will double the protection if you want to be extra carful
Depending on where you have the lights — The elements might be killing the cells — Li-ion for sure doesn’t like the Heat