Can I use a 2000mAh battery instead of a 700mAh in an outdoor light and what is the difference?
Thank you.
John Kay, California, USA
I'll read between the lines on that question' because it's one I bet a lot of people have asked themselves.
I'll bet you're talking about a solar-powered garden light or some other sort of outdoor light.
These things typically cost as little as $2 (depending on which country you're in) and are made in China.
The usually consist of a solar cell' a charging circuit' a couple of cheap Nickel Cadmium (NiCd) batteries and a white LED (Light Emitting Diode). The batteries are usually the same slip-in sort that you'd find in other devices. That is' they aren't soldered in place and can be replaced by the user.
They charge during sunlight house then power the LED during the first part of the night hours.
How long they stay lit depends on a number of factors including the amount of sunlight' the efficiency of the LED and electronics and the capacity of the battery.
Replacing the battery with a higher-capacity one could have all sorts of outcomes:
- It might hold more charge' therefore last longer into the night.
- It may never charge fully because the solar cell isn't powerful enough
- It may last a lot longer than the original because it will presumably be much better quality
- It will be better because (presumably) it with be Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH) which has superior characteristics over NiCd.
The answer to your question is simple: try it. Presumably you have a few of these lights' so why not try different batteries in a few and see what happens. only thing Id recommend is that you charge them first (in a standard household battery charger) then observe them for a week.
You might want to try:
- known brand in same capacity)
- Higher capacity NiCd batteries (say 50% more capacity)
- Higher capacity NiMH batteries (say 50%)
- High power NiMH batteries (as you suggest
Remember that the charging characteristics of NiMH batteries are different to NiCd so there;'s no guarantee that you can swap types in any given light.
Do any readers have experience with this/
Also
Google the question.
Paul ZuckerFrankPosted: 16/11/2009
re: Swapping batteries
Ive tried this and it does work but what you will find is once the charge has been used up it will never fully re-charge itself and possibly even retain a memory effect where it will never fully charge back to its original capacity.
Therefore stick to what is recomended in voltage and milli amps which usually is 1.2Vlt 600 to 700 milli amps because the cheap charging circuits in outdoor solar lighting under ideal charging conditions will at least have the potential to charge them back up to about 75 to 85 percent.
Its also cheaper as i have found that higher capacity batteries dont last as long in these types of lighting because they can never charge fully.
Frank n St31n