DIYbanter - View Single Post - What would cause a solar panel battery charger to die?

Diesel

Mon, 10 Aug 2015
04:34:16 GMT in alt.home.repair, wrote:

I bought one of the solar chargers they sell at Harbor Freight for
around $20. They are made to charge a 12 volt battery at 1.5
watts. Granted that is not a lot of power, but just to keep a
battery topped off, it worked fine.

I particularly bought it to keep a car battery charged for a
battery powered electric fencer, but I also took it when I went
camping, so keep my car battery charged after running my laptop
computer off the car's battery without starting the car to
recharge the battery. The computer often ran for several hours to
play movies.

Anyhow, aside from the fact that it's cheap Harbor Freight junk.
It stopped charging completely. There was a blue LED on it that
would indicate it was charging, and that LED no longer lights in
bright sun, and my volt meter shows no output.

Sounds like a weak solder joint has failed. Or, a diode...you can take
the device apart and probe it with your meter. You should be able to
determine if the panel itself isn't producing power OR the circuit
board is no longer doing anything with it.

--
Optimist: Someone who doesn't know all the facts yet.