I think the 6v battery is dead, 6v made by Eagle Picher, Carefree. The voltage measure 0.5. Do these rechargeable batteries get this low under ordinary circumstances?
Really deep discharge, it's possible. I believe these are NiCad?
Try charging under bright sunlight for a day. Read the battery voltage while it's charging, and see if it goes up. If not, there may be a loose wire or bad connection somewhere. That seems to be a problem with these outdoor lights.
You could always just try a new battery and see if it works.
Remember to recycle the battery when you buy a new one. If you buy where you bought the lamp, Brinkmann guarantees they'll take it back for recycling.
Good luck Chris
Put your DMM leads on the battery, and place the solar light in sunlight. Since the battery isn't dead shorted, you should see a big increase in voltage in sunlight.
Good luck Chris
OK, Mr. Watson. I'd guess the charging part is working. Wait a bit (at least a couple of hours), and with the DMM still connected, cover the solar panel, then check the voltage. Unless it's quite a bit higher than 0.5V, the battery's probably cashed.
Cheers Chris
Eagle Picher Carefree IIRC is a Sealed Lead Acid chemistry, it's a square brick similar to those used in emergency lighting systems. If it's gotten down to that low of a voltage it most likely won't come back. That has been my experience in the past with very deeply discharged SLA batteries. They might exhibit the correct terminal voltage when under charge but the minute a load is applied they crap out.
-wlb
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