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superior replacement battery for solar outdoor spotlight?

I purchased three solar spot lights from Walmart this past summer. As of this time, two of them have nearly died and only one is still shining brightly. I can assume it's the battery. Inside, the two larger spotlights have a Westinghouse 3.2V 400 mA LiFePO4 cell. I'd like to replace this battery with something better. What are my alternatives? Weather here varies from about 80-90 F during Summertime down to freezing during the Winter. Thanks for your help. Bill

Reply to
Bill Petersen
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Dunno. You can somewhat predict the useful life of the battery in days by estimating the number of charger/discharge cycles. At 90F, my guess(tm) is that you're probably good for about 300 charge/discharge cycles, which is about a year.

While only one factor, trying to charge and remain charged at 100% capacity while hot is the magic formula for killing LiIon batteries. I suggest using a larger capacity LiIon battery, and that will never fully charge, thus extending the battery life. Also, make an effort to keep it cool, such as painting it white or reflective. You'll never use or need the full capacity of the battery, so your lights should work fairly normally.

Another idea is to use supercaps. You'll need a fairly large number depending on load. They're also rather expensive and bulky. However, they last for millions of charge/discharge cycles.

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Jeff Liebermann     jeffl@cruzio.com 
150 Felker St #D    http://www.LearnByDestroying.com 
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Jeff Liebermann

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