Walkway Lights

Jmellc · Saturday at 10:01 PM

My daughter gave us some solar walkway lights several years ago. They’ve worked well but the plastic stems gave out. I found some good ones at Home Depot but they still have plastic stems. I found a solution. The stem fits well into a stick of 1 inch EMT. I cut pipes 19 inches, painted them & drove then 9 inches into the ground, then 9 inch light stems fit in well. Plastic stem is well protected & if a pipe rusts out, it’s easy to replace. I’m pleased with them. See pics…

dave*99 · Saturday at 10:29 PM

Solar lights that still worked and the plastic stems failed first?
I didn’t think it was possible.

The Cobbler · Saturday at 10:57 PM

nice fix

Jmellc · Sunday at 12:15 AM

dave*99 said:
Solar lights that still worked and the plastic stems failed first?
I didn’t think it was possible.

Surprisingly we got about 5 years out of them before 2 of them gave out & wife got 2 more, close as she could find. All others were still lighting up when I trashed them. Not much left of the stems. Yes, I was surprised. We tried a couple of solar lights before that were a flop.

LopezBart · Sunday at 12:30 AM

Jmellc said:
We tried a couple of solar lights before that were a flop.

The batteries usually fail first.

Jmellc · Sunday at 12:42 AM

LopezBart said:
The batteries usually fail first.

Those didn't even work well when batteries were new, only got worse. We didn't keep them.

Steve.S · Tuesday at 1:11 PM

LopezBart said:
The batteries usually fail first.

I've had good luck replacing the rechargeable batteries. AA NiMH from Amazon work for at least a year or so.

dscheidt · Tuesday at 3:21 PM

The ones I've dealt with have failed from water intrusion. Switch fails (easy to bypass) or the solar cell gets water in it, and they're toast. Opening them up when they're brand new, and spraying with grease adds a year or so to their life.

Shiftless · Tuesday at 3:33 PM

How can you guys tolerate lights that have to be replaced every year or two? Crappy plastic junk constantly flowing into landfills.

ehcsrop · Wednesday at 11:11 AM

@[B]Shiftless[/B], totally agree. Yet outdoor low voltage wire rated for burial is costly, the only disadvantage I can see to not have a LV system. I have picked up a couple dozen lights, many with working bulbs, which aren't too expensive to buy. I try to buy a little higher wattage and they last a long time. As long or longer than the fixture internals. Maintenance is the key, but who does that?

Walkway Lights

Jmellc

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