The circuity on this solar rock light had a few weird features that took me a long time to suss out. They're good features though - especially the polarity protection on the changeable lithium cell. There's also an option on the PCB to replace that with a link for hard wired cells.
The charge control chip is unusual in that it also has a dusk sensor function. A brief search on the 'net didn't find any data on it. But it will basically monitor the cell voltage to protect it against overcharge and low voltage. Unusually, it doesn't have the common resistor/capacitor filter for stable voltage monitoring that many similar devices have.
It's a pretty good design with some thoughtful features like the reverse cell protection. That suggests that they may be actively encouraging the replacement of the cell if needed for product longevity. Or it might just be to protect against accidental cell polarity incidents at the factory.
For indoor use it would be viable to add your own TP4056 module for USB recharging.
Another worthy mod would be to replace the cool white LED with a warm white one for a gentler glow.
Supporting the channel with a dollar or two on Patreon helps keep it independent of YouTube's quirks, avoids intrusive mid-video adverts, gives early access, bonus footage and regular quiet Patreon live streams.
https://www.patreon.com/bigclive
#ElectronicsCreators
The charge control chip is unusual in that it also has a dusk sensor function. A brief search on the 'net didn't find any data on it. But it will basically monitor the cell voltage to protect it against overcharge and low voltage. Unusually, it doesn't have the common resistor/capacitor filter for stable voltage monitoring that many similar devices have.
It's a pretty good design with some thoughtful features like the reverse cell protection. That suggests that they may be actively encouraging the replacement of the cell if needed for product longevity. Or it might just be to protect against accidental cell polarity incidents at the factory.
For indoor use it would be viable to add your own TP4056 module for USB recharging.
Another worthy mod would be to replace the cool white LED with a warm white one for a gentler glow.
Supporting the channel with a dollar or two on Patreon helps keep it independent of YouTube's quirks, avoids intrusive mid-video adverts, gives early access, bonus footage and regular quiet Patreon live streams.
https://www.patreon.com/bigclive
#ElectronicsCreators
Get your rocks off Aldi.
eggrock , if they shaped it like a proper egg , pointing up , it would've been a good alien egg prop . carve some pattern on it and the horror is ready .
It is the first time I see the MOSFET polarity protection, and I like it. If I understand it correctly, it does the same job as two diodes but at half the voltage drop. Very neat.
Very nice-looking thing. Shame they are not for sale in my local i would have got a few of them. I dont think they will last to long outside in elements though. Those 1850s really dont like getting cold. But as something to pop out during the summer they would be good. I would have liked to seen an indoor version of this you can put in the window. Aldi make some good stuff. BTW the product ID is "711641498273001" so if you google that the page will come up that sold it with info.
I love this circuit! Question: why the MOSFET instead of a simple diode?
So , does the Mosfet also prevent overcharging?
Wow, a solar light that is not totally under-engineered. Finally!
Hi Clive? It's Great to be back home 🤔😁😊😉
respectfully requesting an "orb pondering" cosplay with Big Clive in a robe pondering the Aldi glowing rock
It always bothered me that every single one of these Chinese LED light remote controls, the on button is red. Why? I mean if they're making them all the same for billions of these, at least make the button the right color!
I love the idea that a "glowing rock" can have a schematic.
No low-temp protection for the lithium cell? It will go DED during the first winter!
YouTube: Look at all this amazingly flashy and entertaining content!!
Me: Haha light rock go brr.
I'm not going to lie, Clive. I use your videos a lot to go to sleep to, very entertaining and interesting, but especially the videos I understand very little its fun to pass out to, just listening to you ramble. Mean all of this as nice as possible.