It's a flame emulating solar light. Nothing particularly new about that, but what is new is the way they've implemented the LEDs for the flame effect Inside, it's a different configuration from normal and it looks pretty good. Let me, uh, turn the light off while I'll change a lighting settings so you can see this properly and then you can see what it looks like in real life. So the first thing you notice is it's a kind of wider light at the base, and it's a reasonably accurate.

It's not going for that usual stripe of LEDs that surges up the way. The pattern is fairly repetitive, but there is variation. It's quite complex working up they're doing here, but there is a distinct intensity Rhythm You can see it at the bottom here, just ramping up and down, but the alternation of the other LEDs is different. Okay, I'll bring back the light, so watch your eyes and then we can open it and I can explore it one moment.

please. The light is back. Let's open it up and reveal the Oddity inside. So instead of going for the usual strip of LEDs, let me Zoom down there so you can see it better.

They've actually got a very crude flame shape of LEDs and when I enable this, it seems like the pair at the bottom lied together. the pair above the line together, and then the one at the top is independent. So pretty much three channels. Uh, the LEDs are emulated identically on the other side.

And because they mount this Diagon in here, it does provide fairly good illumination. And let me just try and slip this back in and cover it. It does provide fairly good elimination from all the sides. I Noticed that when I experimentally turned the circuit board round so that it was facing directly out one side, It produced a very dark shadow down the middle, so they were deliberately hiding that shadow of the circuit board on one of the corners.

It's quite neat. Okay, it's time to open up. Here is the screwdriver fills screwdriver with a Phillips bit. The solar panel instantly is 33 millimeter square or roughly an inch and a quarter.

It's a fairly decent solar panel. I could turn this off. This is where I really should actually upgrade to a high speed screw whipper outer mechanic style like South Main else wouldn't uh, other channels. So it's using a triple A nickel metal hydride cell rated 600 milliamp hour.

Not much else in the back other than the switch and that then heads all out to the circuit board. and initially I can see a little inductor probably a boost chip, a diode for ratification capacitor, and the other side you can see another capacitor. they're just in parallel the chip and then the LEDs but no resistors. I Guess it's just relying the fact that that little inductor limits are current.

Okay, I shall whip the connections off this circuit board and we can reverse engineer it one moment. Please, reverse engineering is complete. Let's explore the circuitry. I shall Zoom down in this so we can see the shortcut batter this solar panel despite just being 33 millimeters or inch and a quarter.

Square when held up to one of these 20 watt LED Floodlights generated 125 milliamps current. That's very impressive while seeing it's got a 600 milliamp hour nickel metal hydride cell. that's a good output that would only happen in direct sunlight. Well, actually in direct sunlight may even be higher.

The circuit board has the two sides. The LEDs are copied on either side with Uh. There are five distinct circuits even though the D and E at the bottom here and the B and C seem to lie together. they are wired separately to a pin of the microcontroller here and I Guess that's just because.

Um, although they may well just be lighting together, it just means that there's more current available to LEDs when you've only got two in parallel each time. Um, the Boost circuit and the charge control circuit is a fairly standard little chip. Got these shampoo with this because it was very similar to another Uh. flickering effect like I took a look at is probably from the same Factory So it uses the little layer, the solar control chip, an inductor, a shot key, diode, and then a capacitor to generate the DC voltage required for this microcontroller.

The microcontroller, also on the other side has a little capacitor as well, just belt and Brace I Suppose you'd have thought one would do, but they've got two. It makes sense. There's no harm in having a couple of capacitors. Um, I think at this point really, we've seen the configuration LEDs how the warden parallel appears on the other side, and how there's five circuits in the microcontroller.

We've seen that the charge and boost control circuit with its inductor. Here, let's go straight to the schematic. It makes more sense. Foreign, a little bit more so.

the charge control chip is called capital A small, a small T Capital L capital B And this solar panel is connected from the positive of the chip to the input to that. The negatives connect to the input and it charges the nick of metal hydride itself when the switch is closed. If you have the switch off, it won't charge during the day it would presumably it's to prevent overcharging. But here, when the switch is closed, that's the Wii switch that will probably give problems that you could possibly just put a blob of solder over and coincidentally, get a dab of Vaseline or silicone grease and put it in these contacts here.

Maybe even spray the circuit board with. Uh, or paint it with nail varnish. Just protectors these things. You know, it just protects these lights from moisture damage, but um, the liquid metal hydride cell is charged from the solar panel via this chip because it's got a little diode inside and it also uses that to sense dusk.

When it detects the low level output, it switches on the circuitry inside that starts pulsing this inductor and it does. These units do send to tend to detect when the nickel metal hydrate cells drop to about one volts and then they'll start pulsing because they know it's fully discharged. Uh, when it pulses, this ends positive, It pulls it down negative and when it does that, it creates a magnetic field in that direction. When the magnetic it turns off, the magnetic field collapses.

This angle is positive. This angle is negative. It adds to the voltage of the cell and pushes through this uh short shortcut diode and charges this capacitor and it keeps doing that at very high frequency, providing a DC voltage here which is fed to the microcontroller and also to the positive of all the LEDs The LEDs are then switched down to the negative. no resistors is relying on the impedance of the outputs of the microcontroller and that just lights the LEDs and then the rest is done in software.

It's very straightforward, but it's actually pretty good. I Do feel that they could have used a bit more randomization in here just for variety. Even with the just the seemingly three channels, it's still not too bad. Um, in my own version of this in the past because the more LEDs that light up the dimmer, the other channel goes.

I've just experimentally just connected the two bottom LEDs straight across the supply rail or enabled them in software continually just so they were just lit. but they would fluctuate up and down as other LEDs lit and then after that it's really just getting a an effect that you maybe ramp or just flash this one this layer up and down and then the tip one just basically occasionally sweep up every so often. It's a very simple pattern and that randomizer could add a lot to that, but there we have it. the little uh flicker Flame Solar Garden.

Like you know, it's not bad. it's not bad at all. and this one came from Poundstretcher in the UK but I guess they'd be found elsewhere. The usual thing is just a straight line of LEDs but this little uh fat uh flame shape of LEDs actually makes a difference.

It's quite a good result.