Luci Lights are Junk

[zboss]

I'm trying to figure out if our experience with Luci solar lights is just an odd coincidence or if others have had the same issues:

We bought two of the original Luci lights over a year ago. About two months after we bought them one light seems to have developed a leak and would not hold air. The other had a progressively shorter ON period after a full daily sun charge, eventually we tossed them both because they didn't satisfy our needs. When they were new they would stay on almost all night.

When we saw they were selling new ones that color changed, my wife and I thought we would give them a go and see if they had improved or fixed the issues we had with the old ones, so we bought two of the new ones.

Same story... after about only a month, and after a full day of sun, they shut off after about an hour or maybe two. We returned them to West Marine.

Anyone else have an issue with these lights? Any recommendations on alternative warm-white LED solar powered lanterns?

- z

[Lake-Effect]

Originally Posted by zboss

Any recommendations on alternative warm-white LED solar powered lanterns?

Yeah. Don't expect much from LED solar-powered lanterns

I have not tried the Luci lights, but the price tells the story. Every other such light I've seen started life as the innards from a cheap garden solar light (including the multicoloured version), and it seems that many don't last more than one summer. The batteries lose capacity, the circuit boards fail, leads oxidize. The LEDs themselves are vulnerable to static and induced reverse voltages.

We do have a few solar powered lights ourselves - we buy a few solar yard lights in the fall when they're on sale for $1 or so each. it's worth it just for the NiCd AA batteries.

If you can find a suitable solar light, and take a few steps like resoldering then waterproofing the board, it may last longer. Hardly seems worth it when they're available for $1.