| Klaussinator |
Thu Jul 24, 2008 12:07 pm |
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Took about 15 min today and made some cool tiki lights for the bus.
If you've got any of those busted up cheap outdoor solor lights that you just stick in the ground - SAVE `EM!!! All of mine have been demolished by kids and basketballs over the years, but the head with the solar panel, battery, and light still worked.
Took 2 - 32oz plastic Gatorade bottles and cut them in half (see pics). The bottom of the bottle makes a great base to sit the head on, and you have a table light! Also, the top of the bottle can be inverted to hold the head. I just stuck a 16d nail down thru the cap so I could spike them in the ground - looks just like any other outdoor solar light.
I have four good heads, so I figure if I let them sit on the dash in the sun, I'll have 2 portable table lamps to put where I want and 2 lights to stick in the ground outside the bus once the sun goes down . . .
Sweet !!! :D
-Klauss
SWEET :D |
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| MattVW |
Thu Jul 24, 2008 12:11 pm |
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| cool. |
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| calebmelvin |
Thu Jul 24, 2008 12:12 pm |
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| Free is always a good thing, and no drain on the battery for light is even better! |
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| 2jmotorsports |
Thu Jul 24, 2008 12:12 pm |
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Sweet indeed. 8)
How long does those typically stay lit? All night?
Do they have an on/off switch or do they just come on when it gets dark? |
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| Klaussinator |
Thu Jul 24, 2008 12:18 pm |
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motorsports, They don't have a switch, but they do have a photo-eye so they won't come on until it gets dark. I think when I'm camping, I'll just let them set up, and depending on the sunlight they should come on at dusk. It'll be nice after coming back from fishing or whatever - Like Tom Bodett says, "We'll leave the light on for ya!"
They run for about 3~4 hours depending on how much sun they got. But the batteries are standard off-the-shelf rechargable AA's.
-Klauss |
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| 420GOAT |
Thu Jul 24, 2008 12:31 pm |
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| INOVATIVE! |
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| camit34 |
Thu Jul 24, 2008 12:34 pm |
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| Nice way to innovate and re-use...good on ya! |
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| barefootwestie |
Thu Jul 24, 2008 12:39 pm |
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I wonder what they would look like if you left the Gatorade in the bottle, Some Nice eerie glows with all the flavors they have out now.
:lol: |
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| ScottK |
Thu Jul 24, 2008 1:03 pm |
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| Nice. 8) |
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| theizzardking |
Thu Jul 24, 2008 1:32 pm |
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i`m gonna try this with some old 40 oz bottles haha maybe get a nice green one from a mickey's or some other high dollar beer..... :P
talk about green...solar powered....... recycled plastics.....good deal. :D |
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| Klaussinator |
Fri Jul 25, 2008 6:00 am |
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OK, I checked them last night. They'll stay well lit for about 5-hrs, put out lower light for about another 2-hrs before dying.
More than usable for most outings!
- Klauss |
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| LeeE |
Fri Jul 25, 2008 9:04 am |
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I've been using two old solar lights for a few years, and they still work. Keep them on the dash or on a picnic table to recharge.
One is amber and makes a nice low-level light by itself. The other is white and is very bright, but it looks good set over a jar of water, the water diffuses the light and spreads it around. Hadn't thought about colored Gatorade, as noted above, but that would probably look cool (blue? orange? green?)
Also work as a solar battery charger, I recharge my walkman batteries with them. |
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| Dudder |
Fri Jul 25, 2008 5:33 pm |
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| thats awesome, have some sitting in my garage. |
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| Millennium Falcon |
Fri Jul 25, 2008 7:57 pm |
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| thats awesome, I am going to steal my neighbors. |
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| enjoispammy8 |
Fri Jul 25, 2008 9:06 pm |
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| im going to go ask the neighbor for the ones ive slowly destroyed! hooray for free stuff! |
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| stupidsongs2 |
Sat Jul 26, 2008 1:37 pm |
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Your name is Klauss and you have a VW? Badass
And those Tiki lights are pretty sweet too |
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