Bought a set of solar LED deck lights - with a remote photocell/battery pack.
I want the photocell/battery pack on the shed roof to get max charging, but the cable ain't not long enough.
Makers say "Unfortunately it is not possible to extend the length to the solar lights, or add extension cables".
Why would that be?
I would think...voltage drop. Just use very thick cable?
Could it be they don't trust customers to make the joins weatherproof? Easier to say your customers that you can't than "you are an idiot who wouldn't do it properly"! :-)
You might find (if the unit is pre-wired) that the cable is permanently connected to the battery and cutting it to extend it will but a dead short on the battery. Just a thought
Bob
weatherproof?
Or that the maker doesn't want get involved in "weather proof" connectors at all. Decent weather proof connectors aren't cheap...
Only if you just take your snips and cut straight through the cable. With figure of eight cable it's perfectly possible to snip one wire, then the other. Or split the cable into two wires then cut each one in turn. Other forms of cable can also be dissected and the individual wires separated out.
I'd say it's perfectly possible to extend the cable but we'd need to know more about these lights first.
Probably because nobody thought of it at the time, most likely!
Brian
Yes, I was laughing cos some I've had for years have IDC connectors for the lights so you can string them out to the length you want. Hardly waterproof, but workable.
Besides, if the system is not protected against a short its pretty dire. Mice love cables to chew on I have found.
Brian
Maybe the "cable" has some resistance to limit charging current - or is made with some tinsel that nobody can connect to... I would look at the ends of the cable first to see if normal copper.
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