I had mentioned an earlier project where I hacked the parts of some solar deck lights, where the lights were cheaper than me buying all the parts myself.
So of course, when you have hammer, everything is a nail. So, of course, I have been thinking of other projects that can use the solar deck light parts.
One Hundred Years
The Boston Bruins are celebrating this year their 100th anniversary. Being a Bruins fan, I wanted to do something to celebrate, too.
So I figured I’d do a solar powered sign to put out front.
And, as I am a 3D printer kind of guy, I printed out the parts of the sign.
The build
I downloaded the current Bruins logo from WikiMedia and printed it out in three colors (see image above).
I then designed and built a frame to hold the logo and parts of the solar powered light, and to backlight the logo.
[Aside: because the print was so large, I did a lot of test prints of just certain parts, for example to ensure fit of battery and buttons and the like]
In use
I was happy with the build. Only thing, I set it up high up on the side of my house (there was a hanging hook already there), where the eaves leave a shadow, even in January here at latitude 42°. Therefore, I was taking it down to charge in the full sun. I was also trying to hang it from a wire so that it was lower and more in the sun. But I did not like that.
As things progressed thru March, I gave up and just left it on the hook. Tho it is still in the shadow from the eaves, even longer as we head into Spring.
Also, because I had it and didn’t expect to use it much, I was doing my test prints in blue filament. In the end, I liked the color and kept it for the blue glow it provides behind the spoked B.
One other catch: The solar lights have three settings. The one I usually use is the third, which turns on the lights with movement.
But I wanted this sign to be on all the time. So I have it set to the second setting, where it is mostly lit and gets brighter with motion.
Luckily, anyone or anything passing in front of my house (many 10s of feet away) is picked up by the sensor.
Tho, being on all the time also means that the lights are not on all night. But the sign in the end is on for many hours after sunset when it starts with a full charge. Good enough for me!
And of course, folks can see the sign, albeit, small, during the day as well.
Go, Bruins!
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