cant get it to recharge by sunlight,do I need to turn it on for it to charge itself. I had such high hopes for this gadget.now iam disappointed
1707664
We had the same issue. Never could get it to charge via sunlight. Very disappointing.
1707665
Bought 2 and both did not work under solar, I did notice when its charged 100% the solar light comes on
1707666
It does NOT need to be turned on to charge the internal batteries in the sun. If the green lights to the right of the button don't light up under sunlight, the unit is defective. When it is self-charging, the left green light should stay on and the right one will blink. If you plug a device in to be charged, then the unit must be turned on.
1707667
You have to hold the button down till the lights light up to charge. Solar charging is alittle fustrating, but it works great when it wants to work
2080488
I've had a few hiccups with charging it. But Hold the Orange button down till you see the Solar light or the one next to it blink then let it sit in the sun for as long as possible. You can tell it's charged by the percentage lights when you press the orange button. You can also use a input cable and plug it into the wall.
1593215
Don't know if this will help but before you installed did you lay it in full sun for the day so it was sure to get a full charge? I am assuming you installed in a sunny location. If "yes" to these it sounds like it is defective. Return or exchange it. My mom's has been up for over two years in a partially sunny location is is still working. Good luck.
1563374
If you charge it fully you should be able to get 1-1 1/2 charges out of it before needing to be recharged. If in the sun it will charge the phone battery till full then itself.
2201962
Unfortunately, I have the same problem and no amount of charging is fixing it. It almost feels like there is actually no battery inside, or it used up its number of possible recharges. Returning it to Amazon. Will try one more time to order this thing.
2032950
nope. you need to recharge it again. depending on how humid your environment is, you may have to charge it once a week. I did not care for this product, and moved on to something else.
1613725
I bought my device in spring of 2013 and was extremely disappointed in it. The solar panel "charger" simply never charged the battery sufficiently. And I sent the original one back and got a replacement. Neither worked.
885386
Sounds like a question for the seller! It is either defective or the batteries need charging. Try taking it outside in the sun to see if it will work from solar power alone.
415316
You have to fully charge it via the USB cable before you use it. Once it's charged the indicator light will come on. If it doesn't. There may be something wrong with the charger
1938368
I think it needs the sun to work but I don't know for sure. In the sun it did hop a charge long, nor seem to charge batteries tried two set of recharge batteries. Yes it does have a base. The on off switch is inside the top cover, inconvenient for my situation. Really I was disappointed. I expected more from it.
67081
no it does not charge when placed on the sun with something connected to it i just tried.
1871248
No. Unfortunately, it really needs absolute, direct sunlight. There are some more expensive ones that can charge or maintain a charge in partial sunlight or cloudy conditions, but not this one. We had it overseas on a 2 month hike and it was not useful. Hope this helps.
134249
There is an on/off button on the bottom. If there isn't, then you have a defective item and need to exchange it for one that works. I just took mine out of the box this morning - it's been charging in the sunlight all day - should be really pretty tonight!
1464358
SORRY!! I reported that the device didn't work earlier.....I placed the unit in an east-facing window...AND IT WAS COMPLETELY RECHARGED AFTER THREE DAYS!!! I HADN'T USED IT IN ABOUT A YEAR.
1310682
Try holding down the button on bottom left for a second or two. It should light up and show how much of a charge it has. Push it again and the flashlight will come on. Again and it turns off. But if memory serves me, you should just be able to plug your connection in without "turning it on". Now I found after a short while that my charging connector became loose and if I didn't place it just so, it wouldn't charge up. I've had mine for some months and it still works great when charging from the wall. Never figured out how to do it with the solar part. Hope this helps.
95205
It might be broken but it does not work unless it has direct sunlight. There is no rechargeable battery to store energy. I also bought a battery powered one for under $7.00 that uses a size D that I use on cloudy days. I turn it off at night but forgot about it and it ran for 3 days and was still running before I remembered to turn it off. I put the solar powered back on when the sun is shining. No sun no run.
458677
Make sure it is fully charged before you turn it on. Mine worked for only a few weeks though.