Post #542588 by Trader Rick on Thu, Jul 15, 2010 5:56 AM

This is about those plastic yard tikis you've seen and maybe bought from Target and Big Lots that have the photo-electric cells in the top. I bet your's didn't work when you got it home, did it? And since it was a bargin, there were probably no instruction that came with it. Well the problem is that most of us when we see the photo-electric cell assume that the battery is charged and powered by the cell. NOT SO! The photo electric cell is only there to turn the lights on and off depending on daylight or the rooms ambiant light. The battery is a standard AA cell or some other kind of battery that can be replaced by unscrewing the switch box at the bottom and replacing the battery. Most of these things were supplied with cheap generic batteries that probably were meant to last 2 or 3 hours at most and by the time they got put on the shelf for you to buy they were stone dead. Put a good AA battery in there and you'll be back in business.