Helpfile – Removing the glass solar panel from those cheap garden lights

I was searching for some useful solar panels and decided to take all the panels out of the garden lights that I had used for a previous project. As they are hot glued into the plastic casing I found the easiest way to get them out was to hold them under my spotlight which heated them enough to soften the glue and then pushed them out using a stick through the holes the wires go through.

I recently made a small solar powered car using one of these glass panels. To get it to work I was holding it right under the spotlight. Because I had assembled it using hot glue it started to fall apart as the hot glue softened and a bell rang in my head. I have chipped plenty of these glass panels in the past trying to lever them out and usually break the wires off at the same time. Hair dryers work too, but this spotlight is on my workbench specifically for testing solar toys because all my other lights are CFLs and don’t give enough power.

Filmed using FujiFilm FinePix S4800
Edited using Serif MoviePlus Starter Edition

I will add this new video to my Helpfiles playlist https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLA5a2xPRSrB2v0vxMJyZ9cPweAGx1FK6e
and my Solar Power playlist https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLA5a2xPRSrB1SVLRn_D16dRvTrocMhFPq

I have thousands of videos on YouTube covering a wide range of subjects. To find them follow my search guides https://youtu.be/ceBSOoOHcgw or https://youtu.be/Zj4UgwkwYRk or see my playlists page https://www.youtube.com/user/GrandadIsAnOldMan/playlists?flow=grid&view=1
Generally my projects are for my grandchildren to enjoy. OK, I enjoy them too. If anybody else likes them, that is a bonus. I like to keep my work as simple and basic as possible so that it can be copied easily and improved by anybody who wants to try themselves. I recycle or repurpose items rather than buy new and when I do buy I like to keep it cheap.

https://www.youtube.com/user/GrandadIsAnOldMan