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List Price: $40.00
Sale Price: $30.94
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The sun jar works as promised . . . sort of. First, the supplied NiMH AA battery is only 700Mh, so it doesn't hold much of a charge. I replaced it with a better AA rechargable battery from Target ( 2200 Mh Enegizer 4 pack for $10.00), and performance greatly improved. Still, as the instructions state, the jar must be placed in direct sunlight to charge. When I leave it outside, it does take a charge well and the light glows brightly all night. But if you simply leave the jar on your windowsill to charge, the results are disappointing the light is dim and lasts only a short while. I suspect that as we head into fall and winter, charging will be more difficult.
Again, the concept of a rechargable nightlight is a good one, and my kids love it. But the battery and the PV charging panel are both undersized for the task. Of course, you can always recharge the battery in a AC charger, but that defeats the purpose of having a rechargable nightlight. The deduction of stars was based primarily on my subjective perception of value. If the Sun Jar were $20, I would give it 4 stars, but would still replace the battery with a new one.
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I bought a Sun Jar for a birthday gift for my girlfriend. It didn't work after she left it in a south facing window all day. So, we did a little investigating on the inside and the hot glue gun attached battery pack fell off the circuit board, then the wire connecting the battery to the board broke free from the solder. After playing with it a little while, i came to the conclusion that the rechargeable battery was installed backward and after reversing the battery and holding the wire to the point it disconnected from it finally worked. Instead of returning it, i choose to try to re-solder the wire myself....big mistake because in the process more hot glued parts and poorly solder wires came loose. After finally giving up and making its innards total fubar ,I bought my girlfriend another gift and now I have a nice frosted jar for my change.
The product is a good idea, but the craftsmanship is so poor that I would not recommend this product to anyone.
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There are a few solar powered lights out there, most of them for outdoor gardens. The main problem with too many of them, this one in particular, is the cost-cutting cheap rechargeable batteries they come with. When given an average two window sunny summer day exposure, the lamp will glow a pleasing blue light when it gets dark... for about 15 minutes. For the same amount of money, you can get a more effective garden lamp, also solar charged, and if you get one where you can easily replace the rechargable battery (they all always come with the cheapest batteries), you'll get a more useful longer lasting shine from an average sunny day charge. Just don't put the outdoor stand or pole on it and you can use it like this indoor lamp, only for longer than 15 minutes.
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Yep, I bought a "sun jar" as a gift for myself and my family. Yes, I placed it in DIRECT SUNLIGHT for at least 8 hours. It fades out after about 10 min. A worthless, useless, and ridiculous purchase. I wasted my money. I hope those who read this take my word for it and don't do the same. A disappointment.
UPDATE:
Forget what I said before. The sun jar came with a rather low level double AA battery from an off-label company. I ended up using a higher level energizer battery and the difference is almost like night and day. Wow. Use a lithium battery and this jar will run long and bright.
OR, get the latest generation of energizer (no I don't work for energizer) rechargeable batteries. I bought a new recharger and new batteries...charged them to their limit, then transferred to the sun jar. It ran for days in my bedroom window.
I recommend this product. Seriously.
BTW: The maker suggests you lift the lid and turn the jar off when not in use. If you are a scatter-brain like me and forget to switch it off to preserve the battery life, no worries. In fact, just letting it charge up then turn on when it gets dark doesn't seem to have any negative effects. At least none that I could tell.
In the end: I recommend getting this for yourself and your family and friends (along with some brand name AA batteries)
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I bought the sun jar despite the mixed reviews. Overall, I like it a lot. It casts a very soft yellowish orange glow in my room, which is incredibly soothing and comforting.
However, you really do need DIRECT sunlight in order for this to be lit for extended periods. For example, the first night I charged it, it lasted a good 4-5 hours before dimming, which isn't that bad for a product like this. If you keep it in a windowsill with direct light it'll still work, but not quite as well as if you left it outside all day. My advice is to not spend over 35 bucks for it, and to maybe replace the battery with a stronger one (which is my next step), and you'll have a fun little lamp for your backyard patio or bedroom nightstand.
