No Charge

Ok, none of the solar lights I was hoping to bring back to life showed even a flicker of life last night.
I stripped them all down and discovered a sorry mixture of corroded contacts and dirt. But even after cleaning everything, it was obvious the rechargeable batteries were very much past their best. I didn’t want to spend a lot of money, as a new replacement light wouldn’t cost that much anyway, but I was fairly certain Poundland had what I needed. Popped into town and though they had batteries in, they were the wrong size. Or so I thought. I was convinced I needed AAA size and they only had AA. But when I got home - empty handed - I discovered I actually needed 2 AA and only 1 AAA!
Back into town it was then! 2 batteries duly purchased for the princely sum of £1 (I found a random AAA battery in my desk) so three lights cleaned up, new rechargeable batteries inserted and put out in the garden to charge up. Let’s see what happens when it gets dark tonight. If it works - three “new” lights for a quid. If it doesn’t - I’m only a pound out of pocket (I’m conveniently glossing over the cost of fuel for two trips into town!) Some might ask why I’m spending (wasting?) so much time trying to resurrect some old lights that didn’t cost a lot in the first place. Partly it’s because I hate throwing something away if there’s a chance it could still be used. And partly it’s because I find the whole process of cleaning, investigating and trying to fix something strangely therapeutic. I can’t fix big problems like a global pandemic - and couldn’t even attempt to do so - but if I can avoid sending something to landfill then it counts as a small win in the battle against waste and makes me feel good at having mended something other people would just have chucked without a second thought.