Solar products by Allsop Home & Garden - Trouble Shooting Tips & General Knowledge
Due to the electrical nature of solar powered products, there may be confusion with the set-up, orientation
or use of the lantern. Here is a list of frequently asked questions or problems and how to address these
problems with customers:
Trouble shooting basics:
Soji Lantern1.
Problems with set-up- Ensure that customer has oriented the Solar Panel so that it is facing up and
the hanging handle is hanging directly from the molded plastic “ears” on the top of the solar panel.
If the lantern has been hung upside down it will fail to collect light and therefore fail to work. If
this is the case, the lantern will require TWO full days of direct sunlight to charge back up.
2.
Orientation of product- Ask the customer about the orientation and positioning of the product
within their own yard/outdoor space. If the lantern is not receiving any DIRECT SUNLIGHT
during the day it will not light during the evening. This is often times not satisfactory to the
customer. If the customer is hanging the lantern in partial or filtered light the lantern will glow
accordingly and may not reach optimum glow time. Please ask them to move the lantern into
direct light so that the solar panel may receive and collect enough energy for 4-5 hours of direct
sunlight.
3.
On/Off Switch- Ensure that the customer has turned the lantern on during set-up. The lanterns
only need to be turned on once, and will remain activated, collect light and glow at night. They are
equipped with a photo light sensor so the lanterns will turn themselves on and off.
Trouble shooting in depth:
1.
“My lantern never lit up even after I set it up correctly and allowed it to get at least one day of
direct sunlight.” – Take lantern into a dark room to ensure that it really does not glow at night. If it
is switched on and this still doesn’t work, the lantern can likely be fixed by replacing the
rechargeable battery. Call 1-866-425-5767
2.
“My lantern glowed for 1-2 nights and t hen stopped glowing”- Rechargeable battery is
dysfunctional and does not hold it’s charge correctly. This also can be remedied by a change in
battery. Call Allsop H&G at 1-866-425-5767 for a complimentary replacement battery.
Replacement batteries available for all stocking retailers
3
“ I replaced the battery and allowed the lantern to receive two full days of sunlight to fully charge
up and lantern still does not work” – Lantern has a circuitry problem and needs to be replaced.
4.
“Why does my lantern have a battery if it is solar?”- Solar Power is used in conjunction with
rechargeable batteries so that there is a location for the solar panel to store the collected energy.
Rechargeable batteries act as an ‘energy storage tank’ for solar panels.
The rechargeable battery in the Soji Solar Lanterns may discharge while not in use. If the lantern does not
immediately light up or light up the first night that it is in use, one to two full days of direct sunlight to the
solar panel may be required to recharge the lantern.
For optimum glow time, Soji lanterns require 4-6 hours of direct light daily. Less direct sunlight will result
in less glow time at night. Glow time will also fluctuate during various seasons of the year. Optimum glow
of 6 plus hours will occur frequently in the Summer time and less frequently in the Winter time in the
northern hemisphere.
Replacement Battery options:
After 1.5-2 years the rechargeable battery in the Soji will need to be replaced. The following brands/types
may be used in conjunction with this product:
Sanyo- AAA rechargeable Ni-MH battery
Panasonic- AAA rechargeable Ni-MH battery
Sharp – AAA rechargeable Ni-MH battery
GP- AAA rechargeable Ni-MH battery
Please call Allsop Home & Garden directly with more specific questions or concerns
1-866-425-5767
Firefly1.
Problems with the lantern not lighting upon first use- It is relatively common for the customer to
place the Firefly solar stake in their garden and forget to remove the plastic isolator strip located
underneath the solar housing compartment. The isolator strip is a piece of plastic material
preventing the battery from being in contact with it’s metallic electrical node and thus preventing
it from lighting and draining itself during shipment. Ask the customer to look beneath the solar
housing compartment to ensure that isolator strip (grey plastic piece) has been removed.
2.
Wire has come away from LED- The LED light is hardwired on the Firefly stake from the point of
connection beneath the LED light to the solar housing compartment. During assembly, the black
wire needs to be gentled pulled through the stainless tubing to assemble the unit. If the customer
pulls too hard on the wire during the assembly it is possible that the wire can become removed
from the LED and the Firefly stake is no longer functional. This would not be considered a
manufacturers defect, so please ask your customer to be careful when assembling or disassembling
the Firefly
3.
Firefly is not lighting for 6-8 hours each night- Batteries may not be holding their charge as they
should and need to be replaced. The Firefly is equipped with 2 AA NI-MH rechargeable batteries
that must be replaced every two years
4.
Lower and upper stake do not screw together- This is rare but can happen. The female and male
screw inserts were not assembled properly during production. The only way to fix this is call
Allsop for a warranty replacement stake 1-866-425-5767