Review of Sun Jar - Yellow (by Suck UK)

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List Price: $40.00
Sale Price: $27.86
Today's Bonus: 30% Off

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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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.

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I bought this jar and at first loved it. After using it half a dozen times, it stopped working properly. I would charged it the whole day on the window sill, then at night it would work for 30-60 minutes and then become extremely dim. I returned it to ThinkGeek.

Then I bought another sun jar from Swaba Retail. It's a simpler model but much cheaper. It has a battery that cannot be replaced, however, it's supposed to last for years. Well, after I've used it half a dozen times, the light sensor stopped working and the light would be on even in a bright room. Next thing you know, the light doesn't work anymore. So I have to return this second sun jar too.

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Follow-up to my post. I contacted Swaba Retail, and they were very helpful. I was told that sometimes the sun jars sit in the box for some time, then when they are delivered to a customer it may take a few days for their battery to fully charge. I left my "dead" Swaba sun jar on the window sill for 2 days and it came back to life.

Maybe the same would be applicable to my Suck UK sun jar.

Anyway, it seems those sun jars may need a few days to fully charge initially.

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In pushing the "on" button, the whole panel assembly broke. Underneath the panel all the glue holding the components had cracked and components were hanging by wires.No warranty. I should have known since the UK company who makes this product is named SUCK UK Ltd.