Waka Waka Power Plus Solar Panel Replacement

Open the lid, remove the silicone screw covers and undo the screws.

Be careful not to damage the plastic during this step! Using a plastic opening tool instead of a screwdriver may be advisable.

Watch out, the hinges are spring loaded. They tend to fly away when tension is relieved.

As said in the previous step, be careful when removing the springs. They tend to fly away!

Now is a good time to remove the light conductor.

Pull out the connector, be careful and only pull the connector and not the wires to avoid damaging them in the process.

The battery is fixed in place with double sided tape. Make sure not to bend and damage the battery when taking it out.

There are two plastic pins holding the PCB in place. You will have to break them. Try to damage them as little as possible, this may allow you to re-use them with a little trick we show later on.

You will need a soldering iron to undo and later on redo the connections between the solar panel and the PCB.

Use a flat object like a bank card to avoid bending the solar panel.

This Waka Waka has been opened up previously. Since the solar panel was originally glued in place, the solar panel was re-attached using double sided tape. When putting your Waka Waka back together, you could either choose glue or double sided tape. Both work fine.

Now replace the solar panel and rebuild the Waka Waka in reverse order. Useful tips for re-assembly will be given in the next step.

Don't be silly! Red is +, black is -. If you don't know that, you shouldn't be here.

You had to break the plastic pins that hold the PCB in place earlier in this repair guide. You can fix them reasonably well by holding a semi-hot soldering iron on them so they melt and once again hold the PCB into place.