Will I burn my garage down and the forest with it?

[philpom]

I think if they are routinely charged (at a low rate) and discharged it should be fine but my experience tells me that Li-ion batteries that get charged and never cycled tend to start swelling and then it's a gamble. They need to be exercised. There is also a matter of quality, I use mostly Samsung 18650 and no issues, in fact I with everything that used AA and AAA would swap to the 18650.

[Tom&Shelly]

I think if they are routinely charged (at a low rate) and discharged it should be fine but my experience tells me that Li-ion batteries that get charged and never cycled tend to start swelling and then it's a gamble. They need to be exercised. There is also a matter of quality, I use mostly Samsung 18650 and no issues, in fact I with everything that used AA and AAA would swap to the 18650.

Ya, that thought bothers me, since it is evidently charging to full and not drawing enough to ever discharge much. Now, it's drawing so little current, I wonder if I shouldn't take out the Li-ion batteries and use a dry cell for the summer? Or maybe an old yellow top Optima I happen to have (charged with my 40 year old trickle charger)? I'd give up on recharging with the solar panel entirely. Wonder how many weeks/months that would last until discharged?

Tom