Mainstays WT-8029U Solar Powered Clock

Just a note to other Mainstays WT-8029U owners: if you think your clock is broken and the battery won’t hold a charge, you might be wrong. There are two solar modes you have to set. The first is on the back, under the battery compartment. The second is set using the menu:

  • Press “set” until “SOL” appears in the day field (12 times)
  • Set it to “off” (press “+”)

We thought this clock might have been broken until I found this tidbit in the manual. Before changing this setting, the screen would go blank when the solar panel wasn’t in direct light.

Otherwise, this is a great little clock. We got ours for $9 on clearance at Walmart (probably because of people thinking it was broken). It charges a AA battery with solar power, sets itself to atomic time, and even has temperature and humidity readings.

At any rate, I hope that helps somebody out. :)