My daughter's expensive flashlight with cheap alkaline batteries leaked. I had to use a pipe wrench and bench vice to unscrew the end cap. The strap wrench would not work.
So what is the best way to dissolve the alkaline "glue" that will not allow the batteries to drop out. The flashlight is anodized aluminium.
It is a total loss now so any attempt would be worth it.
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Soak it in warm water (that's right, water). Disassemble and dry out completely.
Ahh .. the universal solvent. We'll see and I will let you know.
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Try household ammonia, followed by an alcohol flush. "It works for me."
White vinegar
I use 409 "all purpose" cleaner. Vinegar will also work. If you see it foaming slightly, it's working. Don't use drain cleaner (sodium hydroxide) as it will strip the anodizing.
If the expensive aluminum flashlight is a genuine Maglight, you can buy parts and pieces to fix the flashlight. For example:
Hint: Wrap the batteries in cellophane wrap. The batteries will still leak for no obvious reason but the mess will be contained.
If you're really into flashlights:
-- Jeff Liebermann jeffl@cruzio.com 150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558
Never had a flashlight like that, but if the water does not let you take the batteries out, try banging on it. Even heat up the outside shell. Water dissolves the crud well, but on some things, you can't dunk. An oxidized aluminum piece, water is not going to dissolve that, where the vinegar might do something.
I have to work on an old military/boy scout flashlight. I put in an led replacement, but the light will sometimes come on dim. I'll try a dab of vinegar on the switch. I already tried crc2-26 , but might have to clean that off first.
Greg
Apparently, it's a Maglite. The light bulb end of the battery tube is closed, so you can't pound the batteries out of the flashlight. I spent about a week trying to free some swollen alkaline D batteries from a 3D cell Maglite without success. I even tried a pressure bath with a mild acid to hopefully dissolve the "glue".
It was time to use "the force". I found a 1.25" end mill with a 1/4" pilot. I put the flashlight into a lathe, and carefully drilled a
1/4" hole through the center of the batteries. I followed that with the 1.25" end mill (mounted on an extender bar). I could probably have used a wood auger bit, but I didn't have one large enough. That removed most of the battery, but there was still a thin layer of corossion along the inside of the tube. I removed that by beating on it with a wooden dowl. Big chunks of aluminum came out, indicating that the wall of the flashlight tube had thinned and would probably cave in if the flashlight were dropped. I cleaned up the mess with some sandpaper, sprayed the inside with clear acrylic, and vowed not to do that again. I keep it in the house for when I need to loan someone a flashlight.-- Jeff Liebermann jeffl@cruzio.com 150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558
Not. But when I unscrew the lamp (LED) end there is a circuit board. I tried to wiggle it but it seems solid and I did not want to break it. Now that I have the other end off and will try to get the batteries out without messing with the lamp end.
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These were Duracells, weren't they? Al Dunlap destroyed that company.
Man! That must be an expensive flashlight.
Non-paying customer, also known as a friend. I stupidly offered to fix it for him, without thinking much about what it will involve. Once I start on something, I either fix it, or destroy it.
-- Jeff Liebermann jeffl@cruzio.com 150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558
Pray tell more. I always wondered what the "copper top" bit was in their ads.
-- Boris
A Sennheiser tech rep told me that Procells (industrial labeled Duracells) sometimes don't have enough electrolyte to fill the can and that they no longer recommend using them. Energizers seem better to me, and I used hundreds of double AAs a day.
My experience has been that Duracells are more likely to leak. (In one case, Duracell had to pay for a repair.) I've never had a leaky Energizer.
I've had some Energizers leak.
The batteries that almost always leak are the yellow ones from Ikea and alcalines from DIA, they wear custom labels and their real brand is not indicated but I guess is the same for both.
What's interesting is, where the things go after the batteries leak.
I few years back I got a Grundig Satellite 700 shortwave portable, a pretty decent portable, for 2.00 at a Rotary Club garage sale. I don't think they knew what it was, so just priced it as a generic radio. But I get home, and it still has batteries in it, and they leaked. I think I got rid of all the spill.
But just today I was at a thrift shop and found a Casio keyboard, some things different from the average one. And from history, I check the battery compartment, and yes, there is signs of battery leakage. But I didn't spend much on it.
But one wonders if the stuff is given away because someone has already stopped using it, and the batteries forgotten, or if they are given away because the batteries leaked?
Michael
The worst batteries I have ever bought were Office Depot private brand, which swelled and leaked almost the day I bought them.
The second worse are Everyready Energizers made under license in Singapore, which last less than a week in use. A week being 7 calendar days, where they should last 30 hours of use and get used at the most 10 minutes a day. Some of have have only lasted a day. We bought them last week.
Previous Everyready batteries were sold here in Israel were made in the EU, as far as I can recall Belgium.
The Office Depot brand were sold several years ago. They were made somewhere in China, and Office Depot stopped selling them and started relabing Great Peak brand made in Hong Kong. They did not seem to be different than the Great Peak (aka GP) ones they already sold.
Geoff.
-- Geoffrey S. Mendelson, N3OWJ/4X1GM/KBUH7245/KBUW5379
Leak? How about explode when the terminals are shorted? To be fair, these may have been counterfeit, but we tossed the remains and it's now too late to check.
-- Jeff Liebermann jeffl@cruzio.com 150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558
Speaking of fake batteries, here's an amazing video of a fake 18650 LiIon battery: and for those that like to pruchase by brand name on eBay:
-- Jeff Liebermann jeffl@cruzio.com 150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558
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