Corroded batteries in Mini-Maglite

[Doublebit]

Gentlemen,
I have 2 mini Maglite flashlights that have the batteries stuck in them due to battery corrosion. I'd like to save them if I can. I've tried Kroil to loosen them but no go. Anyone have an idea on how to get them out?

LT

 

[steelslaver]

Wood screws after soaking in vinegar.

 

[Muss Muggins]

Gentlemen,
I have 2 mini Maglite flashlights that have the batteries stuck in them due to battery corrosion. I'd like to save them if I can. I've tried Kroil to loosen them but no go. Anyone have an idea on how to get them out?

LT

I've ruined a basket-full of those lights after putting them somewhere I thought would be useful at some point and then forgetting about them. Never had good luck revitalizing them after getting a corroded battery stuck. Solved my problem by starting to buy Surefire G2 Nitrolons. $25 to $30, lithium batteries, much brighter and no corroded batteries.

 

[ChattanoogaPhil]

Sounds like an excellent rainy day project.
Drill, screw and pull...
or...
Remove the head, bulb and push.

Clean the tube with a bore brush.

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaAS6VX_pHQ[/ame]

 

[Stirling]

I've had a D-cell and mini-maglites succumb to battery leakage. I even had Duracells leak in the mini-maglite presentation box. Pesky batteries!!!

 

[Bozz10mm]

I've got a few mini mag lights and a variety of other lights. Mini mags are cheap enough to replace. But I do recommend the new LED versions over the old incandescent style. I ruined enough flashlights by leaving the batteries in them that now, I don't store any lights with common alkaline batteries.



I use rechargeable NiMh or lithium batteries in most of my AA lights. They don't leak. I keep some Alkalines stored separately for the D and C cell lights. That doesn't keep them from leaking, but they leak a lot less often than when kept in the lights.

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

I make small emergency kits out of the tin boxes that Band-Aids come in. There is usually a knife, a lighter and a Mag-lite Solitaire in there. 2 years ago I was cleaning the barn out in preparation for moving. I found a kit stuck in a corner. It had some Pepto-Bismol tablets in it that expired in 9/94, so I must have put it together around 1992. The Solitaire had a AAA Energizer in it and it still worked and hadn't leaked. The light turned on and lasted about 15 seconds! I was amazed.

I put a AAA lithium in it and put fresh meds and stuff in the kit and put it in the wife's car.

Ivan

 

[Doublebit]

Thanks guys. The video is very helpful Phil. I wanted to save this light because I have an aftermarket LED bulb and a rear bush-button switch on it.

LT

 

[ChattanoogaPhil]

Good luck.

This thread got me to thinking... don't I have a Mini Maglite around here somewhere? Years ago a Cummins sales rep gave me one along with some other advertising stuff. After an agonizing search I found it. Surprisingly it worked just fine. Then I just had to see if the batteries would come out. Nope. Having nothing else better to do I figured I'd remedy that. I'll fast forward to the final solution... flashlight parts in the trash.

 

[Mainsail]

It used to be that the battery company would replace items that were ruined by their batteries leaking.

Not anymore?

 

[ChattanoogaPhil]

It used to be that the battery company would replace items that were ruined by their batteries leaking.

Not anymore?

A long time ago in an incandescent bulb galaxy far far away... I sent a 3C back to Streamlight that was toast with battery gunk. They sent me a new flashlight.

 

[BigBoy99]

Sounds like an excellent rainy day project.
Drill, screw and pull...
or...
Remove the head, bulb and push.

Clean the tube with a bore brush.

Mini Maglite Flashlight. How to remove corroded and stuck batteries - YouTube

If there is a battery stuck in the tube, how do you gently tap out the black plug? The demonstration should NOT be done with a empty tube which doesn't have a battery stuck in it!

 

[hoc9sw]

At least until recently, Duracell will send a check/coupon for the batteries and the flashlight if the batteries have not passed their "expiration" date.

A couple of years back, during a week long ice storm, we found all of the rotted ones, and they covered all those that qualified. Since then we have a 6-month battery check on everything from tv remotes to car kit flashlights.

 

[chief38]

If you are unable to correctly or easily restore your flash lights and if they are Duracell or Eveready batteries they will stand behind their products and replace your Mag-lites with the same or equivalent model.

Can't comment on other battery brands though as my brand of choice is Duracell bought at Costco.

 

[ChattanoogaPhil]

If there is a battery stuck in the tube, how do you gently tap out the black plug?

Easy. I tapped it gently then progressively harder and harder until it was obvious the flashlight would never work again, then tossed all the parts in the garbage. I thought I already explained this?

 

[Texas Star]

Guess I'd better check some flashlights. I should probably throw out some batteries in them and use fresh ones before they expire sitting around.


For me, the rub about Mini-Maglites is the fragile bulb. They break awfully easily.


BTW, if you have the DVD for the first film version of, Red Dragon, called Manhunter, and starring Wm. Petersen, if you read the credits, Maglite got a credit. Probably the only time a flashlight ever did.


There is a later film, actually called Red Dragon, the title of the book. I forgot to look for the flashlight credit when I saw it. It's a good movie, but, Manhunter was better.


Thos. Harris wrote the book, and he's a superb, if not prolific, author. Your library or Amazon may have the book. Not sure if it's still in print.


While we're discussing Thomas Harris, his better known work, The Silence of the Lambs, has a secret bit of info. Look for the scene near the last, where a FBI official hands Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) her badge and ID as she becomes a full fledged special agent. That guy is the real John Douglas, then still with the Bureau. Look for his books like, Mindhunter.

 

[retiredbadge8091]

Piece it out for the lens, etc. and toss it...