I thought by now there was one of these how to rebuild an incan Maglite. I was unable to find it if there is one. There are mentions within threads of similar subjects though.
The Maglite switch assemblies came out of marvelous engineering and manufacturing. Prior to Maglites the switch was the weak link in the alluminum cop light. In my view it was the super reliable switch assembly that allowed Maglite products to stand head and shoulders above the rest. Norm Nelson's Kel Lite gen 2's had a good clicky though. But Tony Maglica with Don Keller devised something much better. Much more durable. The cam'd reflector was also pretty remarkable.
Ok, here goes. You start with a non working or hardly working Maglite from the light bulb days. Can be a C or D cell. Can be a AA or AAA minimag. I'll start with a C cell kind. I say that because the switch assembly differs between C and D so it involves a different process.
This thread will be broken into several posts and anyone else who wants to jump in is certainly welcome as I'm sure others have ideas too. Some better than mine.
I recently discovered my favorite 4C was flatlined due to a leaked battery. From the tailcap (battery 1) to the bulb (battery 4) battery 3 had leaked at the top and the ooze ran mostly up and beside battery 4. Enough had run down to batteries 1 and 2 to require a few whacks to jar them loose. Battery 3 slid out with a few more. Battery 4 was cemented to the barrel. The barrel was clean next to batteries 1, 2 and 3.
Time to try some de-cement the stuck battery tricks. I started out with WD40 as it had worked before. A week later no go. Then 3 n 1 oil was tried since the WD40 had made a few conduits beside the battery. The 3 n 1 was no go. I don't using vinegar because it tends to delaminate the coating but that was next. No over night soak, just poured into the barrel and let run through the conduits over and over for a few hours. Nope. Mrs Fixer said "tried coca cola?" I replied "why no I haven't but let's see".
I poured a couple of ounces down the barrel, nearly filling it up. It ran quickly through the conduits. But then chucks of gray stuff started floating to the top. Then "woosh" like a toilet flush. I turned the light over and the battery came out like it had never been stuck. It was completely clean and so was the light. Some anodize had come off on one side but no alkaline residue was stuck.
I had been trying to remove the ring up front to force the switch assembly and battery out the top to no avail. A set ring holds it from moving forward and it can be removed but it's pretty hard to do.
I gave the light a good bath knowing the switch assembly was loaded with WD 40, oil, vinegar and soda pop. After that the ole Torx T8 dilema kicked in. That's right, another better idea by Maglite. Build it where a special tool nobody sells including Maglite is required to remove the switch assembly.
Wait, I have that Maglite service kit somewhere. Found it. Nice. It was a kit with parts for 6 C and 6 D lights. And yes it had the Torx tool. A straight shaft with a T8 on one end and whatever size it takes to remove the brass screw on the switch assembly on the other end. Minutes later the switch was out and all dripping on my coffee table smelling like WD 40.
The kit had 3 C cell switch assmblies left. I had apparently used 3 already. To remove the switch assembly you remove the button cover. I needed a dental pick for that. Then insert the tool into the switch button and lefty loosey the set screw and the assembly slides right out of the bottom (tail cap end).
Insert new switch assembly and tighten set screw. Now the new one was too big. My C light is a "heavy duty" so the barrel walls are a bit thicker inside. No issue with fastening the tailcap from another C light or head yet the switch assembly needed some dremel work to remove about a millimeter of plastic from the outside.
Insert new batteries. Nothing. What? Tried an nip bulb. Nothing. So using a digital volt meter set to ohms (in sound mode) showed conductivity stem to stern. I tried a 3rd bulb and she fired right up.
I'll add some pictures later.
I tried conductivity of the old switch and it's dead as a door knob. Even touching two spots on the same place showed nothing mostly. Touching with the probes stem to stern on the complete light yielded less than 1 ohm. Amazing efficiency. Where I could get a reading on the old switch showed between 25 and 75! ohm resistance. Pretty dirty I'd say.
I'll take it apart and clean it up real good at another time and show that in this thread too.
I was so stoked when it fired up again.
The Maglite switch assemblies came out of marvelous engineering and manufacturing. Prior to Maglites the switch was the weak link in the alluminum cop light. In my view it was the super reliable switch assembly that allowed Maglite products to stand head and shoulders above the rest. Norm Nelson's Kel Lite gen 2's had a good clicky though. But Tony Maglica with Don Keller devised something much better. Much more durable. The cam'd reflector was also pretty remarkable.
Ok, here goes. You start with a non working or hardly working Maglite from the light bulb days. Can be a C or D cell. Can be a AA or AAA minimag. I'll start with a C cell kind. I say that because the switch assembly differs between C and D so it involves a different process.
This thread will be broken into several posts and anyone else who wants to jump in is certainly welcome as I'm sure others have ideas too. Some better than mine.
I recently discovered my favorite 4C was flatlined due to a leaked battery. From the tailcap (battery 1) to the bulb (battery 4) battery 3 had leaked at the top and the ooze ran mostly up and beside battery 4. Enough had run down to batteries 1 and 2 to require a few whacks to jar them loose. Battery 3 slid out with a few more. Battery 4 was cemented to the barrel. The barrel was clean next to batteries 1, 2 and 3.
Time to try some de-cement the stuck battery tricks. I started out with WD40 as it had worked before. A week later no go. Then 3 n 1 oil was tried since the WD40 had made a few conduits beside the battery. The 3 n 1 was no go. I don't using vinegar because it tends to delaminate the coating but that was next. No over night soak, just poured into the barrel and let run through the conduits over and over for a few hours. Nope. Mrs Fixer said "tried coca cola?" I replied "why no I haven't but let's see".
I poured a couple of ounces down the barrel, nearly filling it up. It ran quickly through the conduits. But then chucks of gray stuff started floating to the top. Then "woosh" like a toilet flush. I turned the light over and the battery came out like it had never been stuck. It was completely clean and so was the light. Some anodize had come off on one side but no alkaline residue was stuck.
I had been trying to remove the ring up front to force the switch assembly and battery out the top to no avail. A set ring holds it from moving forward and it can be removed but it's pretty hard to do.
I gave the light a good bath knowing the switch assembly was loaded with WD 40, oil, vinegar and soda pop. After that the ole Torx T8 dilema kicked in. That's right, another better idea by Maglite. Build it where a special tool nobody sells including Maglite is required to remove the switch assembly.
Wait, I have that Maglite service kit somewhere. Found it. Nice. It was a kit with parts for 6 C and 6 D lights. And yes it had the Torx tool. A straight shaft with a T8 on one end and whatever size it takes to remove the brass screw on the switch assembly on the other end. Minutes later the switch was out and all dripping on my coffee table smelling like WD 40.
The kit had 3 C cell switch assmblies left. I had apparently used 3 already. To remove the switch assembly you remove the button cover. I needed a dental pick for that. Then insert the tool into the switch button and lefty loosey the set screw and the assembly slides right out of the bottom (tail cap end).
Insert new switch assembly and tighten set screw. Now the new one was too big. My C light is a "heavy duty" so the barrel walls are a bit thicker inside. No issue with fastening the tailcap from another C light or head yet the switch assembly needed some dremel work to remove about a millimeter of plastic from the outside.
Insert new batteries. Nothing. What? Tried an nip bulb. Nothing. So using a digital volt meter set to ohms (in sound mode) showed conductivity stem to stern. I tried a 3rd bulb and she fired right up.
I'll add some pictures later.
I tried conductivity of the old switch and it's dead as a door knob. Even touching two spots on the same place showed nothing mostly. Touching with the probes stem to stern on the complete light yielded less than 1 ohm. Amazing efficiency. Where I could get a reading on the old switch showed between 25 and 75! ohm resistance. Pretty dirty I'd say.
I'll take it apart and clean it up real good at another time and show that in this thread too.
I was so stoked when it fired up again.
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