Does anyone else shim their batteries?

When I bought my first light a few weeks ago. A SF E2E, I noticed that the batteries kind of rattled inside it so I took a piece of paper and cut it to fit inside the barrel, one wrap around the batteries. It eliminated the rattle which makes the flashlight feel much more solid. I've done this in the past with maglights. After I did it with my E2E and then my 9P which I bought next, I started to think about it. Is the space left because of the expansion due to the heat generated by the lithium batteries? I got to thinking and now I wonder if it is such a good idea or if I should just let them rattle around in there. I don't want to have an issue with any stress against the case. Any thoughts from the experts? Thanks

Not an expert, but one thought I have is that if you make them too tight then you might actually add a problem. Being loose allows for a certain amount of self alignment and if you prevent this then the batteries might not make good contact. My one experience is that I used rubber tubing for 123's on a Mod job and it was too tight and did not let the batteries align. I changed to PVC with loose fit and problem solved.

The body tube is manufactured slightly larger to accomodate tolerance of battery sizes from different manufacturers ( 0.1 - 0.9mm ).

A good point about alignment. but because the paper is concentric so are the batteries, i don't see a problem there. I didn't realize that different batteries were of different dimensions. I'll have to try a few different brands to see if that is an issue. I really like the way the light feels now. No rattle even if you bump it. Another thing I noticed about the E2E is that when the switch is clicked on it tends to rattle also, is this normal? I don't want to appear to be rattlephobic, I just like things to sound tight and sure

The Titaniums I have (from AmondoTech) are consistently thicker than other cells.

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AllNew2me and AllOthers with battery rattle :

Here is a good solution ,

Go to Office Depot - Buy some notebook style sheet protectors - various thicknesses.

Guess at the thickness needed - then cut some 1/4" strips that are longer than your battery tube.

Use 3 or 4 of them , evenly spaced around the batteries - running lengthwise in the battery tube.

Before you cut the final length - BE SURE there is just enough of each strip sticking out the rear of the battery tube that you can get hold of it and pull it out if your batteries have swollen at change time .

The strips should pull out easily - allowing the batteries to come out .

How's that for a battery rattle shim that's easy to remove ? .

.TMG

Just use a small sticky label, don't force the battery in though.

If you use paper or a label wrapped around your batteries as a shim - if they ever leak and swell - that paper will turn into glue ! .







.TMG

TooManyGizmos said:

If you use paper or a label wrapped around your batteries as a shim - if they ever leak and swell - that paper will turn into glue ! .







.TMG

Click to expand...

Plastic label ?

After all, the batteries are sealed in plastic.

Don't know what type though.

I still prefer paper, never had a battery swell on me yet.

Plastic would probably distort if battery gets too hot.

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If you ever do - that paper will act as a glued in wedge . (IMVHO)


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My way gives you something to grab on-to and pull out .

You can't grab onto paper -it will tear.

You can't grab onto the negative end of the battery very well .


Try my way - You'll like it ......Money Back Guarantee ! .


. TMG

Wasn't sure what you meant by shim at first.

I immediately thought of the episode of The Simpsons where homer was widdling down D cells into AA's. Every stroke of the knife emmited sparks and such.
Sigh...television has ruined me.

TooMany, thanks for the tip that would work also. I never really thought about the batteries leaking, do lithium cells do that? Also with my 2 (so far) surefires, they are just an open tube with the tailcap and head removed so getting the batteries stuck seems to be easily fixed by just pushing the batteries out from one end. I don't know about other brands though, I don't have any of those yet. Nobody has commented on the heat expansion issue so I guess that is not a problem? It sounds like leaking is the only issue and i have to see if any of you have had that problem with lithium cells. Thanks again.

Sorry about my posting in the wrong spot, I'll be more careful with that in the future.

A few years ago many hated the fact that the cell rattled in the old Infinities. In addition to the Dr Scholl's trick, some would wrap a small Post-It note around the cell to tighten things up. The weak adhesive made it really easy to roll it around the cell and slip it in place without hassle.

Some of my larger lights had battery rattle, I ran some electricians tape around the batteries, now the rattle has gone