A single use/disposable Maglite!

[subwoofer]

My fiancée handed me her 10 year old 2D Maglite asking me if it was any use or if she should throw it away. 'It is pretty good it has lasted quite a while as I only use it occasionally'.

It looked in almost perfect condition, but when I tried to undo the tail cap to remove the batteries, which I assumed would be in a pretty horrible state, I could not. I took off the reflector and could smell battery juices, and so began my efforts to remove the tail cap.

After escalating in the brutality of my attacks, I have decided to give up as I either simply cut the cap off or throw it away. Initially I tried not to scratch the torch and used penetrating oil to try and loosen it, but after having no luck started to use tools that bite into the metal to get a better grip. Eventually I drilled a hole through the cap and inserted a metal bar to use for more leverage. After building up to hammering the bar to try and turn the cap all I ended up with was a bent bar and the holes in the cap getting oval shaped as the aluminium deformed.

That tail cap is not going to unscrew! I imagine the treads have corroded so badly they are welded together.

Oh well, I think I'll cut the cap off and see how badly damaged the inside is, maybe I can salvage it to use as a host for a custom light with special power pack.

 

[RAGE CAGE]

Gnarly...could you post some pics of the carnage?

You need to include "I promise to never leave alkaline batteries in flashlights whilst they are not being used" in her part of the wedding vows....

 

[Roger999]

Have you tried clamping the tail cap with a vice and then turning it with gloves? If it was me doing that, I'd probably have raged and smashed the light lol.

 

[COAST]

Gnarly...could you post some pics of the carnage?

You need to include "I promise to never leave alkaline batteries in flashlights whilst they are not being used" in her part of the wedding vows....

 

[mrartillery]

Try a vise and a big pair of vise grips, it'll leave teeth marks but i don't think you're going for appearance at this point . Hit the vice grips with a hammer to jar it loose.

After all this is said and done, IF the cap comes off, then you have the horrid task of removing those batteries. Good luck! :laughing:

 

[swampgator]

Try a vise and a big pair of vise grips, it'll leave teeth marks but i don't think you're going for appearance at this point . Hit the vice grips with a hammer to jar it loose.

Pad the jaws of the vice and the vice grips with a piece of scrap leather and you'll avoid the teeth marks unless you really crank down on it.

 

[mrartillery]

Pad the jaws of the vice and the vice grips with a piece of scrap leather and you'll avoid the teeth marks unless you really crank down on it.

True. But if its as tight as he says it is it will probably have to bite into the metal.

 

[think2x]

Pull the switch out through the front by removing the retaining ring, cut tube to 1D and buy a bust-a-cap tail?

 

[ruriimasu]

i was thinking... could you have turned the cap the wrong direction? :thinking:

 

[Mr Bigglow]

The car mechanic's secret to removing corroded parts is to apply penetrating oil, wait a bit, and then heat the connection with an acetylene torch to break the corrosion. Not sure that the oil is really necessary but that's what I was told. In the case of such a mag, I would go outside and GENTLY use a propane torch, wearing gloves and eye protection, and be very very wary about the hazard of boiling the battery juices, etc. And resort to vice grips if necessary.

Actually, I would ask a relative to remove the cap. I have several in mind.

 

[guiri]

Pad the jaws of the vice and the vice grips with a piece of scrap leather and you'll avoid the teeth marks unless you really crank down on it.

Yeah, I'm thinkin' he's past that at this point...

 

[guiri]

Oh, and here's one thing no one mentioned...have you considered beating HER on the head with it? That should loosen something up...not sure what but I'm thinking it'll be for the better... :devil:

 

[fyrstormer]

The car mechanic's secret to removing corroded parts is to apply penetrating oil, wait a bit, and then heat the connection with an acetylene torch to break the corrosion. Not sure that the oil is really necessary but that's what I was told. In the case of such a mag, I would go outside and GENTLY use a propane torch, wearing gloves and eye protection, and be very very wary about the hazard of boiling the battery juices, etc. And resort to vice grips if necessary.

Actually, I would ask a relative to remove the cap. I have several in mind.

Yeah, I think the risk of boiling the batteries outweighs the rewards of finding out what happened. After all, we already know what happened. Leaky alkaline batteries happened.

 

[guiri]

Hence the suggestion to let a relative do it :devil:

 

[IlluminatedOne]

Would soaking it in vinegar loosen it up any as that usually gets the alkaline fluid off most things.

 

[DIY Lumens]

Unless your time is worth nothing and/or you enjoy digging into corroded parts, it would probably be best to salvage the head and throw the rest away.
I have seen one in similar condition that soaking in penetrating oil for a week, then clamping in a big bench vise sans padding until the tube started deforming, and using a pipe wrench (also without padding) on the tailcap, still would not break it loose. The body turned in the vise.

 

[swampgator]

Unless your time is worth nothing and/or you enjoy digging into corroded parts, it would probably be best to salvage the head and throw the rest away.
I have seen one in similar condition that soaking in penetrating oil for a week, then clamping in a big bench vise sans padding until the tube started deforming, and using a pipe wrench (also without padding) on the tailcap, still would not break it loose. The body turned in the vise.

I have a Streamlight SL-35 that someone long ago decided to try to run on akalines. Actually it was given to me as a resurrection project. I managed to get one of the batteries out. Did all the tricks described above and nada. I've even drilled the core out of the cells in an attempt to crush the cells down on themselves. Still no dice. Now I have a slightly out of shape head and a body that now has a much grippier (is that a word?) surface. In hindsight I should have left it alone. At least it would be in a displayable condition.

Along the same lines but slightly OT, I found a ROV Sportsman 2D in my parent's barn. Switch is corroded over and won't move but batteries did come out. It's in bad, bad shape but it's my next project awaiting rebirth.

 

[subwoofer]

Thanks for all the helpful suggestions (including did I turn it the wrong way!)

Having an "M. Eng" after my name (a Masters Degree in Engineering for those that don't know) I hope I would remember my lectures on "righty tighty, lefy loosy" ;-)

It is now dismantled, using a hacksaw...

Click on the thumbnails for a bigger picture:

This is the end cap with nice looking spring. You can see the hole that I drilled through the cap which had a steel rod through it to give extra turning power. This was not enough and I had to cut it off.



Then we have the lovely white crust at the end of the battery. The part that would have had the threads had no distinguishable threads left.



Here is the final line up with the end cap, tail-end battery welded to the tubing, and the front battery (still looking OK) which I was able to remove after cutting off 1 D-Cells worth of tube.



I have tried the remaining "1-D Maglight" with an 18650 battery in it and it worked quite nicely so I just need to find a neat way of adding a new end cap. Any suggestions?

I was considering trying to make this a little project light, but I have not found any components worth bothering with. As in they either don't have the performance or are so expensive I may as well buy a new torch.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to a good little project for the 1-D, no end cap Maglite?

 

[mrartillery]

When all else fails....bring out the saw!

 

[guiri]

Ok, so I"m not a real flashaholic and I have to ask.

Other than the obvious (that you just didn't want the light getting the better of you), why go through all this trouble for a light that these days is pretty cheap?

George