Battery leakage

[Gordo]

I opened up my Mag4D and found leakage.
After cleaning up the light and batteries I could find no distinquishing marks of which battery(ies) leaked. I know where it was in the light I just didn't keep the order when I dumped them out.

I metered the batteries all tested about the same voltage. so no help there.

Do you get rid of the whole lot?

Would you paint/coat the inside of the flashlight for any reason?

 

[Pellidon]

Remove the switch module and dunk the tube in lemon juice or vinegar to neutralize the alkaline goo. Scrape out any crystalline crusty stuff in the tube, if any. I sprayed mine with krylon just to seal the sediment left behind. That bit isn't necessary.

 

[Mr Happy]

Sounds like it was a fresh leak and you caught it early.

Of course you have to get rid of the whole set. You can't mix and match old and new batteries, so if you dispose of one you must dispose of them all.

 

[Gordo]

Pellidon,
I thougt about spraying something to reduce the oxidation that may occur. Most of the crud is the paint flaking off the inside of the body.
Mr Happy, I was thinking of using the remaining old ones in a 3D or 2D. Not breaking the set just using up the survivors. Another reason for a 1D flashlight. No need to worry about matching. No throwing out good mismatched cells.

 

[hopkins]

That is an interesting problem: how to force the leaking
cell to show itself.

Its possible the alkaline leakage is florescent and could be found
under a UV light?

Alternately short circuiting the cells one at a time. My theory
is that as the chemicals heat up inside the leaky one would
really start to leak fast and you could identify it. This may be
too dangerous to do without a blast proof shield for protection
and full safety clothing/ eye protection.

 

[Gordo]

I would not trust a UV test to be helpful. The leakage was spread throughout the body. The corrosion pattern (if there is such a thing) is concentrated where the first two batteries would be. But the residue came into contact with all the batteries.
Plus I rinsed the crap off of them washed away evidence or cross-contaminated. Plus I mixed the order when I removed them. So not even a 50/50 guess.