How to get contact with flat-top cells?

[rayman]

I have three KD protected 32650 which I want to use in my 3D Maglite but the don't make contact on their own. So how can I get a contact between them. Can I just use two of these rar earth magnets?

rayman

 

[VidPro]

Adjust the top spring if you can, needle nose pliers and a bit of a twist pull without accidentally pulling the spring itself OUT oops.

prefer to not use magnets, or "partly loose metalic objects" they will work fine, then remember the time something got hard dropped? and gravity sent things into other places then when they get in the other places, they grind away for a while then pass through insulation, and then you have a very strong dead short, and major unhappiness. a hunk of metal crossing from the top post to the edge of the can makes the best short you can get

you see the top shoulder lift up there in the mag, it might have an original purpose of not connecting when batteries are shoved in with the incorrect polarity. in less than 10 minutes you can extract the switch module, dremmel off the ring a bit, and defeat the polarity reversal mechanism. then anything you shove up there will connect to the small spring even if it is reversed.

If your really fast and good with a soldering gun (practice somewhere else) you can put a dot of solder on the battery button without destroying the cell or the seals and devices under the button, but you would have to be fast and good, and then that still leaves the problem of BUTTING into the bottom of any cell it is combined with. some of the reasons they can BE flat topped, is so the nipple doesnt CRUSH into the bottom of the next cell.

so your bestest choices given the choices is to further modify the mag itself, beings at this point I doubt it will ever be using normal cells again anyways.

 

[Justin Case]

If the contact problem is at the Mag switch, I'd solder a metal shim to the center spring on the bottom of the Mag switch to add effective length to the spring. If the problem is cell-to-cell contact, then maybe you can judiciously trim away some of the plastic shrink wrap so that the cells can get that much closer together.

IMO, rare earth Nd-Fe-B magnets are a bad idea. They are very brittle and can easily break into pieces under the slightest stress. I've had them snap in two merely holding them lightly between my fingertips.

 

[rayman]

The problem is the cell-to-cell contact. Ok so magnets are not the best solution. But I already have the cells so I'm looking for a solution. Anybody got another idea?

rayman

 

[legtu]

IMO, those magnets are ok for your intended usage. Unless your Mag isn't anodized on the inside, the chances of shorting out is almost nil. You can also make a disc and punch a hole in the middle for the magnet. It'll "hold" it in place and confine the magnet in case it breaks.

 

[Justin Case]

That reminds me of this homemade insulated magnet spacer. That could work.