Is there any risk to leave my Maglite's tailcap partially unscrewed?

[CobraMagnum]

Hello, everyone. Hope all is well.

Intro:

So, I have a Maglite ML50L 3 C-Cell LED flashlight (611 lumens). It's a very effective light and I try to take care of it. A while back, I noticed that I wasn't getting the runtime that I thought I should have (had to replace batteries twice a bit sooner than I expected). It's advertised for a 16-hour runtime on high.

A while back, I learned that some flashlights can experience something called parasitic drain, where the batteries may continue to discharge slightly even while the flashlight is turned off and not in use. I contacted Maglite and asked them about this, and the customer service representative told me there was no parasitic drain. I like Maglite, but I don't know if I fully trusted that.

Anyway, I was told by two users on here that I could unscrew the tailcap slightly (about 1/4 of a turn) and if the light no longer comes on, the parasitic drain should be halted. And then of course, you just screw it down snug again to turn the light back on, when needed.

My question:

If I loosen the tailcap on my Maglite while the flashlight is not in use, are there any risks associated with this?

Any increased chance of battery leakage?
Any electrical risks?
Does this put any kind of weird "pressures" on the threads, spring or any other internals that could possibly cause damage?

Thanks in advance.

 

[datiLED]

No issues with leaving the tailcap partially unscrewed. As you mentioned, this can help avoid parasitic drain on lights with electronic switching. I do this for my ZebraLights and NovaTac.

 

[jon_slider]

I contacted Maglite and asked them about this, and the customer service representative told me there was no parasitic drain. I like Maglite, but I don't know if I fully trusted that.

I agree that CS rep did not give correct info. My google says your light has an Electronic switch. So yes, it has parasitic drain.

I do not know what size drain the maglite switch has...

And yes, unscrewing the tailcap is a valid way to stop the drain. Unscrewing will not harm the batteries, nor the light.

googling maglite parasitic drain finds more info including this

 

[bykfixer]

Any of the "ML" series and "XL" series have electronic switches. So yes your ML50L does. Well, the ML25 does not. It's the C cell minimag style light.

The classic 2/3D lights, minimags and solitaires do not have electronic switches. None of their incandecent lights have them either.

I lock out any flashlight that has that ability. Sometimes I had issues even lights with mechanical switches like my Fenix E05 or my Elzetta Bones. So if twisting the tailcap loose a turn or two cuts the circuit, I do it. No issues so far with any lights when doing that.

Some have lockout feature to avoid accidental activation like the SureFire 6P.