Maglite Tailcap Stuck

[HLL]

This is my first post... :wave:

I have an old non C serial number 3C maglite.

The batteries have leaked and got into the tailcap threads and now the tailcap won't budge.

Any ideas how to get the tailcap off. I have wrapped the tailcap in rubber bands to increase grip, chilled the tailcap, heated the body with a gas stove. applied wd-40. Nothing works.

Help...

 

[n4zov]

Even if you get the tailcap off you may find the batteries are even more difficult to remove and the damage done to the light may make it salvageable. Personally I would just toss the light and buy a new one. Thankfully Mags are relatively inexpensive.

 

[mrartillery]

Personally I would just toss the light and buy a new one.

+1, You have to remember to never leave alkilines unattended that long.

 

[HLL]

:mecry:

I have managed to save my 2AA and AAA mags.

After I have access I screw in a long screw and pull the battery out like a wine cork.

Just need to get the tailcap off...

 

[march.brown]

:mecry:

I have managed to save my 2AA and AAA mags.

After I have access I screw in a long screw and pull the battery out like a wine cork.

Just need to get the tailcap off...

You actually mean that you've committed this atrocity before ?

Leaving batteries in , unchecked for years ?

Well , just don't buy any expensive torches ... Buy expensive batteries instead.
.

 

[flatline]

This is my first post... :wave:

I have an old non C serial number 3C maglite.

The batteries have leaked and got into the tailcap threads and now the tailcap won't budge.

Any ideas how to get the tailcap off. I have wrapped the tailcap in rubber bands to increase grip, chilled the tailcap, heated the body with a gas stove. applied wd-40. Nothing works.

Help...

Send the light to MagLight and they'll fix it or replace it for free (free to you, they'll bill the battery company...at least if it's a company they have an agreement with).

We got 4 Maglites replaced that way a year or so ago.

--flatline

 

[HLL]

I don't think it's worth it to send it off by mail to get it fixed. With the leaked batteries inside it is quite heavy. The postal charges plus the cost of repair could almost by me a new light already..

I will try to get it off with a oil filter wrench. Will go look for one. Hope it grips something with a small diameter like the "C" size cap.

 

[parnell]

Have you tried strap wrenches? You can usually get them pretty cheap.

 

[bobo383]

I used Channellocks and a pipe vise. I wrapped the light in electrical tape, real tight for several rounds in the "untighten" directions to keep from having to dig into the aluminum. It worked and didn't leave a scratch. Removed the sticky tape residue with lacquer thinner.

I drove the batteries out a wooden hammer handle and a 3-lb cross-peen hammer, and cleaned out the inside junk with a 60-grit sander belt attached to a brass bar that fit in the end of my cordless drill. That's the worst part, the dust is extremely irritating and must make some kind of high pH corrosive when it gets in your nose.

The inside of the tube is pitted but it doesn't show. It wasn't worth the trouble but I'd probably do it again.

 

[HLL]

Thanks for the tips

Will try.

 

[Billy Ram]

Screw the reflector head off and throw the rest away. When they leak bad enough to lock the tail cap the rest of the light is ruined.
Billy

 

[WDG]

That's how I lost my 4D Mag. Tried a pipe wrench, but mostly just crushed the tube & scarred the aluminum.

 

[Kraid]

I had the same thing happen a couple months ago to my terralux/aspheric Mag. I just took it as an opportunity to pick up a Fenix TK30.

 

[rangedog]

This will sound a bit simplistic but often a very sharp series of taps around a locked thread will be enough to "break" it open.:twothumbs

 

[tacticaltony]

Desperately need help taking off a stuck tailcap for my 2C maglite. I've had it for about 7 years or so. Way before I appreciated flashlights. I dont even remember if I have battery's in the light. The reflector it lightly eroded. But I don't want to give up on this light. It's like finding an old old friend. Amy more tips tricks or advice would be greatly appreciated

 

[entercpf]

Sorry but you gotta let this one go. If WD40 won't do the trick, then nothing will. And even if you manage to pry it open, the threads are gone.

I managed to save mine in the nick of time. Cap was half stuck, when I got it open the threads were halfway gone from corrosion.

 

[tacticaltony]

What a shame, now I don't know what to do with it. Should I just keep it in my house to pay respects to the og flashlight, and use it as a club. Or send it to maglite. They say if the battery's are of a certaint 3 brands, they will send a new light free of charge...but I don't know what kind of battery's are in it. I tried taking out the lamp assembly, but I forgot it drops out the bottom of the light, which is stuck :thumbsdow

 

[HotWire]

I would spray penetrating oil on the light and stand it in the garage (penetrating oil stinks). Do that every day until it comes off. Persistence is the key. Strap wrench, cannon wrench (used in avionics), or tape & pipe wrench should do the trick. The switch may need replacing (if you can get it out).

 

[tolkaze]

HotWire has a good answer here, I used an oil bath on mine (forget what it was, but smelled foul, and really light weight) once I used the grips to get it off, the batteries were the next challenge. A day of drilling them out, the switch was next but the screw had seized and I stripped the head. I think I kept the head and the spring, then chucked the rest. Not even the tower was salvageable. I only tried for so long because a 4D in Australia was about $100 (Still is in a lot of stores)

 

[Lightemitter]

SURE wish I'd known about that replacement policy.....before I did some drillin' and chiselin' to remove a corroded battery, and mildly-stuck tailcap, from a 5-cell C Maglite.....! Perty sure they were what likely are those 3 recognized battery brands too....! This one is my favorite out-quick-with-the-dog light, so I had to make the effort.... Worked, fortunately, and now sports a multiple-LED emitter...

Will baking soda, or any particular chemical, help to cut the corrosion, to make such a recovery effort easier...???