mm doen't work...might be because of battery fluid

[rajanf1]

mm doen\'t work...might be because of battery fluid

hi guys, been out for quite a while.

my madmax in a minimag is not working. quite a while back i took out the alkalines and found out that they leaked some juice into the barrel. i swabbed the inner barrel with alcohol and swiped it with dry tissues.

i left it at that for a few weeks and yesterday put some fresh batteries in. the mm did not work. i looked into the tail threads and saw some whitish stuff. i picked them out with a pin but some stayed there. i looked into the inner lip of the barrel (where the sandwich gets in contact with) and there are several dark spots under it. i tried to pick them out with a pin but somehow they seem to stay there (they feel flat). the top portion of the sandwich (the shiny portion to contacts the inner lip) looks spotty too so i cleaned them with the pin and some dry tissues.

i reassembled the flashlight (i am using a kroll) but it did not light up. when i pushed or moved the led via the black base using my two nails from either side the led would flicker. sometimes it would stay lighted but most of the time it would die down.

how do you clean the inner barrel and the sandwich to regain the original contact? any other thoughts would be appreciated?

tia. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif

 

[Jack_Crow]

Re: mm doen\'t work...might be because of battery fluid

R,
Im going to presume your module is similar to the Lambda modules I have recently purchased.

You might have to bring up a fresh layer of metal on the contact between the top of the MM and the LED board. I used a hook shaped tool on my swiss army knife to get into the barrel and scratch clean the entire surface. Aluminum oxidizes don't conduct well, so that's most likely the problem.

One of my conversions was an older MM and that had paint on the inside. The tool was once again the trick. Clean metal makes for clean contacts.

Should this fail, a fiberglass brush will take any oxide off of metal. There is a company in New York that makes them. Used in the electronics industry to clean contacts on plug in circuit boards. Use care, very fine glass fibers get under the skin and can be inhaled or get into your eyes.

Good luck
Jack Crow in Iraq

 

[kitelights]

Re: mm doen\'t work...might be because of battery f

It just sounds like a contact issue. You need to thoroughly clean the treads for the kroll and also make sure that the kroll is OK. Then the lip and then the surface of the board where it makes contact.

Any tool that you can get to reach in is OK. I like dental tools. You can also use whatever tool will reach and use it hold a small piece of fine sandpaper. After you get the metal clean, re-clean to get rid of debris.

Personally, I'd be more concerned with the sandwich and just buy another host. I find that once you've had heavy corrosion, it's more prone to oxidation and corrosion again.

 

[kitelights]

Re: mm doen\'t work...might be because of battery f

The fiberglass brush that Jack referred to can be bought in Radio Shack. It screws up like lead in a mechanical pencil.

 

[rajanf1]

Re: mm doen\'t work...might be because of battery f

thank you for the replies. so it looks like the only thing i need to do is some mechanical cleaning. do you guys use any solvents to clean both the aluminum barrel and the madmax contact board?

btw, although i have seen AlO2 at the kroll threads and cleaned them, i have narrowed the problem to the contact between the sandwich and the inner lip of the barrel.