How do I get these batteries out of my A2?

Titanium brand batteries won't come out of my A2. I've tried everything I can think of, including banging it, swinging it, trying to pry them out with a thin screwdriver or knife tip, pliers, etc.

I don't want to cause too much trauma to the batteries because they're not totally dead, just too dead to power the A2's regulated incan, and I know they can explode occasionally, if mistreated.

So, how do I get them out? And since the only replacement batteries I have are the same brand, any ideas on how I can prevent this same problem in the future?

Thanks,

Jason aka MedusaOblongata

try sticking it in the freezer for about 15min then try and get them out. i dont know if it will work or not but its worth a try.

I personally dont own an A2. But in lights like the e2e, you can unscrew the head and unscrew the tailcap. If you have both ends exposed you can use something to push in one end and out the other end. Were you able to dump the cells out of the light when you just put new batteries in it?

Alin10123 said:

If you have both ends exposed you can use something to push in one end and out the other end.

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The tail is the only end where batteries can come out, head has electronics in there when removed. In other words the tail is the only way in or out.

Alin10123 said:

I personally dont own an A2. But in lights like the e2e, you can unscrew the head and unscrew the tailcap. If you have both ends exposed you can use something to push in one end and out the other end. Were you able to dump the cells out of the light when you just put new batteries in it?

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nope that wont work as the a2 has a you vant get to the batts through the head as that were the electronics are. good thought though.

**EDIT** looks like PSM beat me to it.

Trying running the body under hot water for a couple minutes, you might get enough thermal expansion to release the cells.

Don't freeze it, the opposite will happen!

Bill

That is strange, are these the old Titanium CR123A's? They're larger then the new ones (Oct. 2005 and up). There must have be something on the batteries, or in the flashlight. Maybe a small amount of dirt or oil from fingers or something.

I not longer own and A2, I sold it over a year ago. But I had trouble with Titanium CR123A being snug in the light and didn't use them in it because of that. One of the researchers I work with still uses an A2 some times and we use the Titanium Batteries with no problems at all. The new Titanium CR123A's are no larger then the SureFire Batteries. In fact I have a SureFire and Titanium back to back right now and there is no difference at all.

I had this problem with a 3D Mag a few years back and also with a 2 AA Mini Mag. I used my Shop Vac to suck the batteries out. It would hurt to try, it worked for me each time. I used a reducer attachment reducing the hose from 4 to 1 3/4 in. Then I duck taped a tub from a spent roll of paper towls to it, turned on the Vac and sucked those bad boys right out. You can use constrution paper to reduce the paper towl rool even more, rolling it and make a funnal and taping that to the paper towl rool. If you have a small Vac with a 1 1/2 inch hose, it's even better. Best of luck.

Get a nice hot soldering iron and solder a thick wire to tehbase of the cell and tug. Should work.

65535 said:

Get a nice hot soldering iron and solder a thick wire to tehbase of the cell and tug. Should work.

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I'm not sure, numbers. Soldering to cells is always a risky business and you could end up overheating the cells or not being able to heat them enough for the solder to stick properly (with all the added mass from the light's body).

I'd try the freeze/heat cycling first. You mentioned hitting the light already. Did you already try tapping (more like hitting forcibly) the end of the light onto a hard surface? Don't worry about damaging the light; it should take this "abuse" and the cells might slide out enough to allow some air to balance the internal pressure of the tube (I'm assuming a combination of friction and vaccum are holding the cells in place). Maybe leak a bit of WD-40 into the battery tube? You can always clean the mess later.


:thinking: How'd you get them in there in the first place if they're so tight now?

Here is one no one has come up with yet. Super glue something to the tail of the battery and pull them out.

Let us know which suggestion works.

Why not send it back to Surefire ?

You really don't want to try anything that might break the electronic stuff inside the A2 body.

I use shrink-wrapped Titanium brand cells in my A2. (It also seems that I am completely out!) To get them out I just shake the A2 gently with the tailcap off and then it's usually enough to get part of the battery stick out, so I pull it the rest of the way out by hand.

PoliceScannerMan said:

The tail is the only end where batteries can come out, head has electronics in there when removed. In other words the tail is the only way in or out.

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I didn't mean to take the batteries out from the top. I meant to remove the head so that you could stick something up through the top downward to push the battery out the tail end. But still wouldn't work as you said there are electronics in there.

swing it as if you are going to throw it, with a good flick of the wrist motion to create as much centrifugal force as possible... do it towards a couch or something so when they fly out they land safely. also try the swing/flick motion against the pal of your other hand, slapping it hard... this usually will start to work them out....

another great technique is to get some good strong rare earth magnets (also known as neodymium magnets).. a decent size one like 7/16s by 3/16s round... or possibly salvage a few out of old hard drives and stack them together.. put them on the back of the cell, and use another large piece of metal to pull em out. (like the head of a hammer).

If Sure-Fire hadn't decided to make the battery tubes so tight recently.. this wouldn't be a problem...

They are ridiculously tight now.

And, I think we all know WHY they did that.

A powerful vaccuum is probably the safest way forward, and should be your first port of call.
Next is a little riskier, leave the surefire in the freezer for a few hours. Then, dump it in warm/hot water for a few seconds (Pyrex does not shatter with extreme temperature changes). This will mean that the cell will be small (because it is cold), and the body will be large (due to the heat and good thermal conduction). Take off the tailcap and hopefully it will slide straight out.

sounds like your in a pickle...just be carefull with them, you don't want to get hurt or have them vent...I wonder why they are so tight in there? Anyway good luck getting them out, and be safe!

Have you talked to the cells? If they don't want to come out it is much more difficult.
Seriously:
You can try with epoxy to tie a small hook to the battery end and then pull firmly.
I've had a similar problem and with a lot of patience I pried the cells out of the light using a small screwdriver but I think this can't work for all the cases.

Luigi

Old school stuff. I think folks are close, but mix it up. Freeze the thing overnight (everything shrinks), run under *hot* water long enough to get the torch gutenhot (torch expands, battery still cold and shrunk). Do the wrist flick thing. If that doesn't do it...

Then as batteries can sometimes do, it has most likely swelled. A gob of JB weld with a paper clip on the end just might do the trick. I've seen people extract bolts that have had their heads shear off simply by JB welding another bolt to the broken one.



Good luck.

If Sure-Fire hadn't decided to make the battery tubes so tight recently.. this wouldn't be a problem...

They are ridiculously tight now.

And, I think we all know WHY they did that.

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