Maglite tail spring loose?

My Black Friday Maglite 2D Rebel has a loose tail spring.

Unlike other mag models I have seen, the spring is not attached to the tailcap. My question is directed at members with the newer Rebel equipped model. Is the loose tail spring normal, or should I be heading back to the store for a replacement before they are sold out?

The tail spring is fine. It is only a press fit. Give it a clockwise twist while pushing it into the tailcap. Insert the batteries and all should be well.

It's normal. All of my new Rebels have springs that can come loose with no batteries.

I couldn't get mine to stay snapped in place so I cut the last coil off the fat end. Since I needed to shorten it anyways for 2x18650 use this was the ideal solution. It got really annoying having the spring pop out with cell changes. The spring looks bigger than the tailcap in the middle pic, but its not, its just the image distortion from the macro setting on my camera.

Before mod...


After mod...

On the older Maglites with the spare bulb, if you couldn't get the spring out you couldn't get to the spare bulb. If you notice that there's a groove down in there where the wide end of the spring goes. You just have to turn and compress the wide end of the spring enough so that it goes into that groove and stays there. It's normal.

Guys,

Thanks for all the replies.

I tried to get the spring to stay put, but it just refuses to stay tight in the machined groove in the tail cap. Annoying, but it does not interfere with the operation of the flashlight.

I like the light, so I decided to keep it.

BTW, I also snagged the AA model on sale (off the regular rack, not in the sale area). Like that one, too. Mine has all the modes and the lanyard ready tail cap. The 2D stays in the house, the AA is in the glove box for the winter (never know when the REAL SOS might come in handy).

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