Mini Mag tail springs scratches batteries

The springs at the tailcap of Mini Mags are very sharp, which scratches a circle on the batteries. This isn't a problem if you use alkalines, since they will be thrown away after depletion. For those of us who uses our Mini Mags frequently with reusable, rechargables, this isn't too good for the batteries. After a while, I have noticed a significant chunk of metal has been scratched off at the neagative contact of the battery. I'm not sure if countinued wear could cause the battery to become unusable, but I have decided to stop using rechargables with them and stick to alkalines until I find something to smooth out the tip of the spring.

SMOOTH the spring end with a stone or very fine grit sandpaper. Enda........

That is true, but I don't think that will make your rechargeable batteries unuseable, though. well, it might snag up some metal out of the terminals, but i believe the spring would not actually bore through your batteries.

The design of most tailsprings are to "scratch" the the negative side of the cell. It ensures good contact each time.

My Surefire E1e-HA does that.
I don't see it as a problem.

the "scratching" will clean the contacts when you screw/unscrew the tailcap. this is a good thing.

i highly doutbt that you'd ever bore right through your battery though.

I don't like scratching my NiMh's, so I smooth over the cut end on the tailcap spring using a dremel with a high speed oxide cutting wheel. It works like a champ..

practically all my flashlights scratch the negative end of the batteries /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif most batteries seem to have a nickel coating or something, and scratching that off might cause the terminals to rust easier.

I used a small diamond file for knife sharpening to smooth mine. A ceramic knife sharpening stone would also work well.

I'm puzzled by this? In the MiniMag the lower of the two AA batteries sits on the spring and the next battery sits on top of it. When the bezel of the MM is twisted it makes contact with the positive terminal of the top battery, any torsional force (which is very minimal anyway) would be unlikely to cause the bottom battery to turn as the top battery will effectively spin on the positve terminal of the bottom battery. The only time that the bottom spring could cause any wear would be when you intially screw on the battery tailcap. In this instance the wear should be minimal? If your tailcap spring is chewing up the bottom of the lower battery it must be a damaged spring as I've used rechargeables in my MiniMag for years and other than minor scratches never had any problems.

Doug

Dougmccoy, you probrably have one of the better, duller springs. I have many Mini Mags, and some have springs that are sharper than others. Some make only very discreet scratches, while others trim a notable circle the first time. Frequent battery changes using the same battery each time will make a hole at the contact if the spring is very sharp.

Pahl, you will not find scratching CR123s a problem because they'll get thrown out after they are discharged, and you'll put in a new, fresh cell afterwards.

I have noticed that the springs of many other flashlights also scratches batteries, but it is the springs of the Mags that causes the most damage.

A while back I had to trim several Mag-D springs to avoid catching on custom battery-holders, but nothing with the AA lights... Probably because the only one I use often has a BB500 and a Kroll. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinser2.gif