batteries leaked in my coleman 3xAAA flashlight, now it stays on slightly constantly

Andy13186 · Dec 10, 2012

I had some batteries in my 3aaa coleman flashlight for a few years, they ended up leaking and damaging the light i guess. Now when i put batteries in the led lights up very slightly and stays on constantly even when the light is turned off. Is there any way to fix this? Its like .0005 lumen but you can see that the LED is emitting some light when all lights are off.

Andy13186 · Dec 11, 2012

Anyone else experienced a dimmly lit LED when the light is off after a battery leak? The leaking batteries were normal duracells, i switched to eneloops and am currently using eneloops.

Is the light just ruined now?

TEEJ · Dec 11, 2012

You might need to clean the contacts and threads, etc.

The leaked liquid tends to do a lot of damage. It is sometimes salvageable if it hasn't had too much time to eat things.

Glad you switched to enloops, they are MUCH better than alkies/corrosion injection cells.

Self-Ballasted Scamp · Dec 11, 2012

Is that the Coleman Max (?) grey Al body black switch with red tail? Mine is the same way... I think it's just the switch?

Andy13186 · Dec 11, 2012

This is the actual flashlight

http://www.walmart.com/ip/COLEMAN-2000009515-Coleman-3-AAA-Aluminum-LED-Flashlight/22086466

mabe all colemans do that? seems a huge waste of battery, it may have even caused the batteries to leak by staying on slightly constantly? Mabe coleman benefits from battery sales so they want the lights to waste the batteries? Who knows.... but it sucks that it wont even turn completely off and not waste battery. Wont be buying coleman again, too bad though since i liked the light size and the feel of it.

Yamabushi · Dec 11, 2012

If the leakage was near the tail, the leaked material may have created a short circuit from the spring to the body, effectively bypassing the switch. The leaked material is alkaline, not acidic. To clean, disassemble the tail as much as possible, use a mild acid such as vinegar to neutralize the leaked electrolyte, then rinse with water.

Newuser01 · Dec 11, 2012

Good advice.
In addition, I would rinse with warm water and let it dry for 3-4 days before trying to light it again. That should fix it.
Don't get the reflector and front glass wet, It a pain in the rear to clean. Take them off the light if you can.

cave dave · Dec 11, 2012

If you still have the Duracells you can send the light to duracell with the batteries and they will send you a check to replace the light. I did that once years ago with a minimag.

mikekoz · Dec 11, 2012

Andy13186 said:
This is the actual flashlight

http://www.walmart.com/ip/COLEMAN-2000009515-Coleman-3-AAA-Aluminum-LED-Flashlight/22086466

mabe all colemans do that? seems a huge waste of battery, it may have even caused the batteries to leak by staying on slightly constantly? Mabe coleman benefits from battery sales so they want the lights to waste the batteries? Who knows.... but it sucks that it wont even turn completely off and not waste battery. Wont be buying coleman again, too bad though since i liked the light size and the feel of it.

The problem is the batteries, not the light. Alkalines are not very particular about what they leak in!!

You may be able to fix it by cleaning it , as some of the posts here have stated.

Andy13186 · Dec 11, 2012

I put vinegar all where the acid was and in the battery holder then rinsed with water and dryed, and it seems to have fixed the problem! thanks guys

TEEJ · Dec 11, 2012

The stuff they sell to clean out mineral deposits in coffee makers, etc, can work too.

DubyaR · Dec 14, 2012

I bought this exact light (the grey version) for my dad a few years back. His light is doing the exact same thing. I had asked him before if the batteries had leaked,and he said that they haven't. I had assumed it was just a problem with the switch on the light, but now I am wondering if he just had a "little" leakage that wasn't really noticeable to the eye. I'll have to inspect it better myself and possibly give it a cleaning. I'll report back if this fixes the problem or not.

batteries leaked in my coleman 3xAAA flashlight, now it stays on slightly constantly

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