Help, NiteCore EC11 has got it's cell stuck!!

hyperloop

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My brother recently bought a Nitecore EC11, nice light, looks great and all, but he bought Trustfire cells to use in the light and these were the cause of his undoing, the cell is stuck in the light, does anyone know how to remove the cell? It is seriously stuck, can't even move, my bro has spoilt the cell trying to remove the cell, any tips on removing the cell?


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akhyar

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Honestly, it's a blessing in disguise that the cell is spoilt already.
Anything that ends with the letters "fire" at the end of the brand, except a Surefire, is a big "NO" to me.
Back to your original question, maybe your brother can try using needle nose plier to remove the cell/pry open and follow by cleaning up of the EC11 body after the removal of the cell.
 

Parrot Quack

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Use a drill to drill out the center and go in with a course threaded bolt or screw and pull out?

Drilling out the main center of the battery, expectedly, will remove any outward battery pressure. And then, unless corroded to the barrel interior, the leftover battery should be able to be pulled out.

If the idea above my comments doesn't workout, then hopefully my above will bring you home.

Good luck.
 
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Bullzeyebill

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Try taping it out, carefully. Use a small piece of wood and tap with a hammer.

Bill
 

Stefano

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It 'a lithium battery, right?
Perhaps it is best to do this in an airy room or outside.
This is to avoid inhaling any harmful substances that can be found in the battery
 

WarRaven

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Find a socket that is close to diameter of tube, tape socket onto light with cavity of socket pointed towards cell to allow it a pocket of movement.
Hold taped assembly in hand, strike base of socket on pavement or a vice until battery is felt dislodged or semi free.

Edit, wear safety glasses doing any attempt.
 

Bullzeyebill

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You have got to be careful. Accidentally shorting the battery may cause disgusting harmful results.

Bill
 

nbp

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With an alkaline that got stuck a few weeks ago I just took a screw gun, drilled a screw into the center of the battery, grabbed the screw head with a channel locks and yanked it out. Make sure to do it outside as others have said, as there may be stinky stuff inside.
 

lunas

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i would try a small flat head screw driver in a vent hole do it outside bucket of sand and thick leather gloves and safety glasses. you can try seeping some oil or water on the label to help get it out alternately if it is stuck in so bad the vent pulls out you will be looking at the coil of lithium and the next step will be to take a needle nose and pull it out you can then toss it in water and watch it burn or seal it in a metal can with mineral oil to preserve it from there grab an edge of the zinc can and try bending it inward until it comes free.

With any luck the battery will not be stuck with enough friction the vent comes off.

If it starts venting throw it in the bucket of sand if it gets hot throw it in the sand until it cools off you do not want to breathe what this stuff vents.
 
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UnderPar

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With all of these advises, I certainly hope your brother was able to remove that battery. Moving forward, get a branded battery that doesn't end with "fire"...
 

hyperloop

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Hi guys, thanks for all the advice, first, I went outdoors with ample ventilation, next, I sprayed the cell with copious amounts of WD40, let it sit there for about 5 minutes, then with the flashlight being held by a pair of pliers, I turned it so that the cell was facing downwards and tapped the rear of the flashlight portion, a couple of taps and it was out of there, thanks again everyone.
 

lunas

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I have seen aftermath pictures of a sure fire light with 2 presumably fake tenergy rcr 123 the whole body had turned to shrapnel and the owner had it in his mouth suffered I think 2nd degree burns to his mouth but he lived. It was a story on here. There are more on here li-ion not a thing to mess with.
 

Crazyeddiethefirst

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One other suggestion for anyone else with a similar problem: if you put it in the freezer for 4 hours there is often enough contraction to allow the cell to release much easier.
 

Overclocker

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lemme guess? that's a 1C rated chinese li-co 18350. probably 600mah. so 600ma rated

EC11 draws what? 2.5A
 

Rick NJ

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One other suggestion for anyone else with a similar problem: if you put it in the freezer for 4 hours there is often enough contraction to allow the cell to release much easier.


I was thinking about making a suggestion along this line - with a small alteration. After freezing, do a very quick warming of the tube. The aluminum tube will gain heat very quickly and expands first. The inner part will be colder and since it must wait until the heat pass inward, it will expand later.

Mind you, this is hypothetical as I have not tried this, so do it at your own risk.

- Put the battery+flashlight thing in the freezer as Crazyeddiethefirst suggest.
- Get a plastic bag like the one you use for food storage - a big bag say about 8"x10" as insulation against the flashlight getting wet.
- Before you take the flashlight out of the freezer, boil some water and put it in a bucket.
- Take the frozen flashlight out from the freezer and put into the plastic bag, holding the bag's open end, dip the flashlight (flashlight-end of the bag) into the bucket. With the bag as insulation, the flashlight should stay dry.

So, while the flashlight almost immediately goes to near boiling water temperature, the inner parts should still be very cold. That temperature delta should make the aluminum tube expand more than the battery... may be. Perhaps it would just create enough separation for you to use a pair of pliers to pull the battery out - may be.

This is less destructive than the drilling method, so, if this doesn't work, it doesn't make the situation any worst when you start drilling. So it is worth trying, I think.

Reminder1 - this is hypothetical, try at your own risk and good luck...
Reminder2 - water and metal lithium doesn't mix well, so make sure you keep the battery part from getting wet. Check to make sure your bag is not leaking and careful when taking the tube+battery out of the wet plastic bag.

Keep us posted if it works or not. Good luck!


Rick
 

Crazyeddiethefirst

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Hi Rick,
The reason I made the suggestion is that I have had good luck "cracking open" heads that have been sealed with loctite. Part of the reason it works is geographical-I use a slightly different order when opening heads. I live in the desert near Palm Springs, so for example when I needed to open a 6PX and a G2X, I left the light in the direct sun for 3 hours on a day the temperature was greater than 110 degrees. This maximizes expansion. Then I place the light in the freezer for two hours (to maximize contraction). I take it out of the freezer and immediately apply torque using my vise and vise grips, pop, opens right up without a struggle...
 

Rick NJ

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Hi Rick,
The reason I made the suggestion is that I have had good luck "cracking open" heads that have been sealed with loctite. Part of the reason it works is geographical-I use a slightly different order when opening heads. I live in the desert near Palm Springs, so for example when I needed to open a 6PX and a G2X, I left the light in the direct sun for 3 hours on a day the temperature was greater than 110 degrees. This maximizes expansion. Then I place the light in the freezer for two hours (to maximize contraction). I take it out of the freezer and immediately apply torque using my vise and vise grips, pop, opens right up without a struggle...


We are on the same page (same line of thought) on using thermo to get some advantage.

I hope that works for him (and any circuit board inside that tube survives). Shame to see such a nice light goes go waste.
 
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