Leaked battery in a mag and I'm stuck!

Leaked battery in a mag and I\'m stuck!

Hi,

I have a Mag which tail cap that is suppose to be twisted off effortlessly and I think it must be due to battery"juice" that's holding it in place and I am having difficulty taking it off for a clean up and battery change.

Any advice?

Thanks in advance.

Re: Leaked battery in a mag and I\'m stuck!

What I did when this happened to me a few years ago, was to apply a series of increasingly damaging tools to the endcap. This was, however, unsuccessful (by this time I had already decided that all I wanted to do was determine the batteries' make, so I could send them the unit for battery warranty 'repair').

Ultimately, I hacksawed the battery tube in half, extracted the offending cells, and returned the entire caustic mess to Duracell. They promptly sent me a check covering the cost of a new replacement.

Whether this will work in your country depends on your battery manufacturer's guarantee. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thinking.gif

Re: Leaked battery in a mag and I\'m stuck!

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif
What did you say to them battery maker?

Re: Leaked battery in a mag and I\'m stuck!

In this case I'd get it off with any desctructive means, and send it back to the battery company. Nearly all of them will replace items damaged by their products.

If you really want to save it, I'll give some advice (my hobby of old police lights involves a lot of battery damaged models). First, whack the tailcap repeatedly with a non-marring hammer, like hard rubber or plastic. If that doesn't work, hold the body very firmly and try to take the cap off with a strap wrench (funny looking tool with a canvas or rubber loop on one end). I usually next to go heating it up with a torch, but with the batteries in there you don't want that.

Only thing after this is a damaging vise and pipe wrench, or cut it in half. Because of the watertight nature, any kind of loosening fluids won't work.

Re: Leaked battery in a mag and I\'m stuck!

try a vice grips. That should get it opened for you.

Re: Leaked battery in a mag and I\'m stuck!

Sounds logical Wholeflaffer and ABTOMAT.

Lemme try the non destructive way then followed by the destructive way first. And when I'm /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif

I'll keep you guys posted. Wish me luck.

Happy! lighting!

Re: Leaked battery in a mag and I\'m stuck!

[ QUOTE ]
Patrick said:
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif
What did you say to them battery maker?

[/ QUOTE ]
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif I basically just told Duracell what I told you. I included a note explaining that I couldn't get the endcap off, and needed to find out which batteries I had installed in it. I'm not sure what would have happened if I had sent the sealed light to Eveready... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/hahaha.gif

Re: Leaked battery in a mag and I\'m stuck!

Sometimes, you can break the bond by thermal cycling. Hot water / ice water baths - back and forth.

Another alternative is to try freezing the whole flashlight, then rapidly warm up the tail cap. The difference in expansion sometimes will break it loose.

On cars of course, I use a propane torch, but next to batteries - maybe not.

Re: Leaked battery in a mag and I\'m stuck!

Throw it away and get yourself a "real flashlight" /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crackup.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/twakfl.gif

Re: Leaked battery in a mag and I\'m stuck!

What you'd want to do is freeze the light, then warm up the body around the tail. The body would expand first, loosening the bond. That's what I do with a torch, although I haven't tried it with a loaded flashlight.

Re: Leaked battery in a mag and I\'m stuck!

Why not try to drill a hole at the bottom of the tail cap, then flush some (some as in 1 cup full? ;p)WD40 into the battery compartment. Let it sit there for a day... then try with some strap wrench

Re: Leaked battery in a mag and I\'m stuck!

[ QUOTE ]
stephenanderson2 said:
Throw it away and get yourself a "real flashlight" /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crackup.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/twakfl.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinser2.gif Thro-it away! This torch has potential if it's in the right hand. I'd like to have it modded if you don mind. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/nana.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/twakfl.gif

Happy Lighting

Re: Leaked battery in a mag and I\'m stuck!

Well said. I lost a 4D Mag to corroded batteries, but the company was gracious enough to accept responsibility. No word on WHEN it will be coming back though, they said they're going to go buy one for me and send it to me.

Thankfully the first two cells (nearest the bulb end) and not the last two leaked. The first two are jammed in there. I spoke to the company, the rep asked if they could have the batteries. I told them they'd HAVE to take the batteries, there's no way they'll get them out. The Mag is also missing the collar that holds the PR bulb because I lost it while trying to salvage the whole mess.

They are more interested in obtaining the batteries themselves, rather than the device. They just need enough of the device to determine that it's not the device causing the problem (Mags present a fairly open and shut case - battery leaks inside light, light gets trashed.. not much to say about it) and give you back a replacement. I would think you have a case as long as you can send them the device with the batteries.. how shall I put it, in a compromising position. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

At first I was thinking...whatever, I ain't gonna miss it. Now I'm counting the days till it gets back because my Hotlips and TWOL 3W are probably already on the plane to me.. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Re: Leaked battery in a mag and I\'m stuck!

me has lost a M@G Solitare to a Energiser battery - replaced the original black one with a silver one for free!

neg

Re: Leaked battery in a mag and I\'m stuck!

[ QUOTE ]
Nerd said:
Why not try to drill a hole at the bottom of the tail cap, then flush some (some as in 1 cup full? ;p)WD40 into the battery compartment. Let it sit there for a day... then try with some strap wrench

[/ QUOTE ]

I've tried that WD40 stuff on a single AAA mag before. Instead of it loosening, twisted it, yeah! it work /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/buttrock.gif and as a matter of fact it completely tore out it's threading! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/banghead.gif


Hey! thanks guys for all the feed back!

HAPPY LIGHTING!