Help Me Retrieve E1L

Being ham-handed & butter-fingered is a bad combo when not using a L-A-N-Y-A-R-D on your expensive, new, light. My E1L was exactly two weeks old on the last day of May when it decided to jump from my fingers into an air conditioning condensate drain in the floor.

It managed to squeeze between the numerous drain lines blocking the opening of the 4" pipe and shoot right through the trap about 4' below and into the horizontal line beyond the trap. It was on as it dove in, head first, and instantly, there was not a glimmer to be seen. It couldn't have gone too far beyond the trap but it was facing away just like it went down.

I'm trying to think of something stiff but flexible enough to tape a strong magnet to and hope it attracts the steel pocket clip. I have two very strong and small magnets that may work but haven't found the right transport mechanism. An electrician's fish tape is too stiff and curls straight up and doesn't go into the horizontal pipe after the trap bend. I'm thinking maybe the outer spring wire from a choke cable (what's a choke you may wonder). Perhaps the right plastic tube would be stiff enough to push the magnet up the trap and then lay down so it can touch the E1L. I'm guessing the light is aprox 5 - 7' away, maybe a foot or two past the trap.

I will appreciate any brainstorms - and thanks in advance for CPFers to the rescue.

Hey, some auto stores have a retrieval tool that is made of the choke cable housing you mention. There are two variations. One has a claw on it that opens when the button on the end is pressed and springs shut when released. The other has a magent on it. I don't know if this helps or not.
Best of luck to you.

Where exactly did it happen..home/work?
If there is external access to the pipe cut it open.
If not maybe a roto-rooter guy can video cam it's exact location and help devise a method of removal.

Ok, how big is the drain? Here is my thought..
Vaccuum. Use a nylon on the vac side of a shop vac to prevent the flashlight from going into the vac when you get it. the end of the hose should be as close to the size of the hole as possible to prevent pushing it further.
Me, well I would use a jack hammer and sawzall, without hesitation /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif I can afford a new light but waiting for them in the mail takes years of my life.
A problem you may encounter with a magnet, pending the size of the drain hole is that the clip on an E1L is half way up the light, this will make the light "pull" sideways as you try to withdraw it.
Any chance of posting a pic?

fiberglass fish stix ???

get on the other end of the pipe and flush it with water?

Small, cheapo, Toys-R-Us motorized car with grippy tires, a big NdFeB magnet and fishing wire attached. Drain the pipe of water, and send the little bugger on it's way until you hear a 'click' sound of the magnet ( hopefully ), capturing your E1e's clip. Pull it out with the fishing line or keep trying until you get the thing.

Otherwise, if you have physical access around the pipe ( and it's PVC, not metal ), tape several big NdFeB magnets in a ring and run it up the pipe until you hear it capture your toy. If that doesn't work, your E1e may just be something that someone will cherish when they find the flashlight in the rubble and aftermath of WWIII.

The magnet wont work if its a steel pipe. It will just stick to the insides. I am not too sure I understand what kind of pipe you are talking about. Can you explain further how this pipe is set? horizontal? vertical? material its made of, etc?

I agree with Mags, I was under the initial impression of cast iron or steel.

If not, just go to the hardware store and get yourself a 25' drain snake. Quite flexible, there is a corkscrew type end on it that you should be able to affix a magnet to, or other grabbing affair. I don't remember off hand, but I think the snake can be had for around $10.

HTH!

If you do go with the magnet, then you should use a sort of stiff material for your line, like wire, not string. Make sure its a wire that is flexible enough and that wont succumb to the deadly power of the magnet /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif. Good luck, I hope you get your light back.

Thanks Guys. I tried a small, strong magnet on the end of a medium stiffness drain snake, but without luck after numerous tries. I tried a magnet on my E2e to see if the clip was enough steel to be pulled. It was, but the surprising thing is that the 123 cells had enough steel in their shells to hold the magnet to the E2e's aluminum case.

I'm thinking that maybe I pushed the E1L a little further. Tomorrow I,m going to wand a metal detector along the underside of the 3" PVC drain line. The pipe is accessible above the suspended ceiling...in one of the banks I provide maintenance for...in the bank manager's office! Great, Murphy-like placement; I'll have to come up with a convincing story.

Anyway, if I can detect the light, I'm hoping the huge speaker magnet that I have will be strong enough to drag it along the inside of the pipe while I slide the magnet along the outside, and pull it into the trap.

I wonder if the light will work even if it is retrieved? hope the KL1 head is waterPROOF.

Its a surefire so if it doesn't work send it back.

Good luck with the plan! Tell us of the outcome!

The bank manager was out of his office this afternoon and I had some overtime acquired so I was able to get at the pipes above his ceiling. The body scanner was too sensitive, so I tried my Zircon stud & metal detector...to no avail. Nada, nuttin', zipparoony, aaarrrgh, grumble, mumble.

The darned thing seemed to have disappeared into a black hole. We saw the new Star Wars the day before - I must have brought some of the "Dark Force" back with me.

If you know someone that works for an alarm company that does installs on houses, they usually have very small rare earth magnets that are used for windows and doors. They look like little donuts about5 or 6 mm in diameter and a hole in middle for a small screw to mount them.These magnets are very powerful , at least 5 times more than a speaker magnet. Try it. Dont get the magnets from hobby/science stores ... it's got to be the ones alarm companies use for house installations. Stack 4 or 5 together and its almost impossible to take apart with fingers.

Jim


Edit: If you cannot acquire them pm me and I will mail some to you. I feel your pain. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif

Edit #2. with these magnets, secure them with nylon string, approx 1 or 2 feet in length and attach the string to the steel cable. That way string is flexible enough to drop into different hole, by pushing steel cable past the joining section. Does this make sense?

[ QUOTE ]
attowatt said:
If you know someone that works for an alarm company that does installs on houses, they usually have very small rare earth magnets that are used for windows and doors. They look like little donuts about5 or 6 mm in diameter and a hole in middle for a small screw to mount them.These magnets are very powerful , at least 5 times more than a speaker magnet. Try it. Dont get the magnets from hobby/science stores ... it's got to be the ones alarm companies use for house installations. Stack 4 or 5 together and its almost impossible to take apart with fingers.

Jim


Edit: If you cannot acquire them pm me and I will mail some to you. I feel your pain. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif

Edit #2. with these magnets, secure them with nylon string, approx 1 or 2 feet in length and attach the string to the steel cable. That way string is flexible enough to drop into different hole, by pushing steel cable past the joining section. Does this make sense?

[/ QUOTE ]

better than this...

take apart a computer hard drive

if you get that magnet NEAR the light, something will happen, guaranteed

turbodog, can you explain that part? Sounds interesting /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/popcorn.gif

turbodog
Huh /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif

junk hard drives esp the full height seagate scsi have very strong magnets for the head actuator.
you dont want any part of your body between them when they snap together.

Thank you, everyone, for your ideas - they are good ones. I have access to a bunch of old HDs and may try to remove the magnets, otherwise, the alarm type with the holes may be easier to use. I'll contact our security company to see if they have those magnets; the technicians have been helpful in the past.

What surprises me is that my Zircon metal detector, which recognizes an E2e from a couple inches away, didn't pick up the E1L in the PVC pipe. Perhaps I need to scan further. The pipe has very little pitch or water flow, so I doubt it went further than I might have pushed it with my earlier attempts.

Thanks, again, I appreciate the time you all took to help me. I'll certainly post, with exuberance and glee, if I retrieve what had become one of my favorite lights.