I got a mostly good condition 3 cell maglite for free because the rearmost of the D-cell batteries corroded and swelled up so much that it's stuck in the tube. I tried the kinetic \*whack it\* approach, tried vinegar to break up the corrosion, and now there's 3-in-1 oil soaking along the sides to see if anything loosens up. no movement. Anyone ever successfully extracted something like this?
by anfilco
2 Comments
Yeah, drill it out. It’s messy, but with this level of corrosion not much else you can do.
So, generally speaking vinegar will dissolve battery leakage and aluminum corrosion. Under most circumstances that’s your best bet, although on a Mag-Lite it’s important to remove the switch first since the vinegar will damage the steel parts. A long enough soak and whacking the tube with a soft mallet will gradually break up the stuff and loosen the batteries. Worst case, you have to drill through the batteries and pull out the fragments. Although when they’re really, really tightly stuck in there you sometimes can never get them out.
However, PRACTICALLY speaking, in this case just throw it out. The kind of intensive battery removal I talk about is mainly for super collectible lights that can never be replaced. A Mag-Lite like yours in mint condition is a $10 flashlight. With corrosion damage it’ll never be worth a dime, and there’s a good chance those won’t come out at all. That impact damage around the end sealed the deal. And unfortunately, using oil on battery corrosion kinda waterproofs it so vinegar doesn’t work well afterwards.
I’d suggest removing the head and switch and saving those to repair a future flashlight.
https://preview.redd.it/aytczqq8s4jg1.jpeg?width=2016&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ec160e2d586ffcc4c329cb5c99f157bdce1cd521