So I picked up my old 6-cell maglite that I haven't used for a long time... been sitting in the garage for a while. It didn't come on when I clicked the switch, so I thought the batteries must be gone. Then I couldn't get the end cap off. I brought it inside the house, thinking maybe it would come off easier once the metal had warmed up. Nope. I eventually had to put the main body of the torch in a vice and use a stilson wrench to get the cap unscrewed. Then I found this mess: The batteries won't fall out and appear to be pretty well wedged in. Now what?
I've got a maglite-shaped club in the Jeep that died of the exact same ailment. What the fuck was I supposed to do, leave the batteries in their package until I need to use it?
I've tackled this problem before. You're going to need a rather long 5/16 lag screw, a long 1/4 bit, and a vise, attached to a good base. Drill into the first battery, then screw the bolt into the battery. Clamp the bolt in the vise, and then pull on the flashlight with as much body weight and leverage as needed. Don't be afraid to try to get some WD-40 around the edges of the battery, you might even need to let it soak over night. Repeat as necessary, do each battery individually.
Turning it on every now and then has worked fine for me for years. Of course, I've ditched Mags all together. My little LED Stinger is brighter than even a Mag-Rechargable, a fraction of the weight, and it's batteries have lasted for a year and counting with frequent use.
Screw maglite. Get a surefire! www.surefire.com Lit up the whole neighborhood when we went trick-or-treating !
My light: http://www.flashlightreviews.com/reviews/streamlight_tl2led2.htm Chris, you don't risk breaking a bulb when you hit 'em with an ASP. You're not Fred Flinstone. Use the right tool for the right job.
Not everyone can legally carry an ASP. I recently got my first Surefire. A friend got me a G2 Nitrolon for my birthday. Great piece of kit!
I have a carry permit, so I also carry an ASP. It would be irresponsible for me to go straight to the gun when a good ass whuppin' will do.
Shit, I still use the crookhead flashlight I was issued. Hard OD Green plastic going on 15 years old and it works like a charm.
You can pour a solution of baking soda/water down the battery hole and hope that the battery corrosion dissolves away. Personally, I wouldn't fuck with that shit. Throw it away and get a new one.
If you want to be dishonest, just get a new one and refund the old one at Wal*Mart. Personally, I'd just get a new one. What are they, 10 bucks? Not worth the trouble of trying to fix it.
How do you figure? Baking Soda is a base, battery acid is, well, acid. Base + Acid = Water + Salt You don't have a lot of experience with cleaning up battery acid, do you?
