renewing the spring in my flashlight after the battery leaks.

[meirman]

Renewing the spring in my flashlight after the battery leaks.

Is there a fairly easily available chemical or method of getting the spring at the bottom of a flashlight back into working order after the batteries leak and corrode the spring?

Light damage I have scraped off, but other times, I've thrown away some flashlights, but now someone gave me one that I would really like to work.

Sometimes I use alkaline batteries, and sometime "flashlight" batteries**. The corrosion looks the same, but I guess it's not.

Maybe there is even a chemical under the kitchen sink that would work.

**That way, if by mistake I leave the light on for days, I don't waste so much money.

Thanks

Meirman

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[Gizmofiddler]

Dilute nitric acid does a nice job of cleaning metal. I use it to clean coins found with metal detector. It doesn't take much. Leave in acid a few minutes, then rinse well. But that was when I had access to such chemicals. Under the sink stuff? I dunno.

[Conase]

I have been using ( at a battery maker's recommendation ) a 50/50 mix of vinegar and water.

Does not remove the brown rusty looking stuff, but it does NEUTRALIZE the acid.

Call any battery company and ask about their recommendation for neutralizing corrosion

[DR, Bob]

To NEUTRALIZE battery acid use baking soda and water Viniger will not NEUTRALIZE the acid.

neutralizing

[David Martel]

Conase,

You pour acid (vinegar) on acid to neutralize it? How does this work? Do dry cell batteries leak acid? A suggestion for the OP. Radio Shack constantly gives away flashlights. Get one, remove the spring, and swap.

Dave M.

[Jim Yanik]

"DR, Bob" wrote in news:13Nfd.41419$Pl.8713@pd7tw1no:

Most people use ALKALINE flashlight batteries these days,and they are - alkaline-,not acidic,so vinegar works,while acids do nothing or make it worse.

[Jim Yanik]

"David Martel" wrote in news:p4Nfd.9127$ [e-mail]:

Alkaline batteries are most common these days(for flashlights),and they are

-ALKALINE-,not acidic. So you neutralize with an acid like vinegar.

Calling it "battery acid" these days is asking for confusion,as battery electrolytes vary due to the different chemistries.

The older carbon/zinc batteries were acidic.Same for lead-acid(car batteries);these get neutralized with baking soda,an alkaline.

[Conase]

I was the poster who recommended the 50/50 water and vinegar as told to me by the customer support at one of the leading battery makers - forget which one.

I had a battery - alkaline - leak in my radio. As has been said, battery "acid" is a misnomer these days. The "alkaline" battery "acid" was neutralized or whatever term you want to put on it by the vinegar and water mix.

Don't believe me, call Eveready or RayOVac or any other maker.

I lucked out with the MagLites I've had when the batteries leaked and swelled and damaged the units. Mag replaced them for FREE.

I was prepared to remove the batteries and use vinegar and water, but found I could not even get the batteries out after filling the barrel with WD 40 and Kroil when the WD did not work.

So forget the vinegar and water thing.

Woman asked me what BRAND of battery. I asked her what was the difference. She told me they have a LOVE RELATIONSHIP of some kind with Eveready and RayOVac I think to replace the lite for free.

If it is a Panasonic or Sears or Walgreens or whatever, you are SOL on the Mag Lite warranty.

Call Mag Lite and ask.

I was surprised.

[meirman]

In alt.home.repair on 28 Oct 2004 01:14:40 GMT [e-mail] (Conase) posted:

What's Kroil?

Meirman

If emailing, please let me know whether or not you are posting the same letter. Change domain to erols.com, if necessary.

[Jim Yanik]

[e-mail] (Conase) wrote in news: [e-mail]:

I use straight household vinegar,it's only 5% acid anyways. I rinse with water,though.

[meirman]

Thanks for all the help.

I finally realized I was less concerned about the flashlight I have, as nice as it is, but more concerned about how to handle battery leaks in expensive or hard-to-replace electronic devices where batteries have leaked, and the battery springs or contacts don't conduct electricity anymore. Some of these are hard to disassemble, as well.

What do you guys do about those things?

In alt.home.repair on 28 Oct 2004 13:57:01 GMT Jim Yanik posted:

Meirman

If emailing, please let me know whether or not you are posting the same letter. Change domain to erols.com, if necessary.

[David Martel]

Meirman,

Many battery manufacturers guarantee their product against leaks and will replace damaged things. If you're not going to use something for a while do not store it with the batteries.

Good luck, Dave M.

[Gregory L. Hansen]

I don't think it's leaking, I think it must be an electrochemical effect. I always have trouble with corrosion on the negative-most spring of my bike lights. It takes four AA cells, and after sitting around mostly unused for a summer the negative end is a mess, but the positive end is clean and shiny. Whenever I change batteries I file the spring a little to clean it up, but electrical contact can still be unreliable. And I hate to have to buy a new light every year. But I'm not sure what else to do about it.

[Raymond J. Johnson Jr.]

1) Buy a new light 2) Remove the batteries when not in use

[MG]

Try to coat the spring with vaseline. MG

[John Savage]

Most likely to do with the construction of cells. Dry cells are made using a zinc can with an open top. The ingredients are added and the open top covered with epoxy or plastic or similar. The zinc can is the negative electrode, and gets eaten away and dissolves with use (and at a slower rate with disuse). So any leakage of electrolyte is likely to occur near or wick around to the (-) base but not so close to the top (+) nipple which is physically distanced from any leaked liquid. It leaks because of the electrochemical reaction which eats away the zinc case. I suppose manufacturers could make the case 3 or 4 times thicker so that the electrolyte gets exhausted long before the case is likely to develop pinholes, but using more zinc than is needed would raise their price.

Take the cells out and store them separately when not in use. If you keep an eye out, you should be able to pick up a discarded battery- operated device (radio, cassette player, etc.) which has a STAINLESS- STEEL spring that you can substitute in your flashlight. This should be a lot easier to clean than ordinary steel.

[Gregory L. Hansen]

No leakage, and the battery terminals look fine. The arrangement looks like

------- | |] ------- ------- [| | ------- ------- | |] ------- ------- [| |

Eh, I know what would happen. The day I take the batteries out, I'll need them, and I won't know I'll need them when I leave for work in the morning.

It's already stainless, and the pieces are not detachable.

On the other hand, I have a cheapo flashlight that's been sitting around with a pair of D cells for a few years, and it's still usefully bright (I don't use it very often). And that spring looks new. It's stuck down there at the bottom of a plastic tube, it's also not easily removed, but it looks like copper or some copper-bearing alloy.

[Fred]

Use a mixture of baking soda and water to stop the corrosive activity and then clean water - sand off corrosion and wipe dry