LED Flashlight Problem

[Wade Garrett]

I have a couple dozen mini LED flashlights-- the kind that use three AAA batteries in a plastic holder inserted into the barrel of the light. The holder keep them aligned similar to how the cylinder in a revolver holds the cartridges. I keep a few flashlights in every room so there's always one nearby when needed.

They range in price/quality from 50 lumen plastic cheapies in 10 for $9.99 combo packs at the Home Depot to heavy duty "tactical, aircraft grade aluminum bodied" 750-1000 lumen babies with high, low, strobe and auto-SOS settings. A few of them could just about illuminate a ball field at night.

Same problem with several of them- no matter the cost. Gray crud, green crud and corrosion builds up on the holders' negative end spring terminals rendering the lights dim or inoperative. Some of it can be removed with increasingly aggressive cleaning- but it usually comes back.

No leakage or problems with the regularly changed name brand alkaline batteries- voltage is fine.

What's with that- or more to the point, how to prevent?

[lkpo]

Wade Garrett [e-mail] wrote

I don?t get that at all. Likely the problem is the plating on the contact in the flashlight.

Don?t buy ones that do that.

[danny burstein]

[snip]

If they're like the ones I'm using with a slide-in holder that keeps the three batteries in place, what I've been doing is simply....

... is simply, pull out the holder, snap the batteries into it, place it in the flashlight to make sure it's working ok, and then...

... and then ... take out the hlder (leaving the batteries in it) and place the flashlight, and the holder - OUTSIDE the flashlight - into a Ziploc[tm] or similar plastic bag.

In addition to dramatically reducing chemical corrossion, it damp protects the flashlights.

[SNAG]

All my LED lights use 18650 rechargeables ... never had a corrosion problem .

[Ed Pawlowski]

Prevention is easy. Toss them and get the ones that use a single AA battery. I have a couple for years now, original batteries and still clean inside.

Mine are similar to these

[hubops]

I have had ~ a dozen of this sort of small led flashlights -

.. they look and work really swell .. until you need it ..

despite the apparent " quality " - metal alloy cases & such - I have had very _dismal_ performance from almost all of them. .. not sure why - household use - decent batteries. - the failures are : battery contact issues or button-switch problems or solder-connections to the led array .. PITA. I just gave up on them and bought a $ 20. Coast brand on sale -

very similar to this < identical >

.. not as small < or as cheap ! > as the other ones - but it works ! .. even after sitting for a year or so ..

just my 2 cents worth John T.

[SNAG]

They must send all the shitty ones to Canada . I have seven or eight of the cheap ones and they work just fine . I have worn a couple out , but they saw quite a bit of use and I feel like I got good value for my money .

[rbowman]

If you want to experiment auto parts stores have single use packets for under $2.

The grease is NOT a conductor so make sure you spin the batteries in the holder to get a good contact.

[micky]

That's the kind I use. Metal barrel. All of them bought at Harbor Freight.

But I've never had the problem you describe. I've used a variety of brands of batteries.

By coincidence, just last night I started packing for a trip, assuming I'll be allowed to go somewhere. Sorting what's in suitcases between what I should leave there and take again, and what are souvenir brochures etc. that I brought home 3 years ago.

And I found 2 of those flashlights**. One had no batteries but the other has a brand I've never heard of. I think they were in it when I bought it, at least 2 years ago, maybe 3. And the flashlight was still working. For 20 seconds it was even bright, but that went away.

If they're the original batteries, they're no alkaline. My impression is that carbon zinc batteries leak a lot more than alkaline?? Yes?

My most common problem was the switch failing, but that hasn't happened for 2 or more years. Maybe they found the problem.

**Even when I fly, I take a flashlight, a metal tape measure, a pen-style screwdriver with 2 tips at each end, and a VOM. Is that unusual?

[Clare Snyder]

pUT A GOB OF DIALECTRIC GREASE ON BOTH RNDS OF ALL BATTERIES AND ON THE CONTACTS WHERE THE BATTERY CASE CONNECTS TO THE FLASHLIGHT.

[Clare Snyder]

The most expensive thing you can buy is cheap crap that doesn't work when you need it.

[gfretwell]

I have the best luck with the black rubberized ones from Northern Tool, in the drop bins. They last a few years and when they get flaky I toss them. The no name chinese batteries seem to last longer than duracells or the costco brand duracell. It is really not worth replacing the batteries anyway since the flashlight is about $1.50 and so are 3 batteries. I usually buy a half dozen at a time and toss them in different places. I also buy the little ones with 3 LEDs in them and 4 little "44" batteries in them 50 or 100 at a time and give them away with ramp keys. They last a real long time and they cost a buck each with my name on them (Where to return found keys etc) If I really need to see things at night I have a stream light that lights up the night. It has a LiON battery

[micky]

Surprisingly, I've used everything.

In 2017, I rented a room from a woman about my age, and her apartment had two outlets which didn't grip the plugs well, and I used the meter when I replaced them to make sure I'd turned off the right breaker**.

I went to the hardware store and surprisingly I ended up using the tape measure to measure something for a girl I met there (too young for me.)

My landlady had had a couple screwdrivers but I used mine other places.

I take the flashlight because in 1971 I was walking very carefully but in pitch black, and I fell 10 feet into a ditch and broke my leg. Then in 1990 i wanted to go into some abandoned underground military bunker, and I was too scared to do it in the dark because of the prior broken leg. I tried using the camera flash to see where I was going, but it was so quick it didn't help. So now I carry the flaslight. The cellphone has a light but I like the flashlight. I can put it in my mouth and have both hands free.

**Electrical work would have cost her a lot more money than my putting casters on a little chest she had, but she thanked me over and over for the casters and iirc didn't even mention the outlets. She made a nice dinner for us about once a week.

[Bill Gill]

I've not had much luck with Duracell. They keep leaking if I leave them in whatever for very long. Whatever being almost anything that I don't use on a regular basis, including my household thermostat.

Bill

[Wade Garrett]

Damn! Now why didn't I think of that.