*Maglite Salvage - When Batteries Leak*
By: Sasquatch
29 December 2016

Forward: I originally thought to include photos and/or video to accompany this tutorial. However, the challenges associated with using smartphone-addicted teenagers as cinematographers proved prohibitive, thus I pray my description is adequate to help you. --Sasquatch

Seems like everyone who has owned a Maglite has it happen sooner or later. Batteries leak, and the resulting freezes them inside the barrel of the flashlite. When it happened to my first Maglite, it seemed that every tutorial or forum post about this involved a different internal setup than mine had. So after I got the batteries out, I just let the light sit on my desk for some years. Then I picked it up, took it to work with me, and managed to disassemle the thing. Based on what I did that worked, here goes.

Battery removal:

• Remove tail cap.
• Dump batteries, if possible
• Dribble a teaspoon of vineagar into the barrel to break up the corrosion and gunk.
• Repeat steps 2 and 3 until all batteries are out.

Disassembly:

• Unscrew head, remove lamp.
• Pry off the rubber switch cover with an overgrown thumbnail.
• Press the switch to the "on" position. Insert a 5/64 hex wrench into the hole in the "bullseye". If you're actually doing this, you know what I mean. Use a wrench long enough to span the entire barrel! When you feel the wrench engage the socket in the set screw, turn CCW 2 full turns.
• Looking in from the head end, you should be able to push on the lamp socket until the switch and socket unit slides backward an inch.
• For this step, I made a tool from a piece of steel strap about 1/2 inch wide. I filed a notch like a "7" near the end, and creased the end lengthwise to simulate a curve. Then I slid the tool into the gap in the retaining snap ring, and after several tries, hooked it out of its groove. Then I simply removed it by hand.
• Using a dowel or PR24 baton, push the switch assembly out the head end.
• Apply a piece of 3M Scotch tape to the swich assembly opposite the "bullseye" to keep from losing the setscrew and nut. Just leave the tape in place when you re-assemble.
• Remove spring from the tailcap, and clean with vineagar and sandpaper if needed.
• Clean the spring at the rear of the switch assembly with sandpaper.
• Clean all corrosion from tailcap.
• Clean all corrosion from inside of barrel using vineagar, and a scouring pad pushed through with your baton.

Assembly:

• Replace the spring in the tailcap. Make sure of bare metal contact.
• Replace switch assembly in barrel from the head end. Take care to align "bullseye" with hole. Push it in about an inch beyond.
• Replace the retainer snap ring. Push it down edgewise, then turn it so it snaps into the groove. (Fingers) You may wish to use an unmodified snap ring instead, to facilitate fure disassembly.
• Use baton to push switch assembly up against ring.
• Using 5/64 hex wrench, tighten setscrew. Just tighten until it's snug.
• Replace rubber cover.
• Replace lamp and retainer ring.
• Replace head.
• Install batteries, observing correct polarity.
• Install tail cap.

At this point, the lamp should light, because you didn't push the button to open the switch. If you don't have light after pushing the button, check batteries and lamp with your multimeter (you DO have one, I presume?) Then inspect the tailcap and barrel end for bare metal (that's a good thing) contact. Double-check the tailcap/spring contact (I love my multimeters!). If all OK so far, you'll need to disassemble again, and closely inspect the spring on the switch unit for corrosion. I didn't need to remove mine to clean it, but you may wish to. Use a microscope or jeweler's loupe to inspect this. Be sure to thoroughly clean out the barrrel. Paper towels are useful, make like you're cleaning a really big short-barrel-shotgun. You'll want to check the barrel contact on the switch unit, too. That's the pointy end of the set screw holding the switch unit in place.

Anyway, once you've done this once, it's much easier the next time.

If all else fails, sell it for parts on ebay, or stash it in your junk box for a future project. Grap a new ML300 Maglite, it'll probably be brighter than the old one ever was, anyway.

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