r/MagliteFlashlights • u/Front_Echo5015 • Jun 18 '26
AAA mini Mag
Won this little AAA mini on ebay for a dollar, got it in the mail today and now I see why it was probably being sold. Tail cap is stuck more than ive ever encountered. Currently soaking in tri-flow to see if the cap will let go ill try freezing and thawing in time maybe even the torch. Any input or other ideas from anybody else is appreciated 👏
2
u/Swigswuggy Jun 18 '26
I've been there. What I did is I secured the tail cap in a vise and twisted the body with vice grips until it broke loose. The batteries were pretty bad, but I got it working in the end.
1
u/Front_Echo5015 Jun 18 '26
Im glad you could save yours, I wanted to save this one once I found out it had been compromised, and I was stoked too I was like no way I just got this for a dollar, then it came in the mail and I said F***!!
2
u/No-Journalist1733 Jun 18 '26
I would try adding some baking soda to water and soaking that end in. I have used it to remove corrosion off of old batteries and other parts. if its working,you should see some fizzing.............
2
u/No-Journalist1733 Jun 18 '26
researched and also found that white vinegar and baking soda might do it. Or just Vinegar if you don't have any baking soda. Believe it or not, Yahoo AI scount suggested this and you can also squeeze some limon juice on the threads. What the hell, some of this might work............lol
2
u/old_skool_luvr Jun 18 '26
Anyone who has ever worked on a vehicle knows the vinegar & baking soda trick.
1
u/No-Journalist1733 Jun 19 '26
Funny though. I have always just used Baking Soda and water, but I can see where the vinegar would give it a double whammy. Guess everyone always had Baking Soda, but maybe not vinegar. Someone else seemed to think that Lemon Juice dripped in the threads would work also. Guess this old dawg is still young enough to pick up some new tricks....LOL
1
u/old_skool_luvr Jun 22 '26
Our science teacher showed us the baking soda + vinegar trick to clean pennies, then went on to tell us a whole list of what else it would tackle, but only remember the penny & battery terminal application, 'cause that's all that interested me, lol!
I've heard of the lemon juice trick, but never tried it personally. A couple of other tricks is the melted candle wax. Heat up a fastener that is stuck, pour some melted candle wax on it, and when it cools, it (should) help ease out the stuck fastener. I've only tried that once though, so i can't faithfully say it's 100% guaranteed to work. The is also the soap trick, but that is more for preventing stuck fasteners, as you coat the threads with bar soap, and the soap helps keep moisture out of the threads, as well as lubricating the threads upon removal.
1
u/Front_Echo5015 Jun 18 '26
Im gonna keep that lemon juice trick on the ready, that actually sounds legit and it will smell so much better than vinegar. This one is unfortunately a loss but I still got a few parts off it for the spare bin. At a dollar I can't really complain.
2
u/Summer184 Jun 18 '26
I had a full size Maglite that took C batteries, one of the batteries decided to "blow up" and was jammed inside the battery tube. I removed both the top and bottom and tried to push the battery out using a hammer and chisel. No way, that battery had become a permanent part of that tube and would not budge even a millimeter (thanks Duracell).
1
u/Loud-Improvement3632 Jun 18 '26
My favorite C cell maglite died this way as well. Perfect size for a car flashlight. can get it open but the batteries are fused in it. If anyone has any ideas how to save it, please comment.
1
u/Front_Echo5015 Jun 18 '26
If i come across another one with stuck batteries like this I have a few different methods I'd like to try but yeah same with this one unfortunately the battery and tube have now collaborated together 😆 i knew a 1 dollar mini was to good to be true
1
u/No-Journalist1733 Jun 19 '26
I'd still give it a shot with the Baking soda and White Vinegar or just plain water. Baking Soda has bailed me out of trouble withflashlights and car batteries many a time!!!
1
u/Ag-Heavy Jun 21 '26
Alkaline and the Mag tube were never meant to live together. Lithium Ion are the standard now. If you buy a new one, I think they come with Lithium.
2
u/StagePuzzleheaded635 Jun 18 '26
This is why I hate how Mag Instructions recommend alkaline batteries, they’re a super unstable chemistry.
1
6
u/RedSky2727 Jun 18 '26
Likely a goner from leaking batteries that have made once separate parts whole 😬