Just picked up a few more:
Left to Right
Eveready Art Deco - Narrow boat switch - circa 1952
Ray-O-Vac brushed ribbed steel with red trim - circa 1970
Eveready/Union Carbide Commander" Chrome with Red Head - circa 1976
Fulton MX-991/U "army" with Red/Blue/White filters and clear diffuser - circa 1955
The Art Deco and the Fulton I just picked up today at so antique shops. The Fulton was $15 and the Art Deco was $5.
Upon getting home I found out that both of them were dead.
Fulton: Dug out the ohm meter and checked the switch and it was ok. Then I checked the bulb by hooking it to a battery and it was ok. After that I just cleaned the contacts and bent one or two of them a bit so that they would make a better connection. That's all it took and in 15 minutes it was working just fine.
Eveready Art Deco: Even though the exterior was in pretty nice condition, I only wanted to pay $5 for this light as the inside was heavily corroded from leaky batteries. The switch could be moved, but only with significant effort. But I figured I'd take a gamble.
First thing I did was check the bulb, and it was good. Next I took some very fine emery cloth and sanded the back side of the reflector, where the metal strip from the switch makes contact with the reflector assembly. Still no go.
Then I went nuclear filled the body of the light with a 50% vinegar solution. Lots of bubbling and chemical interactions ensued. I let the body drain through the switch assembly so all the vinegar solution was pouring through the switch. Then I took a piece of dowel rod and used it to breakup some of the corrosion in the inside of the tube. Also worked the switch back and forth a couple dozen time.
I repeated the above two more times.
After the third time I was working the switch and suddenly it was as if something broke free, and the switch was no longer stiff and hard to push. So I worked it a couple dozen more times, and then finally rinsed the body and switch with plain water.
After everything dried out I put it all together and the light worked. . . . But it worked too well. I couldn't shut the light off. It ends up that the insulating ring around the edge of the reflector had deteriorated to the point where it no longer was isolating the reflector from the ground.
The Light worked fine when i just held the reflector in place, but as soon as I put the lens cap on, it was an "eternal flame". . So off to the farm store. Found a thin 44-46 mm 'O' ring for $1.99 and placed it on the back of the reflector so when i tighten the head down, the reflector no longer touches the body tube. And now the light works perfectly!
I have a 3x'D' Eveready Captain (10") that should be arriving early next week.