AAA Battery stuck in Olight i3E EOS

I bought this key chain light for my wife a couple of months ago. Today, it would not activate, so I went and fetched a fresh battery. I'm not able to swap out the cells, however, because the original Alkaline AAA battery is stuck inside the tube. Since the tail does not come off, I have no option to push it out. It's such a diminutive little thing that it could be bent out of shape easily by applying too much force.

I think I paid something like $15 for it, so it's not the end of the world. Before I get rough with it, does anyone have any suggestions? For that matter, does anyone know why it got stuck in the tube in the first place? The battery does not appear to have leaked.

Thanks

The battery may have swollen and not leaked, or you may get it out to find that the end is all kinds of messed up.

I've had some luck in the past soaking something like that with KROIL (a machinists oil) and letting it set overnight to "creep" but I'm not sure you want to buy a can of KROIL unless you are going to use it for other things.

Sometimes sticking it in a freezer overnight to make everything cold and then warming the outside metal with a hairdryer will cause enough expansion to get things out too.

Meh I would get a very small sheet metal screw and drew it in just enough then pull the entire cell out with pliers.

The metal screw and pliers trick worked well. And, yes, the negative terminal had leaked quite a lot. I don't often deal with Alka-leaks anymore. Can I clean the corrosion off? Or is the light kaput?

I use DeoxIT D-series to clean corrosion off of connectors. If you can find a tool to scrub it in there it will work wonder for you.

I gifted a couple Hamilton's worth of i3E and Nextorch K1s last Xmas season. Every person I did give one to I advise to ditch the came with battery. They tend to not last long anyway, and have a high propensity of leaking. Only lights I didn't advise that on was the Olight gift sets with the lithium cell shipped with it, good cells.

Just clean it up to see if it still works, and remember for future use, don't use the shipped with the light alkaline, ever.

Thanks, guys. I don't put alkaline batteries in any device I care about. My new multi meter came with alkaline AA's, but I promptly replaced them with lithium primary AA. In fact, my TV remotes may be the only things in my house powered by alkaline batteries. I intended to put a lithium AAA battery in my wife's Olight, but I straight up forgot.

Very grateful for the DeoxIT D-series recommendation. I'll clean it up for her and get it back in service with proper batteries.

Modernflame said:

The metal screw and pliers trick worked well. And, yes, the negative terminal had leaked quite a lot. I don't often deal with Alka-leaks anymore. Can I clean the corrosion off? Or is the light kaput?

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Glad to hear it worked

Modernflame said:

The metal screw and pliers trick worked well. And, yes, the negative terminal had leaked quite a lot. I don't often deal with Alka-leaks anymore. Can I clean the corrosion off? Or is the light kaput?

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Have you tried white vinegar and a Qtip?

I have not. Good idea, though. I'll give that a go before getting the detox.

Modernflame said:

I have not. Good idea, though. I'll give that a go before getting the detox.

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If you decide to leave it over night I suggest you stand the tube up and pour a little at the bottom. Let that sit overnight if it's bad enough.

Cobraman502 said:

If you decide to leave it over night I suggest you stand the tube up and pour a little at the bottom. Let that sit overnight if it's bad enough.

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The main function of vinegar is to counteract the basic PH of the electrolyte. This happens almost instantly. Vinegar is acidic and I would not suggest leaving it on overnight or submerging the battery compartment as it might hurt the driver, optics, or emitter.

Deoxit D5 is really the best solution for this and personally I would skip the vinegar altogether Modernflame. It is also good to have on hand to clean and protect all of your flashlights.

This is what you want(check out the PDF at the bottom)...

http://store.caig.com/s.nl/it.I/id.94/.f?sc=2&category=188

Cobraman502 said:

Have you tried white vinegar and a Qtip?

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This is how I've done it.
BUT
After you do that make sure and wipe it down good with a few water soaked q-tips or rinse it well to get the acidic vinegar off the terminals.

DO NOT leave it soak overnight in Vinegar. I've removed HAII coatings that way before.

p.s. Coke will do it too, but the sticky/sugar has issues all of its own.

zespectre said:

This is how I've done it.
BUT
After you do that make sure and wipe it down good with a few water soaked q-tips or rinse it well to get the acidic vinegar off the terminals.

DO NOT leave it soak overnight in Vinegar. I've removed HAII coatings that way before.

p.s. Coke will do it too, but the sticky/sugar has issues all of its own.

Click to expand...

In this particular device, the driver, lens, and emitter are housed in the head. Setting the head aside, there will be no issues damaging it with cleaning strategies. I did actually try a bit of Coke, drawing from my experience with corroded car battery terminals. I rinsed it out straight away, but it did not remove all of the leaked-out-alka-junk. As it happens, there is no vinegar in the house, but I'll have it all sorted out tomorrow.

Modernflame said:

In this particular device, the driver, lens, and emitter are housed in the head. Setting the head aside, there will be no issues damaging it with cleaning strategies. I did actually try a bit of Coke, drawing from my experience with corroded car battery terminals. I rinsed it out straight away, but it did not remove all of the leaked-out-alka-junk. As it happens, there is no vinegar in the house, but I'll have it all sorted out tomorrow.

Click to expand...

okay
Oh and to be clear, we're talking about WHITE vinegar, not red or balsamic or the rest. Just plain old white vinegar.

Plain old WHITE vinegar.

Equating a leaky alkaline battery to your can battery is wrong.

Car wet cell batteries use sulfuric acid. A dry cell alkaline battery contains potassium hydroxide, a base.

You neutralize acids with a base and neutralize a base with an acid.