All of us grab that seldom used flashlight and find that it glows feebly or not at all. Are there any cures (preventative maintenance) for this. I'm trying a couple of things right now but won't know if they'll work for quite some time. One thing I am trying is to put a dab of silicon grease on each end of the battery(s). The other thing I'm trying is to give the contacts a spritz of battery terminal corrosion inhibitor - the stuff you get for the car battery at the auto supply. Any thoughts?

Reverse one battery for storage, then turn the battery around the correct way when you need to use it. Fixed.

Mobile phones make a pretty good flashlight. I don't know if there's any way to inhibit a battery's leakage. The suggestion above doesn't make sense because if the FL is off there's no current flow.Take the batteries out, as per manual on almost any device.

I don't know if what I'm trying will stop the corrosion, but if it prevents the contacts from getting corroded it would help a great deal because then just replacing the battery would be all that was necessary to get the item working again. No more scrapping and treating the contacts.

I found that with the small led type flash light like from HF after they sit for a while they get dim (maybe from some slight corrosion) if you spin the batteries in place they get bright again.

BuckBarker wrote:Reverse one battery for storage, then turn the battery around the correct way when you need to use it. Fixed.Nice try.But, battery corrosion will still happen with DRY CELL BATTERIES once they get too old.This happens whether you use them until flat or allow them to lay around for years until they go flat. Once flat they will eventually eat the battery case/seal and the caustic electrolyte migrates outside the battery.It is for that reason most good name brand Dry cell batteries have a USE BY DATE on them.Too reduce the chance of corrosion in flash lights or any battery powered devise you NEED to REPLACE DEAD or OUTDATED batteries as soon as possible.To cut down on the chances on corrosion you could change to rechargeable NiMH batteries but you will need to recharge them every month or so since they will tend to self discharge themselves. You can buy Eneloop rechargeable batteries which have a very low self discharge rate.ENELOOP BATTERIESRechargeables also have a very good low temperature operation which is very handy in extreme cold temperature usage!My go to flashlight is my Makita 9.6V flashlight which uses the same 9.6V rechargeable battery as my Makita drill. I keep the flashlight in my truck under the seat. Even during the coldest days I can pull it out and still get several hrs of light. I just rotate a freshly charged battery into it once a month for good measure.Dry cells tend to not work as well or not at all at extreme cold temperatures.

Flashlight Battery Corrosion Fix? | Good Sam Community

DougE
Explorer
Nov 23, 2014
Their parent sites say that No-Alox is for aluminum while DeOxit Gold is general purpose.
Gdetrailer
Explorer III
Nov 23, 2014
DougE wrote:
Their parent sites say that No-Alox is for aluminum while DeOxit Gold is general purpose.

Primary PURPOSE of No-Alox is to INTERFACE ALUMINUM ENTRANCE WIRE with COPPER/ALUMINUM RATED METER SOCKETS AND MAIN BREAKER PANEL.

No-Alox is SAFE to use on copper wire. I have continued to find more and more uses for it over the years, pretty much every outdoor electrical use like outlets and such it works wonders keeping the wire from oxidizing..

You can also get Gardner Bender version which is sold as Ox-Gard which is the same thing..

Ox-Gard and No-Alox can be typically found in Home Depot or Lowes electrical departments and is easy to get.

DeOxit not so much, most likely will have to mail order it..
starlord
Explorer
Nov 24, 2014
For the last couple of years I have had a LOT of problems with Duracell. I don't know if it is because I lived in a high humidity area or what the problem is. I have had SEVERAL Maglite flashlights ruined by these batteries, triple D cells and double A style, both LED and regular style. All of them have had (I assume) the batteries expand as well as "blow up" in the tubes and then I could not, in no way shape or form get the batteries back out of the flashlight tubes to even attempt to clean them up. This problem has not been exclusive to flashlights, I have had problems with remotes and electronic toys too. Now, I am told by Maglite that they have an agreement with the battery company, if a flashlight does experience problems like this, you can send it someplace (I don't remember where....sorry) and they will either repair or replace it. I have been pretty loyal to Duracell but have been contemplating changing to Energizer and giving them a try.
MEXICOWANDERER
Explorer
Nov 24, 2014
pkunk wrote:
MEXICOWANDERER wrote:
Batteries need high or low Ph media to work. High or low Ph media eats things for a living. Including whatever it is contained in. An answer is lithium but it's unavailable In AAA - F cell. NiMH is better than alkaline or zinc chloride for resisting case leakage, but at the expensive of losing several tenths of a volt flashlight brightness. Can't winnemall...

I've bought quite a few, so.... Here

Aghhh, MY BAD!

I meant rechargeable AAA and AA lithium batteries. I'll go to my room now.

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