In need of a good emergency flashlight to carry in trunk

Last night when I went to use my flashlight hidden in the trunk it failed to
work due to leaky batteries and subsequent corrosion.

This seems to be a pattern for my unused flashlights. They all seem to be
non-working due to corrosion of the batteries. One Ray-O-Vac that had
*supposedly* leak-proof batteries went back to Ray-O-Vac because they did
leak. They replaced it, but it was still an annoying pain to go through.

Does anyone make an emergency flashlight that can be depended on working if
it is in storage for any length of time?

Tia.

B~

B. Peg wrote:

> Last night when I went to use my flashlight hidden in the trunk it failed to
> work due to leaky batteries and subsequent corrosion.
>
> This seems to be a pattern for my unused flashlights. They all seem to be
> non-working due to corrosion of the batteries. One Ray-O-Vac that had
> *supposedly* leak-proof batteries went back to Ray-O-Vac because they did
> leak. They replaced it, but it was still an annoying pain to go through.
>
> Does anyone make an emergency flashlight that can be depended on working if
> it is in storage for any length of time?
>
> Tia.
>
> B~

No battery will last indefinitely. But I can tell you that my ordinary
old Mag-Lite with 4 Duracell "D" cells still works (albeit a bit dimly)
after 2 years in storage. No corrosion, either which frankly surprised me.

Name-brand alkaline batteries (Duracell, Energizer) in one of the modern
LED flashlights would probably give you the longest possible combined
use/storage life. But you simply can't throw it in a car and expect it
to be fine 5 years later. Just won't happen.

They do make a battery-less flashlight nowadays which uses a coil and magnet
system which charges the unit up when one shakes it several times. IMHO
though I think RayOvac batteries are the worst. You could keep the batteries
outof the flashlight until you need them and perhaps store them in a zip
lockbag in your emergency "kit" or glovebox while inspecting them
periodically to insure they will be ready when you need them.

The name of the shake-light thing is some Faraday-Light or some such.


"B. Peg" > wrote in message
...
> Last night when I went to use my flashlight hidden in the trunk it failed
> to work due to leaky batteries and subsequent corrosion.
>
> This seems to be a pattern for my unused flashlights. They all seem to be
> non-working due to corrosion of the batteries. One Ray-O-Vac that had
> *supposedly* leak-proof batteries went back to Ray-O-Vac because they did
> leak. They replaced it, but it was still an annoying pain to go through.
>
> Does anyone make an emergency flashlight that can be depended on working
> if it is in storage for any length of time?
>
> Tia.
>
> B~
>
>

Disclaimers: Posting formulated from unscientific observations. May
contain small-sample statistics and other fallacies. May have been
written by nuts. But anyway...

Is it just me, or does the trend in alkalines seem to be toward greater
and quicker corrosion, after a window of several years in which we
really didn't have to worry about it too much? I gather that progress
in dry-cell innards has been ongoing (at least in some chosen parts of
their complicated parameter space), and in particular they have been
trying to weed out certain environmental nasties. This may have
something to do with it.

If you really want long shelf life, try the local police supply store
in search of "tactical" flashlights. Expect extreme brightness and
shocking purchase price. Me, I exercise the regular sort and rotate
them through progressively less critical uses, when it comes to car
flashlights. I have started to see this lithium battery technology in
some civilian products (e.g., ten-year 9V batteries meant particularly
for smoke detectors) and it may have filtered into C and D cells by now
-- presumably at a higher price, of course.


(At least one car flashlight belongs in the passenger compartment
anyway, for two reasons. One, there are times and places when you need
to have it in your hand, lit up, and waggling around in the general
direction of trouble before you get out of the car. Two, they work
brighter and better when warm. The trunk is of course a great place
for an extra flashlight.)



Followup back to rec.autos.tech after a detour through some electronics
and consumer newsgroups in search of people who know more than I do
about batteries (not to damn them with faint praise).

--Joe

On Mon, 02 Jan 2006 12:33:54 -0600, Steve > wrote:

>B. Peg wrote:
>
>> Last night when I went to use my flashlight hidden in the trunk it failed to
>> work due to leaky batteries and subsequent corrosion.
>>
>> This seems to be a pattern for my unused flashlights. They all seem to be
>> non-working due to corrosion of the batteries. One Ray-O-Vac that had
>> *supposedly* leak-proof batteries went back to Ray-O-Vac because they did
>> leak. They replaced it, but it was still an annoying pain to go through.
>>
>> Does anyone make an emergency flashlight that can be depended on working if
>> it is in storage for any length of time?
>>
>> Tia.
>>
>> B~
>
>No battery will last indefinitely. But I can tell you that my ordinary
>old Mag-Lite with 4 Duracell "D" cells still works (albeit a bit dimly)
>after 2 years in storage. No corrosion, either which frankly surprised me.
>
>Name-brand alkaline batteries (Duracell, Energizer) in one of the modern
>LED flashlights would probably give you the longest possible combined
>use/storage life. But you simply can't throw it in a car and expect it
>to be fine 5 years later. Just won't happen.

IMO, better idea is to get an inexpensive work light that plugs into
the accessories socket on the dashboard. These are available at all
the *auto stores* and you don't have to worry about anything like
batteries leaking or going dead.

Lg

"norm" > wrote in message
news:_Keuf.4827$7f7.752@trnddc08...
> They do make a battery-less flashlight nowadays which uses a coil and
magnet
>
> The name of the shake-light thing is some Faraday-Light or some such.

I bought a windup flash light for one of the grandchildren for Christmas.
You get
an advertised 30 minutes of light with a one minute wind. Seemed to work
well.

Ad absurdum per aspera wrote:

> Disclaimers: Posting formulated from unscientific observations. May
> contain small-sample statistics and other fallacies. May have been
> written by nuts. But anyway...
>
> Is it just me, or does the trend in alkalines seem to be toward greater
> and quicker corrosion, after a window of several years in which we
> really didn't have to worry about it too much? I gather that progress
> in dry-cell innards has been ongoing (at least in some chosen parts of
> their complicated parameter space), and in particular they have been
> trying to weed out certain environmental nasties. This may have
> something to do with it...
>
> Followup back to rec.autos.tech after a detour through some electronics
> and consumer newsgroups in search of people who know more than I do
> about batteries (not to damn them with faint praise).

I put misc.consumers back, I stopped reading r.a.t long ago.

Consider a wind-up flashlight. I missed the one at Kohl's for $12, which
promised an hour of light for a minute of winding. I was going to buy several
of them, but they were out.

The 99-Cents-Only Store has some cute LED keyring flashlights that use three
button batteries -- a decent price for the batteries even if you don't want
the flashlight.

--
Cheers, Bev
================================================== =================
"If your mechanic claims that he stands behind his brake jobs, keep
looking. You want to find one willing to stand in front of them."

-- B. Ward

B. Peg wrote:

> Does anyone make an emergency flashlight that can be depended on working if
> it is in storage for any length of time?

Streamlight Twin-Task 1 cell lithium

Streamlight Twin-Task 2 cell lithium

Streamlight Luxeon LED Task-Light - 2 Cell Lithium Flashlight Buy from
"http://www.swps.com/51008.html"

The shelf life of the lithium batteries is about ten years.

"http://www.streamlight.com/tasklight_specifications.htm"

I've purchased the one cell lithium flashlights for $10 on sale at
Fry's, though last time I saw them in an ad they were $15.

On Mon, 02 Jan 2006 18:07:57 GMT, "B. Peg" >
wrote:

>Last night when I went to use my flashlight hidden in the trunk it failed to
>work due to leaky batteries and subsequent corrosion.
>
>This seems to be a pattern for my unused flashlights. They all seem to be
>non-working due to corrosion of the batteries. One Ray-O-Vac that had
>*supposedly* leak-proof batteries went back to Ray-O-Vac because they did
>leak. They replaced it, but it was still an annoying pain to go through.
>
>Does anyone make an emergency flashlight that can be depended on working if
>it is in storage for any length of time?
>
>Tia.
>
>B~
>

Search the Interenet for "coil flashlight" and you'll find items like
this:

http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/lights/5a9f

Get yourself a three- or four-cell Maglite, and keep it in the
passenger compartment with you, not in the trunk. Not only are
maglites damned good flashlights, but they can be used (or
threatened to be used) as bludgeons in the event of roadside
confrontations. And unlike other weapons, they aren't illegal
to have in the car with you.



Geoff

--
"You know, 'elitist' has an actual meaning. Using it as a generic
pejorative only betrays your political leanings _and_ makes you
look like a moron, to boot." -- John S. Novak