Thanks for a great post. I also have the Duracell 1300(and three Duracell 1000's) which I LOVE, but the battery-compartment cover on my 1300 was "frozen stuck",,,unable to open. Using your technique to access the battery compartment, I was able to remove and replace the dead batteries with a fresh set, and it's now as good as new. I had tried everything imaginable to remove the battery-cover, including heat,,, WD-40,,, all to no avail. I doubt the battery-compartment cover will ever be usable, so this method is a great answer for an easy fix. Fortunately, I have the same needle-nose pliers as yours (thin jaws) and after inserting the jaws into the LED slots that your video showed, I was able to remove the LED by rotating it counter-clockwise 'til it simply lifted out, and my dead batteries easily slipped out the front of the tube. Although my old batteries were completely dead (ZERO reading on my volt/ohm meter), there was no trace of leakage or internal corrosion in the battery compartment. I tested a new set of batteries, and they each showed 1.6v (full charge). I always test new batteries,,, just in case. I've learned the hard way that batteries out of a freshly opened package, are not necessarily "good". A few years ago, I bought some heavily discounted batteries from an electrical-supply store,,, only to find out that they were ALL deader-than-a-doornail, straight out of the package.(less than 50% required voltage). Thanks again for your great work!!
I've done that with a few Home Depot "Defiant" lights. I own about 100 lights and twice a year I round them up and check for corrosion. I think the temperature extremes are hard on the batteries. -20c to +40c over the course of a year. I am now switching to LSD Accuview rechargeables. I am now switching to LR18650 lights, better performance in cold. Good video for those not familiar with the technique
On 3rd Duracell-1000, Two of them died because of the switch, I cut them apart with a sawsall and used it for a bicycle where I could use a high-quality switch craft toggle switch to operated. A few days ago my 3rd Duracell 1000 flashlight switch started acting intermittent. I have unscrewed the end cap from the flashlight housing found an access hole near the side of the center contact and sprayed it several times with tuner cleaner. I repeatedly turned it on and off and it did not fail, though I think the flashlight has a poor switch design and will probably die eventually.
The Duracell 700 (originally from Costco bought in a 2 pack) works very similar. The head has a rubber grip that slides off and the head does not split like the one in the video the glass fish-eye lens has a rubber gasket & screw-on/off metal holder - then the light cell screws off (use needle nose pliers) - otherwise almost identical.
Far out. I’ve tried pipe wrench and hands for ages and didn’t even budge... you should try putting 18650’s in one, see you much you can push it before you get magic smoke 😂
