I have a precious Maglite, given to me about 20 years ago or so, by the Tek regional rep. It is the pretty blue anodize and has a nice Tektronix name masked into one side (white/silver).
Hadn't used it in a year or two but pulled it out of a drawer this morning and to my surprise, found heavy white crystal growth around the base (must have crawled under the O ring).
I've heard of Gibson and Les Paul guitars damaged by leaking cells but for me, this Tek flashlight is as close as I come to an heirloom.
Duracell just sent me a check two months ago for another Maglite destroyed the same way, without the external growth.
After all attempts to remove the end cap, including chucking in a lathe and taking a strap wrench to the body, I had to cut the battery in half to prove to myself (and them) that the cells are Duracells. In this case I was unable to extract the battery date but in general, they've been several years before expiration, mostly in the 2020 to 2023 range.
I'm going to insist that Duracell find another light exactly like this ! I know, good luck on that.
I don't care what it costs them, I want this light replaced
![Fighting :box:](https://www.eevblog.com/forum/Smileys/default/fighting0030.gif)
After years of giving them positive support for personal use, as well as by the thousands in test equipment products which we produced, it's over. I've been using Harbor Freight in my personal goods with no problems so far.
It's interesting that on one occasion I spoke to a technical rep. The fact that most of my own cells were from Walmart seemed to matter to him but he would not go further on that !
So, if it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and talks like a duck, if it's sold by Duracell , it may not really be a duck.