How to Fix a Dead Crank Charge Flashlight - Electronics Life Hack

Hand crank (or shake to charge) flashlights, radios, lanterns, accessories and more can eventually fail to hold a charge but most can be easily fixed for almost no cost. Check out this simple DIY solution or hack to put new life into these cool electronic devices. Great benefits include reducing electronic waste and saving money (no need to pay for expensive replacement equipment). BONUS TIP: many people dispose of these items when they won't hold a charge anymore and this gives you an opportunity to get them from people for free (this is how I have received several of these). For a very small cost I have been able to fix all of them and make them work like new. You won't believe how easy it is but I will show you how in this video.

Whether you are preparing for natural disaster, power failures, camping, zombie apocalypse or any other issue it is always helpful to have electronic devices that can be charged manually. The method of charging may involve cranking, shaking or squeezing but the principal is essentially the same for these types of devices. A tight coil of copper wire and a strong magnet are used to convert mechanical power into electrical power. For the crank device electromagnetic induction is accomplished by spinning a powerful magnet within a wire coil. The spinning action pulls electrons from the magnetic field thereby creating electricity (this was actually discovered back around 1831 by a scientist named Michael Faraday). The electricity is then stored in a rechargeable battery or a capacitor. Unfortunately, just like any other battery or capacitor these will eventually wear out and fail to hold a charge.

Come see how to restore these emergency tools back to a state that is almost like new!
Danger Storm, Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
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