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> Most people think it's normal to have to beat on a flashlight to make it work. We do it without thinking. It's almost as if it's coded into our DNA. Can some

by dmd 10y ago

> Most people think it's normal to have to beat on a flashlight to make it work. We do it without thinking. It's almost as if it's coded into our DNA. Can someone (perhaps older than me (I'm 38)) explain this sentence? I have no idea what it even means to "beat on" a flashlight. You push a button, it turns on. What is there to "beat on"? edit: Weird. I guess I've never used a cheap flashlight, because I've never had this experience.

yoz-y 10y ago
At least in almost every horror movie there is a scene when somebody goes down to the basement. Their flashlight starts flickering, then turns off, then they hit it with their hand a few times and it works again. Finally it inevitably fails again and the person gets eaten.
- vkjv 10y ago
  > then they hit it with their hand a few times and it works again. Just in time to see the antagonist right in front of them.
  - eumoria 10y ago
    BOO
- nsxwolf 10y ago
  Probably most effectively done in the movie Se7en.
privong 10y ago
> Can someone (perhaps older than me (I'm 38)) explain this sentence? I have no idea what it even means to "beat on" a flashlight. You push a button, it turns on. What is there to "beat on"? I think it has to do with cheaper flashlights that basically consisted of not much more than a plastic tube, a bulb, and some springs for the electrical contacts. Because the tolerances were so poor, the battery terminals would often lose contact with the metal springs. One solution would be to open the flashlight up and re-set the battery. But usually, giving the case of the flashlight a few whacks was enough to bounce the battery back into a place where the circuit would be completed and the flashlight would turn back on.
morganvachon 10y ago
I'm 39 and I know exactly what he's talking about. Pick up your average dollar store or Walmart incandescent flashlight, flip on the switch, and no light comes out. This is on a brand new, just out of the package flashlight. Tap or beat on the side of it, and suddenly the light comes on...for a little while. Then it flickers and goes back off, causing another round of tapping and beating. This is due to the bottom-of-the-barrel cheap components and construction of low cost flashlights. Often the components aren't lined up correctly, or the switch isn't making perfect contact, or the spring is too compressed to push the batteries up against the positive contact (which is often the base of the bulb). I can't count the times I've had to disassemble and repair a cheap plastic flashlight right after opening the package, just to get it to turn on and off reliably.
douche 10y ago
The old ones that had two to four D cell batteries in serial in them would often get so the connections between the batteries and the terminals in the flashflight casing would be corroded or misaligned. So you turn it on, the light doesn't come on, then you whack it a few times, and things line up and the circuit gets completed to turn on the bulb.
wrigby 10y ago
Often times corrosion on battery terminals, or loose connections to the bulb, can cause a flashlight to not turn on when you hit the button. In this case, hitting it into the palm of your hand a few times usually solves the problem, and the photons are free to flee the front end of the flashlight.
arkitaip 10y ago
You do the a desperate hand dance where you tap the flashlight with you palms, shake it like maracas, and finally stare into the LEDs for answers that aren't there.
- LeifCarrotson 10y ago
  And frequently, it's not the shaking or the tapping or the clicking or the tightening of the lens cap or any of the other actions which remove the corrosion, oxidation, or misalignment and reestablish an electrical between the batteries, spring, switch poles, and bulb. It's the gentle, inquisitive wiggle as you stare directly at the bulb which causes it to turn back on. For related reasons, never look down the barrel of a gun which has not been sufficiently disassembled. There are no answers there.
JustSomeNobody 10y ago
AKA Percussive maintenance. Sometimes, things in older flashlights aren't all aligned or for some reason the circuit just can't complete, so you smack it on your hand and it ... just works. Unless the batteries or bulb truly are dead. Then you just have a sore hand that you can't see.
pasbesoin 10y ago
Oxidation/corrosion at the contact points: Battery to battery, battery to body's contacts, switch... Marginal batteries: Sharp acceleration shifts internal contents just enough to provide for a more energetic discharge. In short, yes, it's a real thing. Especially when Dad insists on keeping his 50 year old flashlight and on eking every last electron out of each set of batteries. ;-)

by dmd 10y ago

yoz-y 10y ago

At least in almost every horror movie there is a scene when somebody goes down to the basement. Their flashlight starts flickering, then turns off, then they hit it with their hand a few times and it works again. Finally it inevitably fails again and the person gets eaten.

vkjv 10y ago
> then they hit it with their hand a few times and it works again. Just in time to see the antagonist right in front of them.
- eumoria 10y ago
  BOO
nsxwolf 10y ago
Probably most effectively done in the movie Se7en.

privong 10y ago

> Can someone (perhaps older than me (I'm 38)) explain this sentence? I have no idea what it even means to "beat on" a flashlight. You push a button, it turns on. What is there to "beat on"? I think it has to do with cheaper flashlights that basically consisted of not much more than a plastic tube, a bulb, and some springs for the electrical contacts. Because the tolerances were so poor, the battery terminals would often lose contact with the metal springs. One solution would be to open the flashlight up and re-set the battery. But usually, giving the case of the flashlight a few whacks was enough to bounce the battery back into a place where the circuit would be completed and the flashlight would turn back on.

morganvachon 10y ago

I'm 39 and I know exactly what he's talking about. Pick up your average dollar store or Walmart incandescent flashlight, flip on the switch, and no light comes out. This is on a brand new, just out of the package flashlight. Tap or beat on the side of it, and suddenly the light comes on...for a little while. Then it flickers and goes back off, causing another round of tapping and beating. This is due to the bottom-of-the-barrel cheap components and construction of low cost flashlights. Often the components aren't lined up correctly, or the switch isn't making perfect contact, or the spring is too compressed to push the batteries up against the positive contact (which is often the base of the bulb). I can't count the times I've had to disassemble and repair a cheap plastic flashlight right after opening the package, just to get it to turn on and off reliably.

douche 10y ago

The old ones that had two to four D cell batteries in serial in them would often get so the connections between the batteries and the terminals in the flashflight casing would be corroded or misaligned. So you turn it on, the light doesn't come on, then you whack it a few times, and things line up and the circuit gets completed to turn on the bulb.

wrigby 10y ago

Often times corrosion on battery terminals, or loose connections to the bulb, can cause a flashlight to not turn on when you hit the button. In this case, hitting it into the palm of your hand a few times usually solves the problem, and the photons are free to flee the front end of the flashlight.

arkitaip 10y ago

You do the a desperate hand dance where you tap the flashlight with you palms, shake it like maracas, and finally stare into the LEDs for answers that aren't there.

LeifCarrotson 10y ago
And frequently, it's not the shaking or the tapping or the clicking or the tightening of the lens cap or any of the other actions which remove the corrosion, oxidation, or misalignment and reestablish an electrical between the batteries, spring, switch poles, and bulb. It's the gentle, inquisitive wiggle as you stare directly at the bulb which causes it to turn back on. For related reasons, never look down the barrel of a gun which has not been sufficiently disassembled. There are no answers there.

JustSomeNobody 10y ago

AKA Percussive maintenance. Sometimes, things in older flashlights aren't all aligned or for some reason the circuit just can't complete, so you smack it on your hand and it ... just works. Unless the batteries or bulb truly are dead. Then you just have a sore hand that you can't see.

pasbesoin 10y ago

Oxidation/corrosion at the contact points: Battery to battery, battery to body's contacts, switch... Marginal batteries: Sharp acceleration shifts internal contents just enough to provide for a more energetic discharge. In short, yes, it's a real thing. Especially when Dad insists on keeping his 50 year old flashlight and on eking every last electron out of each set of batteries. ;-)