FWIS3

I have a ray-o-vac L295 lantern and a 6v battery. the lantern has 2 wires that begin in the vicinity of the on/off bottom and end in metal clips. viewed on-end, 1 looks like an omega and the other like the letter v. the battery terminals are springs. all are marker either + or -. does anyone have a suggestion for attaching the clips to the battery or do I not have the correct sort of 6v battery?

many thanks!

code monkey wrote:I have a ray-o-vac L295 lantern and a 6v battery. the lantern has 2 wires that begin in the vicinity of the on/off bottom and end in metal clips. viewed on-end, 1 looks like an omega and the other like the letter v. the battery terminals are springs. all are marker either + or -. does anyone have a suggestion for attaching the clips to the battery or do I not have the correct sort of 6v battery?

many thanks!

You have the right battery.
Chances are you just need to rotate the battery in steps of 90 Deg.
Some lanterns have a ring for the outside spring while others have only a small segment.
Both springs need to touch the appropriate metal parts on the lantern.
Having said that, I've never seen one of these lanterns that use that style battery and use wires. They are typically tinned or chromed sheets of metal riveted to the plastic housing.

I'm only going by description, if you get a picture of the wires/switch end it would be a lot easier to diagnose the problem.

The battery should just slide into the case, with the terminal springs pressing against the contacts inside the case (the omega and v clips). Because of the shape of the contacts, the orientation of the battery should not matter. The contacts should be mounted in the case securely - you should not have to 'attach them to the battery'. Sounds like maybe they are not?

My bad. The Omega shape gives contact all through the rotation of the battery.
I've seen other styles that only give correct contact when the battery is correctly orientated.
Very frustrating when swapping a battery at night.

thanks, guys.

the battery does slide into the case with no trouble.

the problem is that the contacts are on wires and not in a fixed position.

the negative battery terminal will always be in the center and make contact with the back of the lightbulb assembly. the bulb filament appears to be in good shape.

the v lead(also looks a bit like the profile of the front of a car) is + and will stay in place if I push it(point down) into the + spring.

the omega(-) lead is too large in circumference to securely make contact with the - spring. I've tried hooking it onto the spring without success.

if this doesn't work after a bit more fiddling it's going out and i'm getting a new, led lantern.

why'd you leave me, Michael?

CM, it seems to me that the clips the wires are attached to have fallen off the lamp end. They should be firmly secure and not need any connecting to the battery. The act of putting the battery in it's compartment and putting it back together should make the lantern work.
You can look to see if they can slide into the plastic or if the mounts are broken.

Personally, if I were in your shoes I'd go with the newer LED style. You'll save the money in batteries.

vendic wrote:CM, it seems to me that the clips the wires are attached to have fallen off the lamp end. They should be firmly secure and not need any connecting to the battery. The act of putting the battery in it's compartment and putting it back together should make the lantern work.
You can look to see if they can slide into the plastic or if the mounts are broken.

Personally, if I were in your shoes I'd go with the newer LED style. You'll save the money in batteries.

that was it!! the omega clip doesn't go to the battery; it clips around the base of the lightbulb holder and that presses against the other terminal!

i'm so excited!

thank you thank you thank you

Glad we could help.