On Wed, 9 Sep 2009 17:58:24 +0100, Bill had
this to say:

Today's stupid question.

I found the Energiser batteries in my USA made Maglite 2-AA cell torch
had died and expanded. I got the bottom one out by a violent circular
arm swing followed by a short sharp shock, but the one up behind the
bulb won't budge.
The bulb assembly says "Don't Remove" on it, and I feel I must obey, so
I can't poke something through. Has anyone removed a bulb assembly in
one of these?

It's quite likely that if the battery has swollen, it's also burst and
possibly contaminated the inside of the torch. If this is the case
(!) then you've lost nothing by just dismantling as far as possible
to check or clean the inside.

--
Frank Erskine