Making Odd Sized Batteries? Help

Nokton48

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Making Odd Sized Batteries by Nokton48, on Flickr
  • I just unearthed these two Calumet Flash Meters in my studio, and I'd like to get them going again. Thirty years ago I went to Batteries Plus, and they built these custom batteries for me, which worked great! Inside the cardboard tube is four Number 344 batteries, soldered together with tabs. I called Batteries Plus and they really don't do stuff like this anymore.

    I think I can get 344's or equivalent, where do I get the soldering tabs and shrink wrapping? I can do the work and I really see no need to pay someone to do this. Any tricks from you Guys out there to constructing these Odd Sized Batteries?
The 344 1.55V looks like it's a standard watch battery. Can prolly get 'em at the local grocery store
 
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AgX

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Basically there is no need to solder anything, just stack appropriate cells and use some makeshift spring if necessary. You may use crumbled aluminium foil instead.

A tube is likely benefitial too. You can roll such at apt diameter and lenght from paper with some paper glue.

With Zinc-Air cells though stacking might be a problem, but others may have experience with this.
 
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Light Capture

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There are several different ways to do it. It's fairly easy to do provided there is enough space.
Different cheap batteries are available on Amazon or in dollar stores. They might not be top notch but work reasonably in most cases.

For most button batteries there is no need to solder. Most common photo batteries are single or stacked versions of LR44 batteries. (common 6v, 3v versions)

Most common is to solder batteries with pure nickel tabs. They can be sourced on amazon for few dollars.
They can be soldered or welded with battery tab spot welder. For longer stacks like pictured, batteries can be wrapped in shrink tubing. Ends can be cut off afterwards to expose contacts better. If the resulting battery is too small, nickel tab or strip can be folded few times as needed to add some thickness.
 

MattKing

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Which (historic) battery size were the meters intended for?
 
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Nokton48

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Thanks AGX!

I will try reusing the cardboard tubes, and using balled up tin foil. I have done that before in my Minolta SRT's and it worked. If that dosen't work I will consider soldering etc

Going to the Krogers later today so I'll buy some Duracell or Eveready 344 1.55V
 

wiltw

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The metal soldering posts are SPOT WELDED to the battery ends...soldering them to the battery likely will not work well.
You can get heat-shrink tubing in electronics supply houses.
 

AgX

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If the apt cells were mercury cells, unless modifying the meters, or using adapters, you most likely would need Zink-Air cells. These need ventilation, thus my remark about stacking (assuning flat sufaces). Glueing the cells together would introduce even bigger issues in this respect, though solvable.
 

wiltw

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And when air cells are activated by removing the seal, they begin to immediately deplete themselve and exhaust themselves even in an unsused meter sitting in storage...unlike mercury cells which deplete only with USE.

Fortunately Butkus website has the Calument M100 meter user manual! The Calumet M100 used the Malloryt PX23 battery, which was a 6V silver oxide. You can still get replacements here... a 2-pack is $20
https://www.batterybob.com/products/3978-s23px-exell-px23-replacement-battery-pack-of-2/
 
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Nokton48

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Fortunately Butkus website has the Calument M100 meter user manual! The Calumet M100 used the Malloryt PX23 battery, which was a 6V silver oxide. You can still get replacements here... a 2-pack is $20
https://www.batterybob.com/products/3978-s23px-exell-px23-replacement-battery-pack-of-2/[/QUOTE]

Thanks again WiltW I will go to Butkus for the instructions.

I did order four of the S23PX cells (have two meters) so I should be good for a while
 

AgX

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A not odd size at all !

But when that meter was built there were not yet Silveroxide batteries. So it must be Mercury.


All my samples are of the Mercury version and they are designated "PX-23".
 
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Donald Qualls

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If the meters worked correctly and accurately with the silver oxide 1.55V 344 cells Batteries Plus used to make up the batteries thirty years ago, there's no reason they shouldn't work the same with 6.2V 4x344 aka S23PX silver oxide batteries.
 

AgX

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Valid agument. BUT only if Nokton tested his 6V set-up 30years ago against a calibrated flash-meter. What I guess he did not.

Anyway, depending on the circuit of the meter it really may not matter, but nobody knows...
 

gone

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I stacked 4, 1.5V batteries to get my Canon AE-1 cameras going, that's much cheaper than a dedicated battery. It just needed a little balled up tinfoil to make up a slight length difference. The eBike websites have guys that build their own batteries, and they have a way to fasten them securely w/o soldering.
 
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Nokton48

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AgX said:
Valid agument. BUT only if Nokton tested his 6V set-up 30years ago against a calibrated flash-meter. What I guess he did not. Anyway, depending on the circuit of the meter it really may not matter, but nobody knows...
Click to expand...

Both meters worked identically back then and results with 4x5, 6x6 and 8x10 film were always spot on. so meters were properly calibrated. That's one reason I want to use them again after all this time. Now I also have two Broncolor flash meters, and an old original Minolta flash meter, so no shortage here of calibrated meters


Thnx Everybody! Great help!
 

MattKing

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wiltw

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AgX said:
A not odd size at all !

But when that meter was built there were not yet Silveroxide batteries. So it must be Mercury.
All my samples are of the Mercury version and they are designated "PX-23".
Click to expand...

Did a bit more research...The user manual says 'two Mallory PX23',
and the web describes the currently available battery,
"The S23PX is a mercury-free replacement for the once popular Mercuric Oxide PX23 (or V23PX) battery cell that was commonly used in cameras, the Retina S2 Flash and Sennheiser microphones such as the Sennheiser K3U. Mercury cells are now banned because of toxicity and environmental fears.
The silver oxide S23PX replacement for the PX23 produces 6.0 Volts, which is higher than the 5.6V produced by the original mercury PX23 cell. Most devices accommodate the small increase in voltage and function perfectly."​
But we know some meters (not alll) were very dependent upon the precise 1.35V per cell from mercurix oxide, so the M100 remains questionabe in its proper reading, until better proven against a modern flashmeter.
The web also says
"A Mallory/Duracell mercury battery (PX-23 5.6V) ", and the photo clearly shows label on the battery, 'PX-23 5.6V'.
​
Sorry, Nokton48, I hope my questionable info in post 10 didn't end up leading you astray.
 
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Niglyn

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Hi,

Here is a link to a document entitled 'The mercury cell problem and its solutions'
Product Details | The Mercury Battery Problem | Other Repair Guides | Learn Camera Repair

A mercury cell holds a constant voltage over it's lifetime.
An alkaline battery slowly drops in voltage over it's lifetime.

Why does this matter?

If the circuit does not require a voltage reference, then it does not matter if a alkaline cell is used in place of the specified mercury cell.
So, in the case of cameras and light meters, if it uses a Whetstone bridge circuit, then a modern alkaline equivalent can be used without issue.
An example here is the Zenit TTL. It was originally specified to uses a mercury battery, but as the light meter is a whetstone bridge design, a battery that looses a bit of voltage will not affect the meter, nor will the extra 0.2volts.

Conversely, if the meter measures the voltage of the photocell against a known voltage (i.e a 1.3V constant voltage mercury cell), then fitting a 1.5v cell that slowly drops in voltage over it's lifetime will certainly mess things up.

Using, or making a cheap adaptor (as described in the document) using a schotty diode & 1.6V silver oxide battery is an option.

Wein make a Px625 size zinc-air 1.35V battery, but of course these slowly discharge from first use (when tab is pulled off & it is exposed to air), even if not used.

There is an (expensive) px625 adaptor available which claims to regulate the voltage of a 1.5V cell to 1.3V
I'm sure it works, would love to know how, as even with 'low dropout' voltage regulators, the difference between 1.5 & 1.3volts is so small.
 

Donald Qualls

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Niglyn said:
There is an (expensive) px625 adaptor available which claims to regulate the voltage of a 1.5V cell to 1.3V
I'm sure it works, would love to know how, as even with 'low dropout' voltage regulators, the difference between 1.5 & 1.3volts is so small.
Click to expand...

The PX640 mercury cell replacement I have for my Pentax 21/1 Spotmeter uses a 3 V lithium cell, regulated down to mercury cell voltage. This is an option anywhere there's a lithium button or coin cell that will leave enough space for the adapter in the battery compartment.

If you have a cheap source of zinc-air hearing aid cells (fifteen years ago, I used to get them at Costco for something like 30 cents a cell), they can be cheaper than silver oxide per working hour or per month, even if you waste 90% of their capacity with the camera or meter sitting on a shelf -- providing one of the available sizes will fit your compartment (with or without an adapter ring like the Wein cells use).
 
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