Mercury battery 25+ years old?

[f/16]

This came in the Minolta SRT 202 I bought. Is it a mercury battery? I says made in W Germany so does that mean it's 25+ years old? It's still good-voltmeter says 1.36 volts.

 

[AgX]

I says made in W Germany so does that mean it's 25+ years old?

A good point. I never thought of that...

No manufacturer had changed such inscription after the unification just for the sake of it I assume.
But when a re-making of a mould, stamp etc. was due for sure.

I assume the embossing stamps for those caps would not have lasted long. But maybe there were stamps for the stamps...

 

[Xmas]

If it has the original nomenclature it is Mercury you need to warn the recycler...

I still have several that are ok the shelf life is long and some cameras have no standby drain eg an OM1.

If they leak it is well toxic

 

[septim]

No, this is a modern alkaline. It measures 1.36 because it is weakening. Rest assured it's worthless. This is a modern perversion of the PX625. It has no linearity in its disicharge curve at all. Utterly worthless.

Varta produced legitimate mercury PX625 batteries until 1998, the last of which were marked "Made in Germany" which means they remade the tooling post 1990. As it says "Made in W. Germany" I would very much doubt that is a 'perversion' of the PX625 battery (that's the Varta V625U), and would make an educated guess that it is really a 25+ year old mercury battery...

 

[Gerald C Koch]

True mercury batteries can leak a very corrosive electrolyte and cause severe damage to a camera.

 

[ic-racer]

I have the original Varta battery for my early 1980s Minox LX. It is a PX 27 (not a button cell like the OP) and is marked "Made in West Germany" and "MERCURY 5.6V"

 

[Xmas]

True mercury batteries can leak a very corrosive electrolyte and cause severe damage to a camera.

I was more worried about personal injury but yes mine are removed and replaced for shoots.
The hearing aid batteries are practical if you need the 1.3 volts for some cameras that have sufficient drain.

 

[Gerald C Koch]

I was more worried about personal injury but yes mine are removed and replaced for shoots.
The hearing aid batteries are practical if you need the 1.3 volts for some cameras that have sufficient drain.

Yes on both.

I too always remove batteries if a device is not to be used for a few weeks or more.

Hearing aid batteries are widely available and come in a variety of sizes.

 

[GRHazelton]

I've often wondered if the EPA and whatever other agencies were involved in formulating the mercury cell ban ever gave consideration to allowing their sale, BUT with a large deposit, say $25.00, which would be refunded when the depleted cell was returned to an authorized dealer. I can see that manufacturers might not wish to produce for a small market, but it would offer a way out for those of us with mercury cell dependent devices. For example, I have a Accutron SpaceView, 214 series which uses one tiny cell per year. I am told that there is a conversion, involving perhaps a zerner diode, which allows use of a silver oxide cell. But, since the Accutron is a collector's item, and many lower-tier but pleasant and usable cameras aren't, conversions for them, other than the Wein cell, aren't likely.

 

[Richard S. (rich815)]

I've often wondered if the EPA and whatever other agencies were involved in formulating the mercury cell ban ever gave consideration to allowing their sale, BUT with a large deposit, say $25.00, which would be refunded when the depleted cell was returned to an authorized dealer. I can see that manufacturers might not wish to produce for a small market, but it would offer a way out for those of us with mercury cell dependent devices. For example, I have a Accutron SpaceView, 214 series which uses one tiny cell per year. I am told that there is a conversion, involving perhaps a zerner diode, which allows use of a silver oxide cell. But, since the Accutron is a collector's item, and many lower-tier but pleasant and usable cameras aren't, conversions for them, other than the Wein cell, aren't likely.

I think the danger of toddlers swallowing them and a lawsuit-happy public also had something to do with it.

 

[MattKing]

I think the danger of toddlers swallowing them and a lawsuit-happy public also had something to do with it.

Not to mention the environmental hazards arising from their manufacture.

 

[Richard S. (rich815)]

Not to mention the environmental hazards arising from their manufacture.

I could not find anything discussing the issues or environmental hazard during manufacture. Mostly it was about possible ingestion, or the inadequate end-of-life waste management causing the main concern for the environment.

 

[John Koehrer]

So construction doesn't include mercury?^^^^^^

 

[Richard S. (rich815)]

So construction doesn't include mercury?^^^^^^

Well sure, but a LOAD of things we use today are manufactured with hazardous substances.

 

[Alan W]

And I'm also sure that anyone here using these newfangled compact fluorescent bulbs,which also contain mercury,is taking them one by one as they burn out to their hazardous waste disposal unit instead of just putting them in their daily rubbish.

 

[Richard S. (rich815)]

And I'm also sure that anyone here using these newfangled compact fluorescent bulbs,which also contain mercury,is taking them one by one as they burn out to their hazardous waste disposal unit instead of just putting them in their daily rubbish.

He he. Right. At least toddlers are not swallowing them as much I guess.

 

[wiltw]

The alkaline version 625 from Varta is designated the 625U. I have an old Varta 625 mercury oxide battery and it appears the same as your photo, but alas, mine is dead. I do, however, have an Eveready PX625 which is mercuric oxide and it is still producing 1.34v.

 

[AgX]

A intact swallowed cell should come out intact again. At least that has shown.

 

[Xmas]

A intact swallowed cell should come out intact again. At least that has shown.

A lot of buttons leak... If a small relative swallows even an alkaline one it is prompt emergency removal.

 

[Russ - SVP]

Have you camera recalibrate do for the much better and more stable Silver Oxide batteries.

 

[dynachrome]

The A625 works nicely in my Canon EF.

 

[flavio81]

This came in the Minolta SRT 202 I bought. Is it a mercury battery? I says made in W Germany so does that mean it's 25+ years old? It's still good-voltmeter says 1.36 volts.

That is a real mercury battery, the holy grail for us camera enthusiasts. It's clearly a mercury battery because the code is "675 PX". If it had an "A" or an "U" then it would be the alkaline. I own two such Varta cells and they are identical. And they are healthy still today (2015).

So you have a pretty precious item here!

 

[benjiboy]

The A625 works nicely in my Canon EF.

So does mine, but the EF has a built in voltage regulator circuit, the Minolta SRT 202 hasn't

 

[Ken Nadvornick]

True mercury batteries can leak a very corrosive electrolyte and cause severe damage to a camera.

Lots of unfortunate Yashica MAT-124G TLR owners discovered this the hard way. I still use true PX625 mercury cells in mine, but as you say they always come out when the camera is on the shelf.

That is a real mercury battery, the holy grail for us camera enthusiasts.

So you have a pretty precious item here!

How precious? I have two dozen of them brand new and sealed in my freezer.

They are the final production run Varta cells. A lifetime supply. Especially considering that my current Yashica TLR battery was installed new on January 13, 2004, and as of the most recent check on the voltmeter several months ago still shows 1.29-volts.

That camera is only lightly used these days, but still...



[Edit: For curiosity and grins I just now rechecked. Turns out that most recent cell check was really over a year ago. It now tests to only 0.9-volts, and the cell has finally started to leak around the edges. Glad it wasn't in the camera. After a decade I guess it's finally time to unthaw a second cell.]

Ken

 

[BrianShaw]

I've had lousy luck freezing batteries.