PX625 battery from Russia

[Frank53]

Mercury batteries use mercuric oxide which is highly poisonous, Mercury fillings use an amalgam of mercury and inert metal... not poisonous (or, at least I've not seen the bodies in the street )
Sodium metal is highly corrosive, poisonous and bursts into flame (by producing hydrogen gas) when put into water. Sodium combines with chlorine (poison gas from WW1) to produce sodium chloride....common salt.
All to do with school chemistry.

Although your remarks do seem sensible and even funny at first sight, it only shows you did not really pay attention during those chemistry lessons. Knowing the difference between an alloy (amalgam) and a chemical compound (table salt) is very basic. In an alloy, the chemical properties (ie toxicity) are still there, as the metal is still there. Beside that NaCl does not seem to be the most healthy stuff. But that is another discussion, let's stay on topic.
Regards,
Frank

 

[railwayman3]

Although your remarks do seem sensible and even funny at first sight, it only shows you did not really pay attention during those chemistry lessons. Knowing the difference between an alloy (amalgam) and a chemical compound (table salt) is very basic. In an alloy, the chemical properties (ie toxicity) are still there, as the metal is still there. Beside that NaCl does not seem to be the most healthy stuff. But that is another discussion, let's stay on topic.
Regards,
Frank

I was paying attention, I do know the difference.....I was talking about the difference between an amalgam of elemental mercury and a compound of mercury, mercuric oxide, which is extremely poisonous. It's just that sodium metal (element, and nasty stuff) and common salt (compound and relatively harmless) illustrate the difference, all be it in the opposite direction.

 

[railwayman3]

As far as I know dentists stopped using those fillings years ago and they replace them when they spot one.
You can find a lot about the dangers of these fillings and mercury in general on the internet, so just have a look.
Regards,
Frank

Others have suggested that information from the internet needs to be treated with scepticism.

And, I assume that the dentists who routinely replace the fillings charge for their advice and work ? I may be a sceptic, but it is generally known that, when State funded healthcare was introduced in the UK way back in the 1940's, through to the 1960's, dentists were paid on the basis of numbers of fillings made. Which is why kids of my Dad's generation ended up with mouthfuls of painful and unnecessary fillings, both amalgam and ceramic, often done as quickly as dentists could get the patients in and out the door.

 

[Jon Goodman]

And he sells Zinc-Air battery adapters, all batteries supply inconsistent voltage under variable loads. But the load on a battery in a camera meter is pretty consistent, the meter resistance changes, but the circuit is designed to compensate for that.

The circuit is designed to compensate for that? Well, that's interesting. Do you think it might be more accurate to say the circuit is designed to measure that? If you want me to, I can explain Ohm's Law and why the diode approach to voltage regulation in this case is fundamentally flawed. It might be dry and boring but it will be factual. It is why I and others say the zinc-air cell is the best alternative. It is why I make and sell adapters. Not to make money, thank you very much for the implication, but to provide people with a genuinely non-flawed and economical solution. One with no gaping holes of logic in it.

 

[ronwhit]

Mr. Goodman's adapters are excellent, the zinc-air hearing aid batteries they use are quite inexpensive, and together they look and act like the mercury batteries they replace. Why all the fuss?

 

[Cyclops044]

Has anyone had any experience with the guy claiming to sell mercury px625 batteries from Russia?

I am looking for the same, anyone with experience dealing with this same guy. I have need of both PX675 and PX625 batteries as I am running precariously low on my stock. My Gossen LunaPro and Konica cameras use these varieties. The remaining few I have came from "The Battery Guys" in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada but they no longer list these numbers for sale.

 

[GRHazelton]

I have often felt that requiring a LARGE deposit for the purchase of a mercury cell, the deposit to be returned when the exhausted cell is returned to an appropriate recycling center, would be a solution for us owners of classic cameras and the Bulova Accutron, the real Accutron using a tuning fork, not the current imposter.
Note that cameras using bridge circuit meters, such as the Pentax Spotmatic and the Praktica LTL, for example, are essentially immune to varying voltages within

 

[mgb74]

I'm curious as too the lifespan of these mercury cells when still in packaging. I have a couple of NOS 625 mercury cells from many years ago. IIRC, I bought them after they were no longer available in stores, so late 90s, early 2000s.

 

[Pentode]

I'm curious as too the lifespan of these mercury cells when still in packaging. I have a couple of NOS 625 mercury cells from many years ago. IIRC, I bought them after they were no longer available in stores, so late 90s, early 2000s.

I just found one in my father's camera bag that has to have been there at least 15 years if not 20. Works fine.
Of course, one isolated case doesn't really answer the question, but I believe their shelf life to be pretty darned long.

 

[AgX]

The great, majority of cells I come across are dead.
Though that may in some cases be due to the meter having been switched on during storage, or due to half-empty cells having lesser residual storage time. Thus is not telling much either.

 

[Pieter12]

I am looking for the same, anyone with experience dealing with this same guy. I have need of both PX675 and PX625 batteries as I am running precariously low on my stock. My Gossen LunaPro and Konica cameras use these varieties. The remaining few I have came from "The Battery Guys" in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada but they no longer list these numbers for sale.

Here is an interesting guide to replacements. I bought an adapter from battery.adapter@online.nl in the Netherlands that works fine in my M5 with silver oxide cells. You can also make your own.

 

[guangong]

A comment on a much earlier post regarding corrosion. Someone wrote that there was danger of corrosion from a mercury oxide battery but less danger from silver oxide. My Minox BL meter was totally destroyed by corrosion from a silver oxide battery left in camera for a few months. A Mercury Oxide battery, with a much longer life, probably would not have caused any damage.
What I find fascinating is that the little button battery was claimed such a danger, but not the mercury fluorescent bulbs widely promoted. Why? The only explanation can be pay to play with politicians.

 

[AgX]

At the time of criticism there were was no longer a need for these mercury cells (aside of some weird guys using obsolete gear), but for the economic fluorescent tubes was no alternative. And still is not completely.

 

[Kodachromeguy]

I still have a genuine stock of genuine Varta V400 mercury cells for the Pentax Spotmatic. One is in a paper pouch next to the camera, and I install it only when I plan to use the camera. The others are in the refrigerator (not freezer). All appear to be perfect. I sold my 625 cells on ePrey many years ago. Of course, I should have kept a couple......