Wein cell longevity?

snusmumriken · May 25, 2023

ic-racer said:
Referring to removal of batteries? Removing batteries from photography equipment is pretty much a universal standard. Not only does every user's manual recommend it, if one does any camera repair work at all, one would know corroded batteries are a frustrating and preventable complication.

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Yeah, yeah, I get that. I’ve rescued plenty of electronic equipment in my working life. But I’ve not had any problem with silver cells in my few items in reasonably regular use.

MattKing · May 25, 2023

In my direct and indirect experience (I worked for a few years in retail camera stores):
Alkaline cells in photographic equipment are prone to leaking.
Silver oxide cells in photographic equipment are unlikely to leak.

Tony-S · May 25, 2023

MattKing said:
In my direct and indirect experience (I worked for a few years in retail camera stores):
Alkaline cells in photographic equipment are prone to leaking.
Silver oxide cells in photographic equipment are unlikely to leak.

This is my experience, too. I avoid alkaline batteries when I can. Much prefer lithium over all, but silver oxides are pretty stable. My QL17/GIII has had its MR9/386 silver oxide battery in it for more than 2 years and it's just fine.

wiltw · May 25, 2023

MR-9 used to only be Voltage-converting adapters which provided better fit for silver oxide buttons.

Today, many eBay ads have products claiming to be MR-9, but these DO NO Voltage conversion, but merely adapt the mechanical fit of hearind aid air cell. Be careful when shopping...if there is an air hole in the adapter, it is NOT a genuine Voltage converting MR-9 which permits use of silver oxide button in place of mercuric oxide.

Radost · May 26, 2023

Buy the adapter. Worth it.

MR-9 Mercury Battery Adapter

Our mercury battery adapters are the perfect solution for vintage collector cameras and equipment that were designed for use with mercury batteries.

shop.criscam.com

Radost · May 26, 2023

halfaman said:
I used them once for a Konica Auto S3 and each battery last about a couple of months. Zinc-air batteries produce electrical energy by contact with oxygen in air, so as soon as the sticker is removed the battery starts depleting (self-discharge). Opposite to other kind of batteries, it is a bad idea to remove them from the camera if they are not sealed again.

Couple of months was what I used to get. What made me buy the adapter is when My Leica CLs meter stop working and I still have film inside. Happened very often.

ic-racer · May 26, 2023

Bill sent me one of these but I'm still waiting on the right meter or camera in which to place it seeing as much of my mercury cell equipment works fine with zinc cells.

runswithsizzers · May 26, 2023

I have left silver oxide batteries in my Pentaxes for years at a time without problems.

When I got a Konica Autoreflex T4, I looked at all the options, and I probably would have got the Criscam MR-9 adapters - except the price for two of them is getting up there. Two MR-9 adapters = $80US.

I am guessing that if someone were to make an adapter like the MR-9, except made to hold two batteries rather than one, the cost to manufacture the 2-battery version would not be much higher(?)

Because I was going to have a CLA done on my Konica anyway, I paid extra to have the meter circuit modified to work with silver oxide / alkaline batteries. The Konica T4 was designed to use the PX-625 size) which, unfortunately, seems to be no longer available in a silver oxide version. So, if I want to avoid alkaline batteries, then I still need an adapter for size, not voltage. With the "dumb" adapters ($12US for two), I can use the same #357 silver oxide batteries in either my Pentax or Konica.

Chan Tran · May 26, 2023

MattKing said:
In my direct and indirect experience (I worked for a few years in retail camera stores):
Alkaline cells in photographic equipment are prone to leaking.
Silver oxide cells in photographic equipment are unlikely to leak.

My experience is that alkaline cells made in the last 10 or 5 years tend to leak a lot more than cells made before that. Before an alkaline cell would leak because the device it was in drawing some current and completely depleted it. Now I have seen alkaline cells of all kinds and brands (Duracell, Enegizer, RayOVac you name it) from AA/AAA or button cells leak even when they are in their own bubble pack and a years before the expiration date and still have plenty of energy left in them.

ant! · May 26, 2023

Do rechargeable batteries leak? Are there silver-oxide AA/AAA, or only as button cells?

runswithsizzers · May 26, 2023

ant! said:
Do rechargeable batteries leak? Are there silver-oxide AA/AAA, or only as button cells?

I believe most commonly available rechargeable batteries in the AA / AAA sizes are based on the nickle metal hydride chemistry (Ni-MH).

I have quite a few Sanyo Eneloop rechargeable Ni-MH batteries in the AA size. Some are over 10 years old, and I have never seen one leak (but maybe I have just been lucky?). I think I might have had some rechargeable AAs from another brand that did corrode, but my memory is not reliable.

MattKing · May 26, 2023

Chan Tran said:
My experience is that alkaline cells made in the last 10 or 5 years tend to leak a lot more than cells made before that.

I think the modern alkaline AA and AAA batteries have increased capacity, but that is accompanied by an increased likelihood of leaking.

BrianShaw · May 26, 2023

runswithsizzers said:
I am guessing that if someone were to make an adapter like the MR-9, except made to hold two batteries rather than one, the cost to manufacture the 2-battery version would not be much higher(?)

Once upon a time, Sekonic marketed an adapter that was sized for 2 cells. It was expensive but a very nice solution to the problem. CrisCam, also, once offered adapters for multiple cells but those don't show up in their current offerings.

Wein cell longevity?

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Wein cell longevity?

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