I did not know PX 625 1.35 volt batteries are still available

I heard that mercury button batteries were being made in Russia. Until now, didn't know where to buy them.

Jim B.
 
Last year, or maybe the year before, I bought a few just to try them out (out of curiosity). They all failed in 30 days or less. Too many options to buy these. Safe you money. many cameras that used the mercury battery work just fine with silver oxide. SO are cheap and the 1st thing you try is them. If they don't work there are many options.
 
On Don Goldbergs' parts website he has a picture of a MR-4 meter that has been completely destroyed by a mercury battery, the caption is, "How bad were those mercury batteries?"
 
Mercury is highly toxic and banned (in democratic countries) from most use that may end up in landfill for good reasons. There are alternatives that are safer for both cameras, environment and your personal health.
 
I wonder if selling them is technically breaking a law? Probably.

I wonder if buying and importing them is technically breaking a law? Probably.

I wonder if owning them or using them is technically breaking a law? Probably not.

(Of course it depends where you are...)
 
Dralowid said:
I wonder if selling them is technically breaking a law? Probably.

I wonder if buying and importing them is technically breaking a law? Probably.

I wonder if owning them or using them is technically breaking a law? Probably not.

(Of course it depends where you are...)
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In the USA:

* It is illegal to manufacture mercury batteries.

• It is illegal to sell mercury batteries.

* It is illegal to import mercury batteries.

* It is legal to own and use mercury batteries, but this is increasingly difficult to do because they were banned 25 years ago (in 1996). This means the supply of batteries is basically exhausted, because batteries made before the ban have either been used or have died from aging.


Bans on Mercury have affected some other things that are useful for photographers. Thermometers, most notably. Mercury thermometers are a lot more accurate then those filled with other liquids, like Alcohol. They're also more accurate than the bimetal dial thermometers many photographers use in the darkroom, and more accurate then most electronic thermometers (highly accurate electronic thermometers are made for scientific use, but they're very expensive). The old Kodak Process Thermometers were widely regarded as the most accurate thermometers made for darkroom use. They were fairly expensive new. I remember paying around $100 for one in 1995 when I set up my first darkroom. They were still legal to make back then. On Ebay, they still go for high prices.
 
I remember getting an Afga Optima 1535 off eBay which came with 3 Varta PX625 batteries. Had no issue importing into Canada (guess they didn't bother look into the battery chamber) but the camera was DOA. Did not dare to use the batteries as they're probably a few decades old, unreliable and environmentally irresponsible. No idea what to do with them, they're still with me.

A proper converter saves you lots of trouble. Also cheaper in the long run. Do not encourage use of mercury batteries - although they probably have some legit reasons still making them in Russia (like local employment etc.).
 
I have those via eBay sold from Russia.
Those lasts for decades. So called eco friendly are not. What is better for environment one battery every ten years or battery every year….
 
Ko.Fe. said:
I have those via eBay sold from Russia.
Those lasts for decades. So called eco friendly are not. What is better for environment one battery every ten years or battery every year….
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That's one battery multiplied by how many users? If everyone is using mercury batteries it does add up quickly. Peoples lives have been severely impacted by mercury in the local environment, no matter the source, and any reduction is better than the alternative. If you gave every photographer a mercury battery today, years from now there would be a surge of dead batteries ending up where they don't belong, and that can't be a good thing.

PF
 
There's a reason mercury is banned; the stuff is highly toxic and travels up the food chain to you and all other creatures in the environment. Beyond being illegal, it's casual use and disposal is unethical. If you have mercury batteries to dispose of, contact your local landfill or recycling facility, or whatever government authority regulates hazardous waste disposal. Nearly everywhere, there are days and sites allocated for the proper disposal of mercury and other hazardous materials.
 
Mercury batteries bad but CFL lightbulbs good...so says our government...they even have special instructions on cleaning up when one breaks...more people use these than people with old cameras...and I guarantee they get thrown out in your weekly garbage pick up...
I have several dead mercury batteries in a glass jar, been there for years...I also have several old mercury switches from the days when they were used...
 
Overall, I think we are better for not having mercury batteries. If there were an organized and proper disposal method, such as “send us your old mercury battery in the little container we provide, and we’ll send you a new battery”, then I could support that. Won’t happen though - the market is too small.

I had a beautiful, long, precise mercury thermometer from chemistry class, where I assisted the professor. I don’t know how I got that thermometer, but I didn’t steal it. Anyway, i foolishly kept it on the top shelf of a cupboard at home and one day my cat jumped up there and knocked the thermometer down, breaking it. I’ve not seen such a nice thermometer since.
 
farlymac said:
That's one battery multiplied by how many users? If everyone is using mercury batteries it does add up quickly. Peoples lives have been severely impacted by mercury in the local environment, no matter the source, and any reduction is better than the alternative. If you gave every photographer a mercury battery today, years from now there would be a surge of dead batteries ending up where they don't belong, and that can't be a good thing.

PF
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Yep. One mercury battery in fact lasts for so long it goes with camera from one user to another over decade+.

While not banned batteries are going in huge numbers for just one photog. Those made bigger pollution to make because of much larger quantities and then another pollution to get them "recycled" in larger quantities.

You can't have less pollution by making much more and "recycling" much more.
 
I don't claim to know the facts as much as I know that activists, r bureaucracy and their toady politicians generally find a way to be on the wrong side of the argument more often than not. Or at least more than one would expect. Even when they are "right", they have solutions that are wrong.
 
hap said:
I don't claim to know the facts as much as I know that activists, r bureaucracy and their toady politicians generally find a way to be on the wrong side of the argument more often than not. Or at least more than one would expect. Even when they are "right", they have solutions that are wrong.
Click to expand...

Why would you need to know the facts? They'd only interfere with your uninformed opinions.
 
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