mercury battery replacements

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sirius

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FYI,

For all those old cameras that used mercury batteries . . .

This site sells adapters that you can insert a modern silver battery (I think 1.5 volt) into and have the voltage modulated to behave like a 1.35 volt mercury battery (which are no longer produced). It looks like an elegant solution and it's cheaper than sending your camera out to get the voltage adjusted.

Those wein zinc air batteries work too but I don't think last that long.

Anyone had experience with this company?

visit: http://www.criscam.com/
 
Much will depend on which camera the adapter is destined for. The Criscam ones have a fairly low powered diode in them and can cause problems with some high current drain cameras. FWIW, they will operate the meter on a QL17 GIII but won't pass sufficient current for the battery test lamp to light. Depending on the camera, there are other alternatives many of which are much cheaper.

Kim

sirius said:
FYI,

For all those old cameras that used mercury batteries . . .

This site sells adapters that you can insert a modern silver battery (I think 1.5 volt) into and have the voltage modulated to behave like a 1.35 volt mercury battery (which are no longer produced). It looks like an elegant solution and it's cheaper than sending your camera out to get the voltage adjusted.

Those wein zinc air batteries work too but I don't think last that long.

Anyone had experience with this company?

visit: http://www.criscam.com/
Click to expand...
 
I got two of the criscam adapters for my Lunasix 3 and the set up works fine but they cost a lot inc shipping to the UK - cost as much as the lunasix's sells for if not more but this particular meter always been very accurate and i've had it 20 years......
 
If you need one in Europe, the Small Battery Company offers better value. sorry simon.

Kim

Simon Larby said:
I got two of the criscam adapters for my Lunasix 3 and the set up works fine but they cost a lot inc shipping to the UK - cost as much as the lunasix's sells for if not more but this particular meter always been very accurate and i've had it 20 years......
Click to expand...
 
Hi,

I don't understand what you mean by output. If they release 1.35 volts like the old mercury batteries, why would there be a problem?

I'm not sure of the final costs. The adapter for my camera is $28 USD and if you wanted a silver battery as well, that was $1.80. I don't know what they charge for shipping.

The only alternative I have found for my camera is the wein air battery. I am in Canada. I could only find them from B&H in the US and they have a minimum International shipping charge that is really high. I bought a few and it still worked out to something like $5-6 a battery. That's pricey to me. (Ha, they came in a huge! box with lots of packing material.)

Thanks for your responses.
 
The adapters use a diode which relies on the forward bias to give a fixed reduction in the voltage. The diode in the Criscam adapter is only capable of passing a very low current. This is not enough to light the test lamp on the GIII and may not be sufficient to operate the meters on some cameras. A member here did sell his own versions for a fraction of the cost which had a more robust diode in them which would pass enough current for just about any camera. What size battery is it? The very cheap hearing aid batteries have the same chemistry as the Wein cells and are readily available normally for a few cents. They can last about 6 months if you cover some of the air holes up. (Wein cell = zinc air battery with fewer holes 😉 )

Kim

sirius said:
Hi,

I don't understand what you mean by output. If they release 1.35 volts like the old mercury batteries, why would there be a problem?

I'm not sure of the final costs. The adapter for my camera is $28 USD and if you wanted a silver battery as well, that was $1.80. I don't know what they charge for shipping.

The only alternative I have found for my camera is the wein air battery. I am in Canada. I could only find them from B&H in the US and they have a minimum International shipping charge that is really high. I bought a few and it still worked out to something like $5-6 a battery. That's pricey to me. (Ha, they came in a huge! box with lots of packing material.)

Thanks for your responses.
Click to expand...
 
Kim Coxon said:
The adapters use a diode which relies on the forward bias to give a fixed reduction in the voltage. The diode in the Criscam adapter is only capable of passing a very low current. This is not enough to light the test lamp on the GIII and may not be sufficient to operate the meters on some cameras. A member here did sell his own versions for a fraction of the cost which had a more robust diode in them which would pass enough current for just about any camera. What size battery is it? The very cheap hearing aid batteries have the same chemistry as the Wein cells and are readily available normally for a few cents. They can last about 6 months if you cover some of the air holes up. (Wein cell = zinc air battery with fewer holes 😉 )

Kim
Click to expand...
Hmmm . . . will that member step forward and let us know if he's still doing this? Please . . . ?

😀

ScottGee1
 
EU madness again. In their interest in saving our lives and health, they have banned the use of lead in solder in commercial applications. Unfortunately "that member" is having difficulty in finding a replacement.

I am sure that the EU are trying to ban old cameras. Their first attempt was with mercury and when that failed, they are trying lead. 🙁

Kim

scottgee1 said:
Hmmm . . . will that member step forward and let us know if he's still doing this? Please . . . ?

😀

ScottGee1
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
Kim is referring to amps or mili amps as opposed to volts 1.5v or 1.3v

I use zinc / air batteries with several of the air holes sealed and an O ring for sizing. The sealed air holes extend the usable life of the cell.

Olympus 35RC, I also use this setup in the SPn and OM cameras

385801764_2dd8f48dd7_m.jpg


385801766_297a9986f0_m.jpg



sorry Kim I missed you note on the use of zinc air batteries

sirius that's what I use in the OM cameras
 
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Thanks everyone, I'm sure there are many current and future classic camera owners that will find this discussion useful.
 
Sometimes it is even possible to use 3V Lithium cells. But be careful, I wouldn't risk that with a valuable cam. 😉
 
I know that 1.5 v batteries will run my Canon QL17 Giii but it does throw off the meter, so I don't see much point.
 
I recently purchased the MR-9 with batteries from Criscam fir a Rollei 35. It seems to work. Prior to that I tried two other recommended batteries but although they activated the meter they off by 2 stops. I also read somewhere on the net that if the battery is greater voltage than the 1.35v it will burn out the meter. Not being an engineer I don't know. However, I thought that the price was right and the company is reliable and the product works.
 
Kim Coxon said:
If you need one in Europe, the Small Battery Company offers better value. sorry simon.

Kim
Click to expand...


Hi Kim 🙂 i only got notification of this message today for some reason! Hence the late reply.....
I remember at the time (last year) checking out the Small Battery Company but i think because of better email response i went with Criscam. They ship via courier so it's not cheap and i made the stupid mistake of assuming i needed one adapter for both batteries, so in the end i had to order two, with double shipping costs 😱
 
There are other options.

if you open up the camera you can

- solder in a Shockey diode to replicate the adopter and use a AgO battery with a spacer in the battery compartment.
- or adjust the cameras resistors to work ok with the 1.5 voltage

If you drop the adopter you will be stuck as it rolls into a drain cover...

If the camers is high drain it can damage the diodes in an adopter, so you need to be an electronic eng. A repair e.g. CLA should get you the adjustment for free at a good shop.

Noel
P.S. Dropped an invercone last weekend collected sufficient shards to superglue.
 
Kim Coxon said:
EU madness again. In their interest in saving our lives and health, they have banned the use of lead in solder in commercial applications. Unfortunately "that member" is having difficulty in finding a replacement.

I am sure that the EU are trying to ban old cameras. Their first attempt was with mercury and when that failed, they are trying lead. 🙁

Kim
Click to expand...

Hmm, what do they do for car batteries. I thought cars have lead in their batteries.

Cheers
 
Precisely! Mind you, you have to take used batteries to a recycling center for proper disposal so we are "protected".

Kim

ully said:
Hmm, what do they do for car batteries. I thought cars have lead in their batteries.

Cheers
Click to expand...
 
I think the NTE112 diode works for single mercury cell cameras, such as the canonet , 35rc etc. It's a little larger than the one in the chris adaptor, so maybe it will pass more current, I havent' tried yet.
 
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