Hi matic F Batteries

[garythegit]

Hello chaps, bought a mint *black* hi matic F off the evil addictive place whos name one only dares whisper...

The dealer said that instead of the two 1.35v px640 batteries he used one 3v battery and just filled the other compartment with foil and shot a roll which came out fine. Is this possible? I'm quite dubious about this. I do know however that the himatics are quite annoying due to their total dependancy on batteries. But for £13 for a black model I can't really pass it over!!

If this 3v trick doesn't work then where can I get the batteries for this baby??

Cheers guys!

PS Is the black version R@RE? 😉

 

[garythegit]

Yeah i've seen these adapters on sale on the net but they all charge $20 each! One british site even sold them for £19 each!!!! I think I might just pad the zinc air cells with foam and then bulk up the bottom with either springs or foil like the yashica 6v solution 🙂 I'm still curious about the one 3v and just leave the other one blank solution....

 

[ray_g]

G-man's aluminum stock solution sounds simple enough.

FWIW,Yashica Guy sells an adapter for $15 including shipping.

 

[garythegit]

I was thinking foam into the chamber, the batteries resting on the foam with the top contacts pushed against the battery contacts inside the camera with the gap under the batteries made up with foil. Maybe another layer of foam over that before closing the door just to hold them in. So the foam is taking up the space on the sides not the top or bottom of the batteries! 🙂 I would make them myself but there is absolutely no machinery available to me or any of my mates. (we are history students!) It should work fine I think.

Also do you think I can get more life out of my zinc-airs by sealing up some of the holes? Will this affect voltage discharge? How about storing them in a film canister when I'm not using them? Are canisters air tight?? Never wondered about that!

 

[ray_g]

Also do you think I can get more life out of my zinc-airs by sealing up some of the holes? Will this affect voltage discharge? How about storing them in a film canister when I'm not using them? Are canisters air tight?? Never wondered about that!

I cover the holes with scotch tape if I won't use them for some time.

 

[Poptart]

Aluminum is a poor conductor. In my GSN I used a stock sleeve from an RCA connector. It fits perfectly. I'm not sure about the Minolta; mine takes standard LR44 batteries.

 

[garythegit]

Just got my first roll back. The 3v battery that the previous owner installed produced quite under exposed shots. How could I compensate for this?? Should I be turning the iso dial up from 200 or down?? And by how much? It originally took two 1.35v so combined would be 2.70v, how many stops is that from a 3v do people reckon?

 

[sweathog]

If you're still interested.

http://www.smallbattery.company.org.uk/

The small battery company do replacements for all manner of battery.

I use their PC640A's in my Hi-Matic F, and they work fine. Not too expensive either, £7.98 for two.

 

[Bill58]

I use the Kanto adapters w/ the specified alkaline batteries. They work great.