garnett@batcomputer.tn.cornell.edu (Roger Garnett) (01/30/89)
Electronics Trivia Question of the Day: "What ever happened to the original "A" size battery? Battery sizes are specified by ansi standards, we are all familar with AA, AAA, C, D, and N sizes... But what was the A size? And, were there ever standard 1.5 V B size? (You can get B size in 4.5 and other voltages today.) Does anyone know who developed the sizes? (Union Carbide?) ___________________________________________________________ Roger Garnett (garnett@tcgould.TN.CORNELL.EDU) Cornell Phonetics Lab (plab!roger@cornell.uucp) Ithaca N.Y. (607) 255-0704
serafine@nprdc.arpa (Ron Serafine) (01/31/89)
In article <7288@batcomputer.tn.cornell.edu> garnett@tcgould.tn.cornell.edu (Roger Garnett) writes: > > "What ever happened to the original "A" size battery? > > Battery sizes are specified by ansi standards, we are all familar with >AA, AAA, C, D, and N sizes... But what was the A size? And, were there ever >standard 1.5 V B size? (You can get B size in 4.5 and other voltages today.) >Does anyone know who developed the sizes? (Union Carbide?) If I remember correctly, back in the `50's, I had a "portable", tube- type Silvertone (Sears) brown-plastic AM radio which used two types of batter- ies, one of which was an "A". There were two used in each radio, along with a- another, which was large & flat-oval shaped. Anyway, the "A"'s were about the size of 1.66 - to 2 times as long as 2 "D" cells stacked end-to-end. I believe they were 1.5 volts each. The other, larger battery laid in the bottom & had a much greater volt- age, like 12.5, or something. The "A"'s stood up, one on each end of the radio. That's all I remember, besides 1) the radio only got about 100 hours out of a set of batteries, & 2) they weren't cheap, by standards of the day. Ron. Disclaimer: S.O.S.
commgrp@silver.bacs.indiana.edu (01/31/89)
> "What ever happened to the original "A" size battery? > >Battery sizes are specified by ansi standards, we are all familar >with AA, AAA, C, D, and N sizes... But what was the A size? And, were >there ever standard 1.5 V B size? (You can get B size in 4.5 and other >voltages today.) Does anyone know who developed the sizes? (Union >Carbide?) > >Roger Garnett (garnett@tcgould.TN.CORNELL.EDU) Duracell (tm) makes a cell which is larger than AA, smaller than C, with roughly twice the capacity of AA. It is available in a 3-cell battery (Duracell # MN1203) commonly available in Europe but rarely seen in the U.S. Old battery sizes die because of unpopularity or obsolescence. For example, The #6 dry cell is still available, but in the early 1900's there were smaller #4 dry cells, and giant #8 dry cells (about the size of a Quaker Oats box). The number refers to size; #6 dry cells are 6" tall. (Reference: "Collecting Early Radio Batteries" by Bob Allen, _The Old Timer's Bulletin_ Feb. 1988 (quarterly journal of the Antique Wireless Association, Box E, Breesport, NY 14816). -- Frank reid@gold.bacs.indiana.edu
consult@osiris.UUCP (Unix Consultation Mailbox ) (02/01/89)
>> "What ever happened to the original "A" size battery? >>Roger Garnett (garnett@tcgould.TN.CORNELL.EDU) It went the way of television channel 1, more or less. :-) In article <7200030@silver> commgrp@silver.bacs.indiana.edu writes: >Old battery sizes die because of unpopularity or obsolescence. I've got an old Simpson VOM which uses not only a (single) D cell but an old and somewhat hard-to-find battery type - I don't know the generic designation but I remember that an Eveready type 417 is the only battery I've ever found to replace it (though this may say more about who my parts shops buy from than who still makes these batteries). It's something weird like 14 volts, though that probably means 13.5 nominal. Does anyone out there know the origin of this battery, and if anyone else still makes replacements? How about some good references on (modern) power cell technology? I've seen some articles in e.g. Radio-Electronics, but they didn't really get into anything much besides the PolaPulse... Phil Kos Stuck Using My Scope DMM Again
davef@brspyr1.BRS.Com (Dave Fiske) (02/02/89)
In article <7288@batcomputer.tn.cornell.edu>, garnett@batcomputer.tn.cornell.edu (Roger Garnett) writes: > Electronics Trivia Question of the Day: > > "What ever happened to the original "A" size battery? On a related topic: who remembers round 9-volt batteries? My first transistor radio (which I got on my birthday in 1965) was a Silvertone, which used one. -- "FLYING ELEPHANTS DROP COW Dave Fiske (davef@brspyr1.BRS.COM) PIES ON HORRIFIED CROWD!" Home: David_A_Fiske@cup.portal.com Headline from Weekly World News CIS: 75415,163 GEnie: davef
knudsen@ihlpl.ATT.COM (Knudsen) (02/03/89)
That weird battery may be one used for capactivie-discharge flashbulb systems. Check any decent photog camera store. There was also a version of 9-volt that was shaped like a smaller C cell, with snap connector on each end (like the usual 9 volt). -- Mike Knudsen Bell Labs(AT&T) att!ihlpl!knudsen "Five hundred twelve K bytes of RAM ... out of control ... "
ISW@cup.portal.com (Isaac S Wingfield) (02/05/89)
Those batteries that were 1.6 to 2 times the size of "D" cells were, I think, "G" size. Back in the early days of tube type radios, several batteries were needed, and to make it simple for Joe Public, they were called by letters: "A" battery for the filaments; low voltage, high current "B" battery for the plate supply; high V, low I "C" battery for the grid supply; medium V, very low I I think you were confusing the "A" (filament) battery with the "A" size (which I've never seen, maybe because all filament supplies were called "A"). Regards, Isaac isw@cup.portal.com
strong@tc.fluke.COM (Norm Strong) (02/07/89)
In article <7288@batcomputer.tn.cornell.edu> garnett@tcgould.tn.cornell.edu (Roger Garnett) writes: } } Electronics Trivia Question of the Day: } } "What ever happened to the original "A" size battery? } } Battery sizes are specified by ansi standards, we are all familar with }AA, AAA, C, D, and N sizes... But what was the A size? And, were there ever }standard 1.5 V B size? (You can get B size in 4.5 and other voltages today.) }Does anyone know who developed the sizes? (Union Carbide?) Is this a quiz, or a question? Assuming the latter, here is the answer: The letters A and B were originally used to refer to the filament and plate supply batteries of a radio. In order to avoid confusion with these letters that referred to use rather than size, the letters A & B were omitted. -- Norm (strong@tc.fluke.com)
garnett@batcomputer.tn.cornell.edu (Roger Garnett) (02/07/89)
In article <6867@fluke.COM> strong@tc.fluke.COM (Norm Strong) writes: >In article <7288@batcomputer.tn.cornell.edu> garnett@tcgould.tn.cornell.edu (Roger Garnett) writes: >} >} Electronics Trivia Question of the Day: >} >} "What ever happened to the original "A" size battery? >} >} Battery sizes are specified by ansi standards, we are all familar with >}AA, AAA, C, D, and N sizes... But what was the A size? And, were there ever >}standard 1.5 V B size? (You can get B size in 4.5 and other voltages today.) >}Does anyone know who developed the sizes? (Union Carbide?) > >Is this a quiz, or a question? Assuming the latter, here is the answer: > >The letters A and B were originally used to refer to the filament and plate >supply batteries of a radio. In order to avoid confusion with these letters >that referred to use rather than size, the letters A & B were omitted. > Well, so far, everybody has failed the quiz. :-) Many of us are aware of the old A, B, & C *FUNCTION* batteries from DC operated tube radio sets. But that terminology has no relationship with A, AA, B, C, D, ... *SIZE* specs, as defined by ANSI standards. I have found a recent copy of the ANSI specs, (in a UNION CARBIDE spec book) which lists the dimensions. (Proof of difference- tube radio C batteries were much larger than current "C" cells) An ANSI "A" size, by extrapolation, should be a little longer, and mayby a little fatter than an "AA" cell, The AA, (and AAA) being the "patch" to the naming system when someone discovered that they could actually make a _useful_ cell *smaller* than what they started out with. I imagine it was hard to concieve of tiny cells which could actually hold a charge and run something, back in the early days of battery technology (100+ years ago). Keep diging, folks! ___________________________________________________________ Roger Garnett (garnett@tcgould.TN.CORNELL.EDU) Cornell Phonetics Lab (plab!roger@cornell.uucp) Ithaca N.Y. (bitnet: sggy@cornellC or garnett@crnlthry.bitnet) (607) 255-0704 (sggy@vax5.ccs.cornell.edu)
strong@tc.fluke.COM (Norm Strong) (02/09/89)
ANSI battery size designations (as of 1972) are: O,N,AAA,R,AA,A,B,C,D,E,F, G,No.6, in order of increasing volume. O,R,A,B & E are used only a part of batteries, and are no longer sold as individual cells. No.6, of course is the famous industrial battery I used to play with as a kid. -- Norm (strong@tc.fluke.com)
cgs@umd5.umd.edu (Chris Sylvain) (02/11/89)
In article <1405@arctic.nprdc.arpa> serafine@nprdc.arpa (Ron Serafine) writes: | If I remember correctly, back in the `50's, I had a "portable", tube- |type Silvertone (Sears) brown-plastic AM radio which used two types of batter- |ies, one of which was an "A". There were two used in each radio, along with a- |another, which was large & flat-oval shaped. Since it appears the 'net folks are reminiscing about their old radios and the batteries they used: I have (yes it still works!) a RCA Victor Model 9-BX-5 five-tube "portable" AM Broadcast receiver. It says it uses a "RCA Type VS 050 or equivalent". The battery holder looks like the battery was about the size of a quart carton of milk. The antenna is an air core loop wound around the inside of the case. The radio is complete with a sticker that reads: "This is to Certify that this instrument includes the matched elements required in the production of (italics with gold lettering follows) "Golden Throat" tone." with the signature: "D. D. Cole, Chief Engineer, Home Instrument Department, RCA Victor" (yes it sounds very nice) Anyone a radiophile out there who might now about what year this product was manufactured? Can anyone share some information on what a RCA Type VS 050 battery was? ???? -- --==---==---==-- .. and the mome raths outgrabe. .. ARPA: cgs@umd5.UMD.EDU BITNET: cgs%umd5@umd2 UUCP: ..!uunet!umd5.umd.edu!cgs