31 Aug
2006
31 Aug
'06
4:02 p.m.
On Thursday 31 August 2006 02:01 pm, William Blair wrote:
They can no longer be sold in the US because of their mercury content.
However, when I was investigating some time ago if there were any
compatible substitutes for the mercury cell used in the metering system of
an old Yashicamat 124 medium format camera I owned, the use of type AC675E
zinc-air cells was recommended. Someone made an adapter/holder for these
modern cells which was the same form factor as the old mercury cells and
intended for camera owners in this situation. This might give you a lead on
where to look.
We didn't do much with zinc-air cells either, most of the smaller button
types we handled being lithium, silver oxide, and alkaline. My recollection
is that zinc-air cells showed up as "hearing aid batteries" pretty often, so
it's quite possible that they would be found in drug stores, though I can't
say this for certain with the particular number mentioned here.
--
Member of the toughest, meanest, deadliest, most unrelenting -- and
ablest -- form of life in this section of space, a critter that can
be killed but can't be tamed. --Robert A. Heinlein, "The Puppet Masters"
-
Information is more dangerous than cannon to a society ruled by lies. --James
M Dakin
> > > > mercury cells. Today, since
they're illegal in the US from what I
> > > > understand,
> > >
> > > Are they? Anybody know for sure? I know they were hard to find last
> > > time I looked (over a decade ago) but there were some out there...
From around January of 1993 to around October of 1995 I
ran (managed) a retail
battery store. There was some demand for these, but not a
whole lot. And
at one point in time we were actually able to get some, but it wasn't a
consistent thing, and I don't know what the situation has been since then,
as I'm no longer in that business and haven't been since those days. Which
is why I asked.
In 1995, I was unable to buy mercury cells for my
Konica 35mm SLR. I
_was_ able to find a set at a store in Christchurch, NZ. Dunno if they
are still legal there or not.
Yes, according to Camera & Camera (big local camera store in Auckland)
they're still legal and available here (NZ).