Battery

The first electrochemical battery was documented by Alessandro Volta in a letter to the Royal Society of London in 1800.  1780 Volta's friend Luigi Galvani discovered that contact of two different metals with the muscle of a frog resulted in the generation of an electric current.

A battery is made up of a number of cells.   A primary cell has a chemistry that is not rechargeable while a secondary cell can be recharged.  A battery may have more than one output voltage either by means of taps in a single string of cells or by separate strings of cells.  There are many chemistry types used for an individual cell and the cell voltage depends on the chemistry.  Typically a battery's capacity is expressed in ampere hours and is for a discharge rate of the capacity divided by 20.

Safety

My Battery Web Pages

Primary

BA-5590 - 5590BA Battery Adapter
BA-5800 - Battery Adapter

Secondary

BB-388 -
BB-490 -
BA-386, BA-4386, PRC-25, PRC-77 type batteries - 257477BA Battery Adapter

PRC-68 Squad Radio Family of Batteries 68BA Battery Adapter

Cell Chemistry

Primary (non rechargeable) Military BA-series

 

Chemistry	Open Ckt Cell V	Comment	Wh/#	Wh/cu in	Wt 10 "D" cells + 257477BA
Alkaline-Manganese Dioxide	1.55	very good energy density	75	6.5	3.7 #
Mercury Oxide	1.2	discontinued - environmental
Silver Oxide	1.6	small size apps	60	8.2
Zinc Carbon	1.5	First Generation Leclanche	181
Zinc Air	1.5	Reserve battery  infinite shelf life prior to activation
Lithium Iron Disulfide	1.5	1.5 V/cell, not 3v/cell
Lithium Manganese Dioxide	3.0	no venting like LiSO2 10 yr shelf, good very cold
Lithium Sulfur Dioxide		shelf life may be > 20 years best energy density can vent SO2 gas
Zinc Manganese Dioxide(Zn/MnO²)	3.2	memory backup	105	9
Mg/AgCl	1.5	Reserve battery infinite shelf life prior to activation Seawater-Activated Sonobuoy	75

There were over a thousand Mercury batteries used on many Military programs (BA-1001 through BA-1999 plus others).
They had very good shelf life and high energy density, but Mercury is one of the heavy metals that cause medical problems and does not readily decompose when in the ground.

2509249 Alkaline primary cell, Howard E Rhodes, Mallory, 1950-05-30, - Mercury button cell

Secondary (rechargeable) Military BB-series

 

Chemistry	Nom Cell V	Fresh charge OCV	Comment	Wt 10 "D" cells + 257477BA
NiCd Sintered Plate	1.25	1.7	has memory, very low resistance good $/WH
Solid plate			no memory
Nickel Metal Hydride	1.25	1.7	no memory - modern rechargeable good $/WH	RS 23-519 2.9 #
Lithium Thionyl Chloride			Military
Silver Zinc			Military i.e. BB-451
Lead Acid - Gell (sealed)	2.3
Lead Acid - Flooded (wet)	2.4
Rechargeable Alkaline			Ray-O-vac	3.3 #
Sodium-sulfur

Reserve Batteries (Wiki)

The components of the battery are separated until activated thus giving the battery pretty much infinite shelf life.  The main types are:
Water activated - Sonobuoy - weather balloon lights & radiosondes, torpedos
Electrolyte activated
Gas activated - some hearing aid batteries are activated by removing a tab to let air inside
Heat activated - aka thermal battery - fuses, mines, missiles, nuclear weapons

Thermal Batteries (Wiki: Molten-salt battery)

Invented in Germany during W.W.II.  See China Lake Patents Ref 59 - TOW missile uses 2 thermal batteries.
2566114 Electric cell, Bloch Rudolf, 1951-08-28,
2689876 Solid ion electrolyte battery, Lehovec Kurt, Army, 1954-09-21, -
2793244 Solid electrolyte cells and batteries, Grinten Willem J Van Der, GE, 1957-05-21, - low current
2928890 Solid electrolyte cells and batteries, Grinten Willem J Van Der, Mohler Donald, GE, 1960-03-15, -

Eagle Picher - Thermal Batteries - Overview Brochure - Cap, Electrical & Shock activation

Cost per Watt Hour

Primary

Common Battery Table

Test Results

Vendors - Manufacturers

AEA Technology Battery Systems Ltd -
Advanced Power Products - dealer?
AMP Division of TYCO - distributor has battery connectors
Astratec Electronics Ltd - battery testers
BatterySpace -US stock of Chinese batteries - Data Sheets -
Boulder Technology - Thin Metal Film
Bren-Tronics -Primary & Rechargeable mil battery maker
C&D Technologies - energy storage batteries and related tech lib
DAEWOO batteries - makes the Tekcell LiMNO2 CR123A & others
Deal Extreme - on line ordering from Hong Kong (order should be here tomorrow (7 to 10 days)
Delta Concepts - made BA-505/U 6 Volt cylindrical batt for PRR-9
Diehl & Eagle Picher GmbH -
DigiKey - will strap and shrink wrap NiCads to order

Duracell - technical info online (9 Dec 1)
Eagle-Picher, Eagle-Picher Technologies - LiSO2.pdf - LiMnO2.pdf - AgZnMan.pdf -
    http://www.epi-tech.com/, click on: departments, scroll down to EPEnergy Products, applications
    then you will see: Lithium Sulfur Dioxide: Cells & Batteries,   Lithium Manganese Dioxide: Cells & Batteries, Lithium Ion Cells
Eastman Kodak Company -
EEMB - a number of different Lithium chemistries & super caps
Electric Fuel Corp. - Baqttery & Power Systems - BA-8180 Zinc Air Battery
Electrochem Battery Division, Wilson Greatbatch Ltd.- formerly Battery Engineering -
Elna - Double Layer Caps - 0.047 to 100 Farads Note: even though called low ESR it may be 30 to 120 Ohms! for backup not energy.
EnerSys - has a number of product families - very good reputation
Eternacell (formerly Power Conversion Inc.) -
Eveready - Energizer - Technical Information Battery Engineering Guide
Frezzi Energy Systems - BB-542/U, OP-177/U
Germanos S.A. (Sunlight) -
Golden Season Pte Ltd - makes mil batteries and  chargers & cells
Hawker Eternacell, Inc.- U.S. Miltary Batteries -> Bought by Saft
Interstate -
Kokam - Li Poly battery manf. - Kokam USA -
Laor - Lead Acid industrial, telephone batt mfg
Leclanche - Swiss battery maker
LG Chem - Rechargable Batteries -
Mathews Associates (Mathews Battery Assemblers) - makes a number of mil batteries
Maha Energy Corporation - NiMH Rechargeable Batteries - 8 AH D cell
McDowell Research Corporation (MRC) -  support equipment for tactical transceivers, battery chargers, battery eliminators, batteries
Millennium (a division of Moltech Power Systems, Inc.) -  NiMH batteries
MIL Power Limited - Mil Batt -
Military Logistics - Battery Adapters for Military Radios
Moltech - Li battery technology, custom packs & Millennium NiMH Batteries
Motorola - cell phone batt.
Napco - BA-4386 Magnesium Battery for PRC-25
Natek - battery chargers, battery testing devices, control units etc
Odyssey - rechargable battery with benefits of primary battery Highly Recomended (USDOT "non spilable" can ship using any method) - shop for price.  Special charging requirements.
Panasonic Industrial Company - Nickel-Metal Hydride -
Polaroid Corp -
Power Conversion Inc. - see Eternacell -
Quality China Goods - English on line ordering - about 2 weeks delivery time.
Radio Reconnaissance Technologies (RRT) Inc. - BC-778(A) direct replacement for BA-5590/U lithium sulfur dioxide battery uses 32 each BA-5123/U (CR-123) - no longer on their web page, now seems to be just a reseller?
Radio Shack - carries many battery types.
RayOVac - Specifications and Product Guides 
S&G Electronics - Batteries for Antique Radios -
Saft - makes the BA-5598/U sold by Fair Radio for the PRC-25, -77 etc. Some Mil LiSO2 batteries  BA-5372 LiMnO₂ @ Valdese North Carolina site
Statpower - smart lead acid chargers/maintainers & DC to AC inverters
Storage Battery Systems - small deep cycle lead based batteries and test equip
Sunn Battery Company -
Tadiran Battery - Lithium batteries
The NiCd Lady Company -
Thomas & Betts (bought Telecommunication Devices Inc 7/2/98) -
Tyco Electronics - 70 year life round cell flooded lead acid battery -
Ultralife Batteries - Lithium Military Cells -
U.S. Battery - deep cycle batt mfg
Varta -
Wilson Greatbatch Technologies, Inc - Lithium Ion rechargeable cells
Xeno Energy - Lithium Thionyl Chloride - abut twice the Watt Hrs of Alkaline but not for high current apps
Yuasa - makes EXIDE battery, valve regulated lead-acid - good reputation

Super Capacitors

I have included super caps because there is a fine line between a battery and a super cap.  These have application as a keep alive power source for electronics.  For example the HP Rocky Mountain Workstation computers have a super cap that keeps the clock running for weeks.  When they arrive from the factory the clock is correct.  The U.S. Army is looking into using them in parallel with a vehicle battery to supply the high current starting energy thus saving the battery from this big load.

2003 - I have seen ads for Super Caps with 100 and 1,000 Farads.  But typically each individual cap is rated for only 2.5 Volts.  This is a problem because you can not easily add them in series.

Another problem is that most if not all of the super caps you see advertised for hobbyist use are "memory backup" types and can NOT deliver a high current.  They are fine for keeping a memory alive that draws a very small current, but no good for supplying any kind of current.

Fuel Cell (Wiki)

2384463 Fuel cell, Gunn Ross (Wiki), Wayne C Hall, App:1938-12-06, W.W.II, Pub: 1945-09-11, - H2.

Charging

Seperate web page for Battery Chargers.

A 12V 7AH Gel Cell battery would not take a charge.  After popping off the lid and removing the 6 rubber caps there appears to be no water covering the plates.
So I'm putting some water in a puddle above each hole and after many hours (that's when I check on it) most of the water has gone inside.

Connectors

Peridot - Battery Contacts -

Rebuilding

Often a "battery" is made up of standard letter size (AA, AAA, C, D) cells and can be opened up and rebuilt.  Unfortunately the small straps that connect the cells are usually spot welded, not soldered, it's a neater way to connect but not a tool in most homes.   This is also called Re-celling.
Photo of PRC-68 radios with a PRC-68 "battery" sawed in half).

Eliminators

Provide the same outputs as the battery being replaced using A.C. line or vehicle D.C. power as inputs.

Surplus Sales of Nebraska -Surplus dealer changing stock
Ersatzschaltung  zur Stromversorgung - + and - 2.5 for Eastern Block Mil Radios
ARBE-III - Universal A, B and C voltages for powering tube  radios from the AC line

Adapters

By using a Battery Adapter it's possible to use common batteries to replace either a specialized battery or a larger battery or cell.  For example you can buy plastic battery adapters that allow the use of a "C" cell in an application where a "D" cell is needed.

In the case of the SDU-5/E Distress Strobe Light, the original battery was Mercury based and is now obsolete.  The replacement battery is very expensive.  By using my 5BA Battery Adapter the strobe can be powered by two common 123 photo batteries.

For a number of Battery Adapters made by me see http://www. PRC68.COM

Allow using a number of batteries of one type to look like another type.  For example I have one that uses a lot of 9 Volt batteries for the PRC-6.  The BA-491 powers the PRC-6 with D cells.
Associated Industries in North Hollywood - BA-7477N for the PRC77 using 10 D bat
Or and active inverter type that uses 4 "D" cell to generate 67.5 V power supply that fits in the space of a 67.5 V battery

Specifications

Voltage(s)

See the BA-5590 web page for a discussion about when a "12 Volt battery" is really a 15 Volt battery.

Capacity - State Of Charge

For batteries with a steep discharge curve simply measuring the terminal voltage (maybe with a small load) is adaquate to know the SOC.
For batteries, like Nickel Metal Hydride or NiCad where the curve is almost flat and there are temperature effects, the terminal voltage is not a good method (although if a temperature sensor is part of the battery, not added on) it may work.  For these measuring curent * time called coulometry is the best method.  http://www.moltechpower.com/ may be a source for more information.
State of Charge Tester, Chemtronics LS 91(TS-4403/U) - a microprocessor controls an electronic load and monitors the voltage, current draw  and temperature made for the BA-5590/U and BA-5598/U.
ZTS, Inc. - hand held SOC ZTS MULTI-BATTERY TESTER™  for common commercial batteries using a patent pending pulse method
TS-4403A/U - NSN 6625-01-370-8278 is a SOC meter that can test the batteries used on Squad Radios.df  The TS-4403A/U is the same as the LS 91 (now renamed LS 94) and probably has a different EEPROM with the data for the BA-5588/U.

TS-183, -183A, -183B - Separate Web Page with large Battery Type Table, NSNs, Replacement numbers, etc.

PSM-13 - can be carried on a soldiers belt

US 6,114,838 - Battery capacity test method and apparatus -

Electronic Loads

These are functionally variable resistors, except that they can be set for constant current, resistance, voltage or power (dempending or model and mfg.) and most have readback of voltage and current and some have remote programming capability.
Could be used as a automated version of the TS-183 or other battery testers.
Kikusui - Electronic Loads & Battery Tester - PLZ72W - eBay
American Reliance - AMREL Programmable Electronic Loads - AMREL EL-1132
Agilent - Electronic Loads - 6063B 250 Watt dc Electronic Load USD 2,676.00 new

Internal Resistance

Moved to Battery Tester web page.

Midtronics - Conductance testers
AVO International - NiCad & Lead Acid Battery AC impedance test Equipment -

Flash Amps is a measure of the short current that a battery can deliver for a very short time.  Although it's not an indicator of state of charge it IS an indicator of what the battery is capable of.  Also an important thing to match when making a battery pack.

Max Available Current

In the case of RC batteries the max current available must be larger than the current needed to drive the motor(s).
This did not happen recently (Sep 2013) in the case of the Tamiya Grasshopper RC model dune buggy.
New 3800 mAh batteries failed to power the motor (see video at link above), but another new battery with a lower capacity (Duratrax Onyx 1800 mAh) worked fine.  Note the huge difference in internal resistance and calculated short current current in the table below.

Prog Tech Inc ?	Dynamit 1400 mAh	Varta 1300 mAh	Super Qual Bat 3800mAh			Duratrax Onyx 1800 mAh
5.2V	7.8V	6.8V	7.7V	7.7V	7.8V	8.0V
0.3 Ohms	0.12 V	0.23 Ohms	0.16 Ohms	0.14 Ohms	Note 1
Note 2
5.4 V	7.9 V	7.8 V	7.8 V	8.2 V	8.0 V	8.6 V
0.815 Ohms	0.066 Ohms	0.128 Ohms	0.063 Ohms	0.049 Ohms	0.064 Ohms	0.014 Ohms
6.6 A	119 A	61 A	124 A	167 A	125 A	614 A

Note 1: Smoke came out of the ESR-Cap meter.  Maybe I connected it with the leads reversed?
Note 2: Now have SM8124 Battery Internal Resistance meter.

There's no question that the "New" Ni-MH batteries although they have a higher mAh rating (3800) than all the other batteries, they also have a much higher internal resistance thus limiting their output current.  The current shown on the bottom line is the battery voltage divided by it's internal resistance.  Theyall  have been sitting for over a month untouched so the older batteries have discharged more (or didn't take a charge that well before).  It's a shame that the battery vendors do not specify internal resistance or short circuit current.

Operating Temperature

Energy Density

Number of Recharge Cycles

Military

Best Manufacturing Practices - Primary & Secondary Batteries NAVSO P-3676 -
Signal Battery Matrix -

High Technology Batteries

Nuclear

Heat

 Radioisotopic Thermoelectric Generator (RTG)
YouTube: Radio Broadcast Receivers for a Very Different Nation - The USSR, 26:07 -
DOE web page - used on spacecraft
NASA - Improved Thermoelectric Converter Units and Power Generators - small 5 Volt unit

Hi-Z Technology - makes Thermoelectric Generators, but they need to have a temperature differential of around 200 deg c, not an easy thing to do.  These might also work as coolers.  Here's a photo showing a sandwitch, left to right:
Belville washers (springs) to apply 200 psi to module, heat sink to cool cold side, module in shadow (insulation in this plane), input heat absorber to be used in pellet heater flame.

Radiation

The idea is to have a radioactive source bombard what amounts to a solar panel that's generating electricity directly from the radiation.
These do work, but produce a very small amount of electricity.
6118204 Layered metal foil semiconductor power device Sep 12, 2000 310/303; 136/202; 429/5 - has a description of a number of different types of electrical generators powered by radioactive material.
Class 429 = Chemistry: Electrical Current Producing Apparatus, Product, and Process  /429 = Containing Radioactive Material
Class 136 = Batteries: Thermoelectric and Photoelectric  /202 = Nuclear energy type
Class 310 = Electrical Generator or Motor Structure /303 = P-N semiconductor

Lead Acid

Firefly Energy - no product info on web page, just hype

Cyclon

I've come across these as backup batteries in frequency standards (O-1814 & 4065B).  They come in a number of configurations including a "D" cell size rated 2 volts and 2.5 AH.

When left for a long time they go open.  But might be reclaimed by applying say 60+ volts to a single cell current limited to less than C/20.  The higher voltage helps develop some current and once a reasonable current starts then it will continue. 

After it's taking charge change the supply to constant voltage at 2.4 Volts/cell and limit the current to maybe 3 Amps.  The normal charge voltage can not get the reaction started and if any one series cell will not start then the whole pack can not be charged.

Large Li-Ion

Valence Technology - adds fire suppresent to Li-Ion battery to make it safer thus allowing larger batteries to be made.

Heat

Heat can be used to generate electricity.  One way uses the Seebeck effect in a thermocouple.  Since a thermocouple is formed by welding two dissimilar metals toghther it has a very low source resistance and produces voltage that's proportional to the temperature difference between the hot and cold ends of the wire.  Note that it can not produce any power with just one junction.

Thermocouples are used with gas pilot lights as a safety mechanism.  If the pilot light goes out then the power stops allowing a valve to close.  One type is the Honeywell Q313 xxxx "750 millivolt" type that has a number of series connected thermocouples to make a thermopile.  A single thermocouple in a gas flame might produce 30 mV open circuit and so about 25 series connected thermocouples are in one "750 millivolt" thermopile.

Heating the hot end of this Q313 A 1170 using one finger of flame from a gas stove provides the following data:

Load Ohm	Voltage mV	Current ma	Power mw
Open	812	0	0
100	806	8	6.5
47	690	14.7	10.1
10	521	52	27.1
5	490	98	48.0
1	?	?	?

It can be seen that as the load resistance gets lower and lower the output power increases.  Maximum power will be generated when the load resistance is the same as the source resistance, which for practical purposes means a short.  A modern Switching Mode Power Supply might be the way to convert this low impedance power into a more usable form.

Note that the above thermopile runs from a pilot flame or maybe a candle flame.
Thermo-Electric Generators - History

412669 Thermo Electric Generator, W.S. de L. Roberts & J.S. Mollison, 1889-10-08, 136/212 - zinc & antimony
518542 Thermo-electric generator, H.B. Cox, 1894-04-17, 136/210; 136/233; 136/201 -
1234515 Thermo-electric generator, H W Webb, 1917-07-24, 136/210 - much improved efficiency
1618745 Thermoelectric generator, Nathan H Adams, GE, 1927-02-22, - for radio receiver
1677029 Thermoelectric generator, Truman S Fuller, Nathan H Adams, Frank G Nolte, GE, 1928-07-10, 136/211; 136/225 -
2480405 Thermoelectric radio operation, Howard J Findley, Eaton Corp, 1949-08-30, - separate A and B circuit, each with PTC devices to protect from over voltage
2530256 Thermoelectric generator, Sidney K Malek, Honeywell, 1950-11-14, 136/225; 374/E7.004; 136/233 -
3370455 Thermoelectric couple tester, Edward J Kroliczek, Robert A Swift, Donald B Evans, Martin Marietta, 1968-02-27, - for deep space power
3600585 Plutonium heat source, Donald P Kelly, James A Powers, Philip A Tucker, AEC, 1971-08-17, 250/493.1; 136/202; 420/2; 252/644; 976/DIG.416 - "One of the uses for plutonium-238 is as an isotopic power fuel for thermoelectric generators."

YouTube: 1493 The Partisan Battery And The Lamp Radio - A Brief History of Thermoelectric Generators, 9:08 - 1494 A Diy Partisan Battery, 7:05 - not a useful design -
1495 Looking At Improving The Partisan Battery, 9:17 - Copper Oxide @ 0.3VDC per point contact = none of these practical for DIY

Applications

Starting Vehicles
Deep Cycle Energy Storage
Portable Electronic Equipment

Shipping

I was just web surfing "Burp Charging" and found this statement " Some battery manufacturers do not fully form the cells before shipment."
The implication is that the others that do ship fully charged batteries are the good guys, but that's not the case, it may be the other way around. If a short circuit developed during shipment a fully charged battery is more dangerous than a half charged battery.

Many of the modern battery chemistries are classified as hazardous material by the U.N. and other rule making bodies.  For example the BA-2590/U is a LiSO₂ chemistry and if a cell is punctured the liquid SO₂ will escape as a hazardous gas so these batteries can not be shipped on passenger aircraft.
NTSB report of fire caused by Lithium batteries, maybe the "123" type.  Note that Lithium has a very low burning flash point and can feed a fire making it very difficult to extinguish.

UPS aircraft battery fire - On February 7, 2006, at 2359 eastern standard time, a Douglas DC-8-71F, N748UP, operated by United Parcel Service (UPS) as flight 1307, landed at Philadelphia International Airport (PHL), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, after the crew reported a cargo smoke indication.   The three crewmembers were able to evacuate the airplane using the L1 slide.  The airplane later became engulfed in flames and was substantially damaged by fire.

A battery is an energy storage device like the gas tank in a car stores energy.  Batteries like Ni-Cad and Ni-MH are supposed to be shipped with a 50% charge.  This minimizes the energy content in case of an accident.

Dec 2014 - ordered a couple dozen CR123 batteries from Battery Space and they came Fedex (the lowest cost option since USPS does not allow batteries at all.

Fedex has a sheet where one side is about primary batteries and the back is for rechargeable batteries and the allowable weight/capacity.  They have this down and the shipping was under $10 and they arrived (from within California) the next day.  The actual volume for the batteries is maybe 1/10 that of the package, i.e. they were will padded.

Bad Packaging

I have purchased some 12v 7AH SLA type batteries on eBay and the seller either does not know or is incapable of properly packaging the batteries for shipment.  On the first attempt white packing plastic peanuts were used.  These crushed to paper thin allowing the two batteries to pound on each other and to break a hole into the carton.  One battery physically destroyed.  On the second attempt a single layer of 1/4 thick bubble wrap was used on each of the two batteries and the were placed into a carton that would hold about 8 batteries, so there was a lot of air space.  One of these batteries appeared to be OK based on charging, but under any load instantly quit.  Not sure way.  After opening it up all the cell pockets were completely dry, but that may be how they should look?

Cars

Toyota Prius - 28 Ni-MH modules, each module has 6  cells
Chevy Volt -
Nissan Leaf - 36 LiFePO4  Modules - Gen1: 60 AH, GEN2: 64 AH, 7.5 Volts/module

Electric Cars

Grid Scale Energy Storage

As of 2022 the only grid scale energy storage system I've seen is the Molten Metal battery.
YouTube: Innovation in energy storage: What I learned in 3.091 was all I needed to know - 2010

Donald Sadoway, David J. Bradwell,
Ambri Incorporated -

Electrical Noise

For some applications, like listening to Low Frequency radio signals, the noise from the AC mains power line is so high that using a battery power supply is a useful way to get a low electrical noise power supply.
Ref: Noise Measurements On Chemical Batteries by Gerhard Hoffmann, 2014 - Papers -

Links

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page created 11 Oct. 2000.