Comments on: Quirks of the Zinc-Air Cell, Part 2 http://silverbased.org/zinc-air-voltage/ Projects and ponderings for film photographers Tue, 29 Nov 2011 19:29:25 -0800 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 hourly 1 By: Vox http://silverbased.org/zinc-air-voltage/comment-page-1/#comment-291 Vox Tue, 03 Jun 2008 02:02:41 +0000 http://silverbased.org/zinc-air-voltage/#comment-291 Hi Mike, an extra few tenths of a volt pose no danger of frying the meter—it's just an accuracy issue. The main discovery that I'm writing about here is that the "nominal" 1.4 volts for zinc air cells is a bit of a fiction--the actual voltage drifts quite a bit based on load. The short answer is that a zinc-air hearing aid battery (or a Wein cell if you care to pay the extra price) will be fine, *if* you turn on the meter and uncap the lens a few minutes before you start taking meter readings. Hi Mike, an extra few tenths of a volt pose no danger of frying the meter—it’s just an accuracy issue.

The main discovery that I’m writing about here is that the “nominal” 1.4 volts for zinc air cells is a bit of a fiction–the actual voltage drifts quite a bit based on load.

The short answer is that a zinc-air hearing aid battery (or a Wein cell if you care to pay the extra price) will be fine, *if* you turn on the meter and uncap the lens a few minutes before you start taking meter readings.

]]> By: mike http://silverbased.org/zinc-air-voltage/comment-page-1/#comment-289 mike Mon, 02 Jun 2008 03:58:02 +0000 http://silverbased.org/zinc-air-voltage/#comment-289 Vox, I just got an OM-1 for $15 at an antique shop and it looks to be in great shape! My question - and reason for commenting here - is regarding the #675 hearing aid battery... when searching this out, they advertise 1.4v. You mention something about this in this article and I just wanted to clarify before I toast my newly beloved with the wrong battery. If I understand you correctly, the 1.4 is a "load-free" voltage and it will shortly drop to a safe and welcome 1.37v under load... ? Thanks in advance - love your blog! Mike Vox,
I just got an OM-1 for $15 at an antique shop and it looks to be in great shape! My question – and reason for commenting here – is regarding the #675 hearing aid battery… when searching this out, they advertise 1.4v. You mention something about this in this article and I just wanted to clarify before I toast my newly beloved with the wrong battery. If I understand you correctly, the 1.4 is a “load-free” voltage and it will shortly drop to a safe and welcome 1.37v under load… ?

Thanks in advance – love your blog!
Mike

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