Appendix: Battery Standards The International Electrochemical Commission battery. These characteristics are: (lEC) have prepared a battery standards speci­ a) Dimensions and terminals (physical inter­ fication: lECPublication 86: Primary Cel/sand changeability) Batteries , parts 1 and 2, 1975. The relevant b) Voltage and electrical performance (elec­ British Standard is BS 397. Both are available trical interchangeability) from the British Standards Institution, 2 Park Street, London WlA 2BS. At the present time there are three possible The American National Standard, ANSI sources of such information. C18.l, is available from ANSI, 1430 Broadway, The battery manufacturer publishes litera­ New York 10018. ture describing his products and sometimes The Japanese Standards Association issues includes recommendations for the battery to Standard 115 8501 Dry Cellsand Batteries; 115 be used in specific equipment. In the nature 8508 Mercury Cells and Batteries ; 115 8509 of things this information is not complete. Alkaline-Manganese Dioxide Cells and Bat­ The equipment manufacturer may include teries ;115 8510 SilverOxide Cellsand Batteries; in the equipment a label stating the specific 115 8511 Alkaline Primary Cells and Batteries. type of battery to be used,or the size required. All are available through Japanese Embassies Often a more detailed list of approved bat­ or direct from the Japanese Standards Associ­ teries is given in the equipment instruction ation, 1-24 Akasaka 4 Chome , Minato-ku, manual but again this islikely to be incomplete. Tokyo. Furthermore the information may lead to The following is an extract from The lEC frustration when the equipment originates in System of Battery Designation, prepared by a different country from that in which the IEC Technical Committee No. 35. batteries are purchased. Finally assistance may be given at the sales point by experienced and qualified technicians , Introduction although more usually the salesassistant is non­ technical . It is apparent that the casual pur­ The last decade has seen a large expansion in chaser is rarely able to derive adequate benefit the range of portable battery-operated con­ from the sources described above. In recog­ sumer goods, often these are sold and used in nittion ofthis ,severalattempts have been made countries other than those in which they were to establish systems at a national level. manufactured. During the same period the It is the aim of the IEC system to overcome range of electrochemical systems available for the deficiencies described and the limitations battery use has multiplied and .ven within imposed by national boundaries. a system different application grades have appeared. These changes when coupled with the increase in travel between countries have Examples led to the user being confused as to the correct type of replacement battery to purchase. In the IEC system fully described later and in The battery purchaser requires a simple, Publication 86, a series of numbers and letters unambiguous symbol which defines inter­ are used to give a unique reference to each size nationally the important characteristics of the of battery, its terminals , voltage and electro- T. R. Crompton, Small Batteries © T. R. Crompton 1982 Appendix: Battery Standards 217 R6 lR6 Terminals 1.5V Terminals 1.45V Figure A.1 Figure A.2 chemical system. The following examples illus­ example a) the electrochemical system is trate the use of the lEe system. manganese dioxide/ammonium chloride, zinc chloride/zinc but the presence of the a) R6 (commonly used in small transistor number 3 denotes a battery voltage of radios), Figure A.l The letter R indicates that the battery is cylindrical and combined with the num­ Terminals ber 6 signifies a particular size with closely defined terminals. The absence of another letter shows that the electrochemical sys­ tem is manganese dioxide/ammonium ¢~ chloride, zinc chloride/zinc. This system has a nominal voltage of 1.5 volts and since no preceding number is given the battery voltage is identical with that of the electro­ chemical system, viz. 1.5 volts. b) LR6 (commonly used in cine-cameras), Figure A.2 3R12 R6 as in the preceding example, defines the same shape, dimensions and terminals. 4.sV The additional letter L indicates that the electrochemical system is, manganese dioxide/alkali metal hydroxide/zinc having a nominal voltage of 1.45 volts. c) 3R12 (commonly used in pocket lamps), Figure A.3 The complete symbol defines the size, ter­ minals and voltage of the battery. As in Figure A.3 218 Small Batteries - Primary Cells letter M which denotes that the electro­ chemical system is mercuric oxide/alkali metal hydroxide/zinc of 1.35 volts nominal which in this case is also the battery volt­ age. f) MR44 (commonly used in watches), Figure A.6 "'=---' This battery is identical in all respects with the MR07 except that a closely controlled 6F22 and precisely defined profile is mandatory. 9'/ This ensures satisfactory fitment in the battery compartment of watches. For this reason the battery is defined in conjunction with a profile gauge and given a different number. Figure AA three times the nominal voltage of the sys­ tem, Le., 4.5 volts. d) 6F22 (commonly used in pocket size tran­ sistor radios), Figure A.4 As in example c) the complete symbol de­ fines the size, terminals and voltage of the battery. The letter F denotes a flat cell ~ Terminals construction which is convenient for com­ pact multicell batteries. As in the preceding example the absence ofan additional letter ~ shows that the electrochemical system is MR44 manganese dioxide/ammonium chloride, zinc chloride/zinc. The number 6 indi­ Figure A.6 cates that the battery voltage is six times 1.5 volts, i.e., 9 volts. e) MR07 (commonly used in hearing aids), Discussion Figure A .5 The new feature in this example is the The IEC system thus defines the battery construction, its precise dimensions including profile and contact arrangements, the electro­ chemical system used and the battery voltage. Whilst at first sight such a system appears to be extremely complex and perhaps difficult Terminals to understand, it does not present any diffi­ culties to battery users since all they need to know is the IEC number. For example, a bat­ + tery which is familiar to all users of pocket MR07 size transistor radios and is known by such Figure A.5 different references as PP3, 216, R0603, 438, Appendix: Battery Standards 219 333, 006P, 1604, TRl, 410, LPI-9, Tiber, 485, ammonium chloride, zinc chloride/zinc TM146, can be simply identified by the Symbol system. It is most commonly used in 6F22. Another instance is the popular size of specialised motor-driven equipment. lighting battery (approximately 34 mm diam­ d) The mercuric oxide/alkali metal hydrox­ eter x 61 mm height) which isidentified in the ide/zinc system (letter reference M) has a IEC system as the R20, whereas at present it high prime cost, a very high capacity per is variously referred to as the 212 , SP2, 950, unit volume , and an almost constant volt­ UMl, D, 250 , 211, 734, 6TIL, LPV2, 152, 209 age discharge characteristic. It finds appli­ and 70 in different parts of the world. cations in miniature electronic equipment Since the appearance of the IECdesignation e.g., Hearing Aids. upon a product is a claim by the manufacturer e) Mercuric oxide with minor addition of that the product complies with the require­ manganese dioxide/alkali metal hydroxide/ ments of the relevant standard, which includes zinc system (letter reference N) is similar a minimum standard for electrical perform­ in all respects to the M system described ance, the purchaser has the additional guaran­ above but has a slightly lower capacity per tee that batteries will not only fit the equip­ unit volume and a slightly lower cost. ment but that they will also provide reasonable f) The argentuous oxide/alkali metal hydrox­ service. ide/zinc system (letter reference S) has a The major factor controlling the price and very high prime cost. It operates at the electrical performance of batteries is the elec­ highest current drains and voltages of any trochemical system employed. The IEC rec­ of the systems under discussion and is used ommendations include at present six electro­ in miniature equipment. chemical systems, whose principle character­ Within each system (particularly the manga­ istics are given below. nese dioxide/ammonium chloride, zinc chlor­ ide/zinc) differing levels of electrical perform­ a) The manganese dioxide/ammonium chlor­ ance are possible, dependent upon the quality ide , zinc chloride/zinc system has the and quantity of the active materials used and lowest prime cost. It is very efficient under therefore on prime cost. IEC is considering conditions of intermittent use at low and how best to indicate these differences in per­ medium current drains. For this reason formance level. transistor radios and torches are almost For the IEC system to be successful it is exclusively used with batteries of this essential that all countries support its use system. through the medium of their National Stan­ b) The air or oxygen/ammonium, zinc chlor­ dards. ide/zinc system (letter reference A) is Many countries have already done so. another low price system, suitable for ap­ lt is regrettable that at present some battery plications requiring a high ampere-hour manufacturers do not use the IEC system on capacity under low current drain con­ their products. It is hoped that this expose of ditions, where the volume is unrestricted. the system will encourage such manufacturers Railway signalling and electric fence equip­ to revise their policy and participate in this ment employ this system. International co-operation for the benefit of c) The manganese dioxide/alkali metal hy­ everyon e. droxide/zinc system (letter reference L) has a medium prime cost and is most suit­ able for applications requiring a medium The tee System current drain under semi-eontinuous con­ ditions.