lctorana
Flashlight Enthusiast
The "BF" cell was a short "B" cell, 13/16" diameter x 1 7/16" high.
Sold by Eveready Australia as the 927 until the mid-1970s.
Packaged in a 2-cell battery as the No.8 by Eveready UK until about the year 2000. Varta made a version of the No.8 in Germany and there was also a French make; these all stopped around 2000.
Behold, the glory of the 2BF!
Left-Right:
My late father's old fisheye, circa late 1930s
My childhood Hong Kong Eveready "Bijou" with PR globe (actually, one similar. Mine had a flared nylon bezel and a matching plastic tailcap. This is the later, "Bijou" model with metal tailcap.)
One-piece Hong Kong "VK E110"
Modern Fisheye (no-name Hong Kong brand)
Franken-Fisheye, assembled from parts of four different donors!
Here they all look dim and yellow, that's because they are competing with the camera flash. In real life, I had to take this photo with my eyes shut.
Size Comparison:
Showing a Surefire 6P for size reference. And on the far left is a cardboard Eveready 2xC fisheye torch, circa 1914.
Now to describe the batteries, and put them in context:
From left - right:
C cell
Sub-C cell (flat-top)
pair of BF cells (Eveready 927)
16340 (aka "RCR123", unprotected)
CR123A
2/3 A cell (flat-top)
And again:
From left-right:
Varta and English Eveready No.8 batteries (2xBF unit cell)
pair of BF cells (Eveready 927)
B cell (taken from a dead Eveready 703)
Protected 18500 lithium
A cell (tabbed NiCad)
AA cell
A D cell is behind the B cell for height comparison.
Eveready came out with "Heavy Duty" cells in the 1960s (the 915, 935 and 950 acquired 1015, 1035 and 1050 "Red" counterparts), and in the early 1980s came out with "Super Heavy Duty" (Zinc Chloride, the 1215, 1235 and 1250 "Black" cells). And then, of course, there were Nicads and alkalines, for a price.
But, oddly enough, there were none of these ever made available in the BF size. If you wanted a pair of BF cells to power your Bijou, the Eveready 927 was all there was. Resolutely "Standard Duty" (or "General Purpose") level performance was all there was on offer. In my childhood, Eveready Standard Duty cells had Silver wrappers, and nowadays are Blue. The ones in the photos had white wrappers - this is before my time.
But that was in Australia. In the UK, France and Germany, the No.8 did indeed sell in heavy-duty form.
I came back from a trip to Europe/UK in 1998 with my hand carry bag FULL of 703s, PP9s and No8 batteries, and I swear that bag got scanned three times before I was let through. Innocent times.
But what do you do to power your beloved Bijou or classic 2BF fisheye today?
Here's a hint:
The protected 18650 is a match made in heaven for this torch. Its smaller diameter gives easy room for the switch to move freely, and stretching the spring will cover the length discrepancy.
All you need to do is substitute a No. 13 globe (3.8V 0.3A; Eveready still calls it the 1162) for the 2.5V #1161 original, and you are in business. You even get a worthwhile increase in lumens.
And at 2200mAh, you get seven hours' runtime.
Now for mods. Stick to the old Fisheye, the PR-based versions, like the Bijou, have a plastic bulb retainer, and often a plastic reflector, too. But ye olde Fisheye is all metal-and-glass and can, if not pristine, take whatever you dish out to it.
1) You can use 2 x CR123A cells with a 5.2V 0.85V halogen globe.
2) You can use 2 x 16340 (or 2x18350!) cells to overdrive the famous Reflectalite GH44 (6V 10W, 201 lumens), and beat a RoP-low at its own game.
Two words of managing your expectations:
1) The beam quality of these old fisheye torches is usually AWFUL by CPF expectations. You see, a fisheye lens is NOT an aspheric. If you look closely at or feel one, you'll notice it's concave at the back. It's not meant to focus the beam, it's intended to do the opposite - to scatter the beam as a diffuser. The lens is usually REALLY close to the bulb, and you just can't get it far enough away to focus without taking the head right off.
2) These torches are for indoor use only. They are not waterproof, they are not rugged, are not shockproof, and cannot be dropped.
They are made for your bedstand.
And in that use, they are to this day unsurpassed. They are the perfect size to fit in the palm of your hand, the slide switch can be operated by one hand without compromise, and are the perfect brightness for seeing around the house.
And one last note - Dad's old 1930s-era fisheye now sees nightly use by my Mother, with one of AW's finest on board, and its reassuring familiarity and gorgeous yellow light is a living link with the past.
Sold by Eveready Australia as the 927 until the mid-1970s.
Packaged in a 2-cell battery as the No.8 by Eveready UK until about the year 2000. Varta made a version of the No.8 in Germany and there was also a French make; these all stopped around 2000.
Behold, the glory of the 2BF!
Left-Right:
My late father's old fisheye, circa late 1930s
My childhood Hong Kong Eveready "Bijou" with PR globe (actually, one similar. Mine had a flared nylon bezel and a matching plastic tailcap. This is the later, "Bijou" model with metal tailcap.)
One-piece Hong Kong "VK E110"
Modern Fisheye (no-name Hong Kong brand)
Franken-Fisheye, assembled from parts of four different donors!
Here they all look dim and yellow, that's because they are competing with the camera flash. In real life, I had to take this photo with my eyes shut.
Size Comparison:
Showing a Surefire 6P for size reference. And on the far left is a cardboard Eveready 2xC fisheye torch, circa 1914.
Now to describe the batteries, and put them in context:
From left - right:
C cell
Sub-C cell (flat-top)
pair of BF cells (Eveready 927)
16340 (aka "RCR123", unprotected)
CR123A
2/3 A cell (flat-top)
And again:
From left-right:
Varta and English Eveready No.8 batteries (2xBF unit cell)
pair of BF cells (Eveready 927)
B cell (taken from a dead Eveready 703)
Protected 18500 lithium
A cell (tabbed NiCad)
AA cell
A D cell is behind the B cell for height comparison.
Eveready came out with "Heavy Duty" cells in the 1960s (the 915, 935 and 950 acquired 1015, 1035 and 1050 "Red" counterparts), and in the early 1980s came out with "Super Heavy Duty" (Zinc Chloride, the 1215, 1235 and 1250 "Black" cells). And then, of course, there were Nicads and alkalines, for a price.
But, oddly enough, there were none of these ever made available in the BF size. If you wanted a pair of BF cells to power your Bijou, the Eveready 927 was all there was. Resolutely "Standard Duty" (or "General Purpose") level performance was all there was on offer. In my childhood, Eveready Standard Duty cells had Silver wrappers, and nowadays are Blue. The ones in the photos had white wrappers - this is before my time.
But that was in Australia. In the UK, France and Germany, the No.8 did indeed sell in heavy-duty form.
I came back from a trip to Europe/UK in 1998 with my hand carry bag FULL of 703s, PP9s and No8 batteries, and I swear that bag got scanned three times before I was let through. Innocent times.
But what do you do to power your beloved Bijou or classic 2BF fisheye today?
Here's a hint:
The protected 18650 is a match made in heaven for this torch. Its smaller diameter gives easy room for the switch to move freely, and stretching the spring will cover the length discrepancy.
All you need to do is substitute a No. 13 globe (3.8V 0.3A; Eveready still calls it the 1162) for the 2.5V #1161 original, and you are in business. You even get a worthwhile increase in lumens.
And at 2200mAh, you get seven hours' runtime.
Now for mods. Stick to the old Fisheye, the PR-based versions, like the Bijou, have a plastic bulb retainer, and often a plastic reflector, too. But ye olde Fisheye is all metal-and-glass and can, if not pristine, take whatever you dish out to it.
1) You can use 2 x CR123A cells with a 5.2V 0.85V halogen globe.
2) You can use 2 x 16340 (or 2x18350!) cells to overdrive the famous Reflectalite GH44 (6V 10W, 201 lumens), and beat a RoP-low at its own game.
Two words of managing your expectations:
1) The beam quality of these old fisheye torches is usually AWFUL by CPF expectations. You see, a fisheye lens is NOT an aspheric. If you look closely at or feel one, you'll notice it's concave at the back. It's not meant to focus the beam, it's intended to do the opposite - to scatter the beam as a diffuser. The lens is usually REALLY close to the bulb, and you just can't get it far enough away to focus without taking the head right off.
2) These torches are for indoor use only. They are not waterproof, they are not rugged, are not shockproof, and cannot be dropped.
They are made for your bedstand.
And in that use, they are to this day unsurpassed. They are the perfect size to fit in the palm of your hand, the slide switch can be operated by one hand without compromise, and are the perfect brightness for seeing around the house.
And one last note - Dad's old 1930s-era fisheye now sees nightly use by my Mother, with one of AW's finest on board, and its reassuring familiarity and gorgeous yellow light is a living link with the past.
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