Why are there no B-cell Batteries?

[portezbie]

Sorry this is a bit off topic, but I found myself wondering about this so I went to google for the answer and thought I would share my findings with you all.
http://www.stupidquestionsanswered.c...ed/battery.htm

[Crenshaw]

its simple...cos then you

"wouldnt know when someone was stuttering"

"excuse me, can i have b-batteries"



support stand up comedians

Crenshaw

[portezbie]

haha thats a good one

[dano]

...And this has what to do with LED flashlights?

Off topic is one thing, but WAY off topic is another, I guess...

[guiri]

Aww, c'mon, it was funny

[allburger]

Give the guy a break, he probably had LED flashlights on the mind when he posted, or he realizes that that he wants a good answer and most people frequent the LED threads

[TigerhawkT3]

its simple...cos then you

"wouldnt know when someone was stuttering"

"excuse me, can i have b-batteries"



support stand up comedians

Crenshaw

Hey, that's from Demetri Martin, right? He's awesome!

[Crenshaw]

Hey, that's from Demetri Martin, right? He's awesome!

yep, he is one of my favourites...

Crenshaw

[TorchBoy]

Off topic is one thing, but WAY off topic is another, I guess...

It would be on topic in the battery forum. Wouldn't it?

[portezbie]

I think if I posted about fishing methods of the eskimos that would be way off topic. As if no one has ever discussed batteries in this forum before.

[Marduke]

Well, there is a "Battery" forum here.

Perhaps a kind Mod will move it for you.

[LED-holic]

...And this has what to do with LED flashlights?

Off topic is one thing, but WAY off topic is another, I guess...

I appreciate the info the OP posted. I didn't know about these batteries at all.

Now I have more useless knowledge stuffed in my head.

I'm sure this will be moved to the batteries forum, but I don't think it was that big of a deal that it was posted here. It's not like this forum is running amok with thousands of posts a day.

[Sir Lightalot]

Hey I saw one of those 22.5 volt batteries at a local Ace Hardware. I guess they still sell them for old radios and stuff. It looked almost exactly like a AA except it was slightly squarish instead of round.

[Fird]

B batteries used to be for plate/grid/screen voltages in old radio sets. The A battery would light the filaments in the tubes, a high current and relatively low voltage operation for battery operated sets. Then a high DC voltage is needed to operate the plates. That's where the B+ voltage comes in, at anywhere between 22.5v and many hundreds of volts for final amplifier stages.

Obviously radios and other tube devices operated from wall current instead of batteries would need multiple transformers or at least multiple windings to supply these voltages, but the high voltage winding was still called B+.

Anyway, your B battery was a high voltage low current/capacity device.

[Zeige]

It would be on topic in the battery forum. Wouldn't it?

Agreed, but then I would not of got my laugh of the day....Thanks Crenshaw!

[xcel730]

This is too funny.

[winston]

yep, he is one of my favourites...

Crenshaw

FORTNIGHT!

Yeah, Demitri Martin is cool.
-Winston

[linterno]

Here you can find information about why there are no B batteries.

This is what I found somewhere doing a google search:

"B batteries are no longer widely available because nothing uses them any more. Old radios used to operate on vacuum tubes that required two different batteries: an "A" battery to heat the vacuum tube, and a "B" battery that ran the rest of the radio. Improvements in technology did away with vacuum tubes in consumer electronics, which ended the need for the "A" and "B" batteries".

[Mike Painter]

its simple...cos then you

"wouldnt know when someone was stuttering"

"excuse me, can i have b-batteries"



support stand up comedians

Crenshaw

That might lead to an argument in a store run by a Mexican.

"excuse me, can i have b-battery"
"que"
"No, b-battery"
"si"
"NO I WANT A B- BATTERY."
"si, si"
...

[lctorana]

Focus, people, the question was no "B-Batteries", but "B-cell batteries".

There ARE B-cell batteries!

Here is a 3-B-cell Energizer:
http://www.battery-force.co.uk/detail_EN3LR1001A.html

A Varta:
http://www.batterydoctor.com.au/stor...=Varta4912-BP5

A Chinese one:
http://www.batterydoctor.com.au/stor...=Varta4912-BP5

A Duracell:
http://www.batteriesplus.com.au/pd/3.../mn1203-3lr12/


A B-cell is the same length as a "D" cell, but is a bit fatter than an "A" cell.
In full-length form, it found most use in 3.8V cycle lamps, anf is still in production today.

The WWII-era vest-pocket fisheye torches were made to take that battery, and I hope all CPF members worthy of memberhip have at least one in your collection. If not, get one. If you can't find one, keep looking.

Then, of course, there was the shorter "BF" cell (e.g. Eveready 927), same diameter, and sold in a series pair as the No.8, which powered the world-standard size indoor/bedside torch. And we all have one of those too, don't we?

We can talk about "E" cells another day...

[shadowjk]

I used one of those 3LR12 batteries (cheap and widely available here) to replace a special and rare 4.5V clock battery in a computer. It's about 7 times larger than the battery it replaced, so I expect it to last until the computer has rusted away (it's making good progress on that, but still works).

[TorchBoy]

Ictorana, are you saying the LR12 (alkaline), R12 (carbon zinc), FR12 (LiFeS2), ZR12 (NiZn) and HR12 (NiMH) are B cells? Why is the B size not in Wikipedia's List of battery sizes? (Which is pretty much the OP's question.)

[Mr Happy]

Here is a picture of one of the R12 cells that make up a 3R12 battery. They must be very old because although I used to buy lots of U2 ('D'), U11 ('C') and U7 ('AA') batteries as a child, I don't ever recall seeing a U10.

I can find no indication that the U10 was known in America as a 'B' size, so I consider this to be unconfirmed. I did wonder if it was the same size as an 18650, but the dimensions predate metric and are in inches (13/16 in dia x 2 5/16 in long).

http://www.smallbattery.company.org.uk/sbc_u10.htm

[dudemar]

If I'm not mistaken I believe B-cells are still available in Australia/UK.

I could be wrong, I thought I read it somewhere...

[Monocrom]

If I'm not mistaken I believe B-cells are still available in Australia/UK.

I could be wrong, I thought I read it somewhere...

I've also heard that there are B-cell batteries out there. But as far as America goes, it would involve a small miracle inorder to find anything that takes B-cells.

[Mr Happy]

If B cells were ever available in the UK they would not have been called B cells since the letter designations are from North America and were only adopted in Europe relatively recently. In 1978, D size in the UK was some kind of weird exotic name for the standard HP2 (heavy duty) or LR20 (alkaline) cell, only seen on the Radio Shack brand.

The 3R12 or 3LR12 size 4.5 V battery was very common in the UK in those days and is still available today, though I think rare. But as noted above, I can find no confirmation that the single R12 cell was known as a B cell in North America.

If anyone can find a reference to the dimensions of an A cell or a B cell it would be very interesting.