Is this battery dangerous?

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Strangeidols

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Hi, first post here so I'm not sure if I'm doing this the right way, but I've not been able to find any information elsewhere and hoped maybe someone here would know.

I recently got a Praktica TL3, which takes a PX625 battery, back when they were made this wouldve been a mercury battery. I've checked the battery in the camera and for the life of me can't tell if it's mercury or not.

The markings on it are "EXP625" across the top, below that, "UCAR" (Union carbide, as i understand it), just to the right is "XB", and the made in the USA below that. The battery looks old, but still has enough charge to operate the light meter, so I'm not sure if it's a modern replacement, or a really underused /old/ battery.

Is this battery a mercury battery? If it is what should I do with it?
 
Use it until it no longer works, then take it to your council recycling centre. They should send it for proper disposal but my guess is they'll just throw it in the waste bin and thence to landfill. I take no view as to whether this is a good or a bad outcome.
 
Probably a Mercury battery. Most local authorities run battery recycling schemes and will accept Mercury cells.
 
AndrewFlannigan said:
Use it until it no longer works, then take it to your council recycling centre. They should send it for proper disposal but my guess is they'll just throw it in the waste bin and thence to landfill. I take no view as to whether this is a good or a bad outcome.
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they have battery recycling points that are collected by a fully licensed company and disposed of in the correct manner. If recycling centre workers are throwing potential explosives into the landfill, they need sacking. Landfill creates methane, methane and explosives don’t mix.. well, they do and that more the issue.
 
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AndrewFlannigan said:
Use it until it no longer works, then take it to your council recycling centre. They should send it for proper disposal but my guess is they'll just throw it in the waste bin and thence to landfill. I take no view as to whether this is a good or a bad outcome.
Click to expand...
I called my dad who's a bit more clued up on cameras and these things than i am (photography's really new to me, I'm a bored musician and a furloughed bartender), his advice is pretty much identical to this, with an added "if it's not leaking, don't worry". Hopefully that won't be a concern, but given the presumed age of the battery, being made by union carbide, I'm a bit wary of keeping it in the camera, are there good replacements for it if they're needed?
 
Strangeidols said:
Hi, first post here so I'm not sure if I'm doing this the right way, but I've not been able to find any information elsewhere and hoped maybe someone here would know.

I recently got a Praktica TL3, which takes a PX625 battery, back when they were made this wouldve been a mercury battery. I've checked the battery in the camera and for the life of me can't tell if it's mercury or not.

The markings on it are "EXP625" across the top, below that, "UCAR" (Union carbide, as i understand it), just to the right is "XB", and the made in the USA below that. The battery looks old, but still has enough charge to operate the light meter, so I'm not sure if it's a modern replacement, or a really underused /old/ battery.

Is this battery a mercury battery? If it is what should I do with it?
Click to expand...
I might be concerned that such an old battery could decide it's now time to start leaking when required to do some work after all these years. And of course the stuff inside mercury batteries is both toxic and corrosive.
 
As said this will be a mecuric oxide battery and can be "recycled" by your local council tip or one of battery recycling bins you often find in supermarkets/shopping centres etc.

In that form factor/size modern equivalents will be either silver oxide or alkaline. Both silver and alkaline will give 1.5-1.55 volts whereas the mecuric oxide will have been 1.3-1.35. Silver oxide will likely give a flatter discharge curve than the alkaline however so would likely give more consistent performance towards the end of its life.

I would avoid cheap makes, go for something from the larger well known brands as leakage will create a mess in the battery compartment regardless of the chemistry used.

Sorry for the nerdy level of info but making batteries has been my day job for 17 years :)
 
Incidentally, it appears that the Praktica has a bridge circuit, which means that the accuracy of the meter shouldn't be compromised by a small change in voltage:

Praktics TL Series meters | The Camera Collector

Hi all, In Sherri’s thread ‘Our New Grandson’ I mentioned that I had the circuit diagram and calibration instructions for Praktica TL Series light meters actually to hand. So before they disapp
cameracollector.proboards.com cameracollector.proboards.com

So you can probably use a silver oxide or alkaline cell of the right size (as in Andrew's link) without bothering with short-lived zinc-air batteries or voltage adapters.
 
Retune said:
Incidentally, it appears that the Praktica has a bridge circuit, which means that the accuracy of the meter shouldn't be compromised by a small change in voltage:

Praktics TL Series meters | The Camera Collector

Hi all, In Sherri’s thread ‘Our New Grandson’ I mentioned that I had the circuit diagram and calibration instructions for Praktica TL Series light meters actually to hand. So before they disapp
cameracollector.proboards.com cameracollector.proboards.com

So you can probably use a silver oxide or alkaline cell of the right size (as in Andrew's link) without bothering with short-lived zinc-air batteries or voltage adapters.
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That's pretty reassuring, i looked around online, and read the article posted by Andrew and was a bit worried about the whole voltage difference between mercury and less risky batteries. I did see a thing about using schottky diodes to reduce the voltage, which weirdly enough I've got lying around (they can be used in guitars as a passive distortion) but i think my dodgy soldering is a bit more forgivable on a guitar than messing up soldering on a vintage camera.

Thanks for the info on that, when the battery dies I'll definitely give that a shot!
 
Not nearly as dangerous as a LiPo battery as (I believe) are found in most digital cameras. When they go, they go and they won't be put out. My boys have RC cars with LiPo batteries and I store them in an ammo box outdoors. Significantly bigger than a camera battery of course, but same chemistry. If you have one that starts swelling, get rid (safely) ASAFP.
 
Wrecker59 said:
Not nearly as dangerous as a LiPo battery as (I believe) are found in most digital cameras. When they go, they go and they won't be put out. My boys have RC cars with LiPo batteries and I store them in an ammo box outdoors. Significantly bigger than a camera battery of course, but same chemistry. If you have one that starts swelling, get rid (safely) ASAFP.
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I would keep the LiPos in something that can vent pressure otherwise if the batteries in the ammo box do go its going to create a big smoke grenade! Have a look online for the fireproof charging bags a lot of the RC places sell. That's a much safer option.
 
The ammo boxes aren't that robust. There are videos online which show the difference in performance between an ammo box and one of those LiPo bags (which have very limited effect). It's night and day. Edit; you need to take the seals out if there are any in there though!
 
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Wow, never seen a bag fail that badly but everyday is a school day :plus1:

Good shout on removing the seals from the ammo tin though. Makes it an economic option too as ammo tins are cheap on the auction sites :)
 
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