| Author |
Message |
    
Mickitiffen
Tinkerer
Username: Mickitiffen
Post Number: 1
Registered: 02-2011
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, February 09, 2011 - 12:37 pm: | 
|
I had my Nikon F repaired and they replaced the battery and supposedly adjusted the light meter for a higher voltage battery. These have now lost their charge and I bought 2 Renata Silver Oxide 394 batteries on ebay (1.5 V). They are smaller. Not sure if and how I can use them in my camera meter. do i need to get an O ring and adapt them- any suggestions? |
Ollej
Tinkerer
Username: Ollej
Post Number: 1
Registered: 02-2011
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, February 18, 2011 - 01:05 pm: |
|
You can get an adapter from Frans de Gruijter in Holland. Either finished or as a kit. You can then use ordinary SR44 batteries.
See http://rick_oleson.tripod.com/batt_adapt_us.pdf |
M_currie
Tinkerer
Username: M_currie
Post Number: 250
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, February 22, 2011 - 06:44 pm: |
|
Unfortunately you can't readily use O-rings or other shimming devices with the FTn, because the positive contact is on the side, rather than the top, so it doesn't make contact unless you either modify the case or the contact, or use a metal ring. The battery cap has a protrusion that centers the top battery, which works fine on the original 625 style which has a protruding ring, but makes it impossible simply to stuff in smaller batteries and shim them to push against the contact. The cap just pushes them back. You can hold a pair of 394's in the case, and the meter will operate, but as soon as you screw the cap on, it's dead again.
If your meter has been recalibrated, you should be able to make an adapter like the one linked above, but just don't bother with the diode and the insulation, etc. Just gut an alkaline cell and insert the new one in the shell. All you need to accomplish here is to get the positive of your new battery touching the contact in the case, so all you need is to make your battery stick out on the edge like the original. You might only need to do the top one.
Unfortunately my last source for the silver oxide 625's seems no longer to have them. Although many people cuss and condemn alakalines because of their voltage dropoff, they do hold a pretty reasonable voltage for a long time, and they're suitable for a Nikon F meter since you can check their status so easily. If your recalibration was done correctly, your battery check will come pretty close to center with alkalines, and you can keep track once you know where it's supposed to be. Their voltage is a tad lower than silver oxides, so you might have to compensate a tiny bit for whichever one it was not adjusted for, but the difference is very small, and close enough to the natural error of the meter that it will probably be just fine.
If I do find another source for S625 batteries, I'll post it here.
postscript: Google for "s625px battery" and you'll find some on line for 4 to 5 bucks apiece. Make sure you get the "s" since some dealers have the same number with "a" in prefix, and some also have a substitute which is a smaller battery with a plastic ring on it, and that won't work in the F. |
|
