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Coastman
2nd September 2018, 11:31 PM
Hi, I recently purchased a lovely Minox 35GT , but then discovered that the original batteries for this little gem are no longer available as we are saving the planet or something or other, apparently S27PX batteries work, but the Small Battery Co is out of stock,about right, and I cant believe in this day and age, I have to buy these batteries from America just to use my minox.
There are various suggestions on websites, saying that certain hearing aid batteries taped together with insulation tape will work, but I never thought it would come to this when I bought it, any suggestions or advice would be welcome , as long as the camera works as it should, even if it means some sort of Heath Robinson stack of hearing aid batteries wrapped in clingfilm or whatever.
Thanks in advance
Tim G

JulioF
3rd September 2018, 01:02 AM
If you improvise a short tube with rolled paper and tape, maybe you can duct those hearing aid batteries.

Battery types may come and go away, but electrons will keep doing their work if the total voltage is right.

Those little Minox have very good lenses.

B&W Neil
3rd September 2018, 11:12 AM
I have a couple of old classics running on hearing aid batteries with no problems at all. I have found the careful use of Blu-tack can help to get the positioning right.

Neil.

Alan Clark
3rd September 2018, 03:27 PM
Tim, a friend who was an electrical engineer gave me a Minox 35 GT a few years ago. He had improvised a battery from three AG12 386 cells and one AG13 357 cell, and no spacers, taped up in an improvised paper tube. I found this worked very well.

Alan

JOReynolds
3rd September 2018, 05:59 PM
If you still have the original battery, please give the dimensions, preferably in millimetres. Alan Clark's suggestion seems very workable - just remember to respect polarity when inserting! As JulioF states, the voltage is all that matters.

Coastman
3rd September 2018, 07:43 PM
Thanks for the info, I made a paper tube and put 4 x LR43 hearing aid batteries in and the light meter seems to work, :D great, hopefully its working accurately, I might put a roll of recently acquired Kosmo Photo film through it, :rolleyes:
Cheers
Tim

Mike O'Pray
3rd September 2018, 08:14 PM
Tim, just out of curiosity did you contact the Small Battery Company and ask how long it expected to be out of stock or was this the notice on its site which I saw as well? It does look as if in the U.K. it is the only stockist unfortunately.

Mike

alexmuir
3rd September 2018, 10:06 PM
There might be a Minox users club, or group on the internet. There are clubs/groups for other marques, and they tend to be a good resource for this sort of problem.
Alex


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Coastman
3rd September 2018, 10:40 PM
Thanks Mike and Alex
I Didn't persue the Small battery company ,as after thinking "just my luck " I looked on several other sites where I found the hearing aid battery suggestions, which seems to have worked ,although I've yet to put a roll of film through it.
I'll look up " Minox owners "club or forum Alex to see what comes up, might be a good idea if I start using it regularly, but I do have a varied collection of old cameras so some of them are not used very often, but the little Minox is such a pocketable little camera.

Cheers
Tim

dudeinv
18th June 2021, 02:32 AM
I have Minox model Leica M3. Probably the last model Leica made. It uses a memory chip and runs on a CR2 battery. It’s a very scaled down version of the M3. It has a fixed Minoctar 10.3 mm digital lens. I bought it just to have a Minox. Bummer you have to get batteries from the States.


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Nat Polton
18th June 2021, 08:40 AM
http://buhla.de/Foto/batt-adapt-US.pdf

Above is a link to the best information I have found about battery upgrades, and adapters.

The subject came up a long time ago and I put the link on here some place.

I think your camera took the PX27 battery. Check on the Butkus camera manuals site, free access to loads of manuals.

Look at page five on this link for the solutions to your problem.

Cheers.

alexmuir
19th June 2021, 12:43 AM
I have Minox model Leica M3. Probably the last model Leica made. It uses a memory chip and runs on a CR2 battery. It’s a very scaled down version of the M3. It has a fixed Minoctar 10.3 mm digital lens. I bought it just to have a Minox. Bummer you have to get batteries from the States.


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What is a “memory chip”? I haven’t heard of that. Thanks.
Alex


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Bill
19th June 2021, 06:22 AM
I have Minox model Leica M3. Probably the last model Leica made. It uses a memory chip and runs on a CR2 battery. It’s a very scaled down version of the M3. It has a fixed Minoctar 10.3 mm digital lens. I bought it just to have a Minox. Bummer you have to get batteries from the States.


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Don't understand what you mean by "the last model Leica made". These are toy compact digital cameras made by Minox hence the memory chip and as such are not relevant to this forum. Why are CR2 batteries only available in the States? They are a standard battery sold by many compnaies in the UK including people like Amazon and Screwfix.

Bill

John King
19th June 2021, 06:26 AM
but then discovered that the original batteries for this little gem are no longer available as we are saving the planet or something or other
Tim G

The same applied to the old Mercury cells - 1.35v PX625. (And mercury thermometers)

They were phased out perhaps 18 years ago on the same premise, but still continued to produce fluorescent tubes which contain a quantity of mercury. They are only now proposing stopping their production.

Nat Polton
19th June 2021, 01:22 PM
I was taught by my old science teacher that there is a case for both mercury and spirit thermometers.
Mercury thermometers have a faster response to temperature change, and are useful for experiments.
Whilst slower to respond, spirit thermometers can cover a larger range at sub zero temperatures.
Even in the sixties mercury was a subject of concern to people.

Cheers.

kiteboy
23rd June 2021, 07:45 PM
I have a Minox 35GL. About 15 year's ago I bought, from Minox, an adapter that takes 2 CR 1/3N batteries.



Have a search around a well known auction site substitutes seem to be available.



Another alternative is to adopt the same approach as that used for the Yashica Electro 35 - a tube of the correct length and 4x lr44s

egrabczewski
22nd October 2021, 05:51 AM
eBay are selling PX27 batteries that are a 6V replacement