Sky Sensor 2000 Handset Lithium Battery

[Merkhet]

One day soon I am going to have to replace the original battery inside my Sky Sensor 2000 pc handset controller.

It is the original from new and still going strong.

The existing battery is an  ER6V/3.6V Lithium battery with solder tags each end.

Looking at various suppliers there is some difference in the descriptions of lithium batteries.

Some say  LITHIUM RECHARGEABLE, others say  LITHIUM THIONYL CHLORIDE and one site just says LITHIUM.

My question is are there different types of Lithium battery and are some rechargeable and others not ?

If there are two styles, which type is the ER6V/3.6V Lithium Battery already supplied by the manufacturer ?

Help Please.

[Oddsocks]

The battery type ER6V/3.6V is an industry standard "AA" Lithium Thionyl Chloride data backup battery and it is not rechargeable.

There are rechargeable Lithium batterys but these use a different chemical composition and construction technology, known as Lithium Ion, they have a high internal leakage current and are unsuitable for data backup since they need recharging every few months, they also may have a different terminal voltage to the type fitted to your handset, typically 3.7V to 3.85V

Your handset will only work correctly with the standard, non-rechargeable ER6V/3.6V "AA" Lithium Thionyl Chloride battery and the most common makes are Toshiba, Saft, Varta and Tadiran with power ratings of around 2000mAh to 2600mAh, these should last around ten years in storage and five to eight years in use, depending on storage temperature and equipment use, the longer the handset is powered up and in use the longer before the backup battery needs replacing. Toshiba sold their battery business quite a few years ago and I don't know where the Toshiba branded batteries are coming from now.

Be careful where you buy the battery from, there are a lot of counterfeit fakes around, especially on internet auction sites, the counterfeits are known to leak, catch fire or explode, if in doubt it is better to pay a higher price to buy one from a trustworthy supplier.

I used to fit the Varta made ER6 AA type to medical systems here in the UK and we bought ours from RS because of the guaranteed supply chain, you have to check the solder tab orientation and layout though. Some solder tab batteries have a right angle, large, single tab at one end of the battery and a right angle, small, double tab at the other, some have axial tabs, some have axial solder leads or opposing tabs etc but all the variants should have the standard "AA" battery style body, ~50mm long and ~14.8mm diameter.

RS stock all the typical solder tab types, about twenty five variants last time I looked, you just need to search for 3.6V AA lithium non-rechargeable and you should find them all, linked below are the most common types I last used, any of the types linked below with the correct solder tab arrangement will be suitable.

http://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/aa-batteries/7020815/

http://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/aa-batteries/7781153/

http://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/aa-batteries/7781150/

http://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/aa-batteries/6684553/

http://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/aa-batteries/7020818/

HTH.

 

Edited December 19, 2016 by Oddsocks
added RS link

[Merkhet]

Thank  you Oddsocks  for coming to the rescue .

The original  battery is still in the handset from when I bought it new in 2000, almost  seventeen years  ago and still working.

I  had a peek inside the handset  a month ago  just to check that there was no gooey leakage after all this time.  All OK.

Every time it is finished  with for the night it  comes back into the warm, dry house with me.  This could be part of the  reason for its long life.

Thank you once again for all of that information  Oddsocks  and      

                  Wishing You a Very Happy Christmas  with Clear Skies .  

 

 

Edited December 19, 2016 by Merkhet

[Oddsocks]

On 19/12/2016 at 14:40, Merkhet said:

Thank  you.

The original  battery is still in the handset from when I bought it new in 2000, almost  seventeen years  ago and still working.

You are more than welcome, makes a change for a question to be asked that I know a little about.

I would change the battery as soon as possible and not risk leaving it until it stops working, this design of battery was never meant for the consumer market and has special characteristics that make it difficult to handle.

The electrolyte is highly reactive with water and although the battery case is stainless steel the case seals are known to deteriorate over time and once they fail and water vapour contained in normal air enters the battery a violent reaction occurs that causes the case to swell up and split, the contents are highly corrosive (lithium salt) and often the battery will split, leak its contents over the circuit board they are attached to and within a few hours the board will be destroyed.

Although very rare for a genuine traceable battery from a good manufacturer, I have known these batteries to suffer seal failure, swell and split, less than a month after fitting.

Ten years is about the maximum predicted mechanical life once the battery is installed and in use.

Lithium Thionyl Chloride is highly toxic as well and has to be disposed of as hazardous material.

When you change the battery take care not to short it out while removing the old one and fitting the new one, although they are low current batteries and can only provide approx 30 to 40 mA this is sufficient to cause the battery to explode if the short remains for long enough.

You can find further information about the chemistry of this battery at the following Wikipedia page and looking down the list for the chemical formula LI-SOCl2  (IEC Code: E)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithium_battery#Chemistries

 

Edited December 21, 2016 by Oddsocks
Spelling

[Merkhet]

A bit late but a big thank you to all that helped me .         

           Changed the battery and all went well.    I don't think I will wait so long to change it next time.

Thank you all.

[Neko]

Hi,, I know it is an old post, but I was looking for this info!

Although, one thing... the original Toshiba ER6V  is 46.6mm, and the socket where it goes measures 48.8mm.. 

those batteries all are around 50mm or more.. how do you fit them ? Because I tried one 14500 and it was too long

so didn't get it . And since the electronics goes closed up in a sandwich fashion...should be same size,right? 

how did you do it? 

[skybadger]

Squeezed mine in when I did it last. 

[AndrewRrrrrr]

On 02/03/2021 at 19:55, Neko said:

Hi,, I know it is an old post, but I was looking for this info!

Although, one thing... the original Toshiba ER6V  is 46.6mm, and the socket where it goes measures 48.8mm.. 

those batteries all are around 50mm or more.. how do you fit them ? Because I tried one 14500 and it was too long

so didn't get it . And since the electronics goes closed up in a sandwich fashion...should be same size,right? 

how did you do it? 

I used a file to lengthen the slot when I replaced the battery in mine. All good.