We've all seen the big 6-volt lantern battery, and I use a few of them every year, mainly to power my deer feeders. Several months ago Milady came home with an urban legend that a lantern battery is filled with AA batteries. I went to
Snopes and debunked it. Then told her to tell her buddies that they were full of crap.
Today after lunch, I had the grandkids helping me put a new motor on a feeder and my son determined to disassemble an old dead lantern battery. He'd heard the legend too, and decided to disassemble a standard Duracell lantern battery to find out what's inside it. What do you think? D-cell batteries. Four of them. No kidding.
Yeah, really. Inside that lantern battery we found four D cell batteries, some internal wiring and some cardboard insulation. Here's a better close-up of the D cells inside the battery.
I've got a couple of D cell battery packs. Now I have to decide if it's cheaper to buy D cell batteries, or to buy one lantern battery. Turns out, the lantern battery is full of D cells.
It looks to me as if there are eight "D" cells in there.
ReplyDeleteGerry N.
At most electronics places, you can buy a 4-D clip for dire t replacement of lantern batteries. The clip costs about $5, and they go on sale for $3 from time to time.
ReplyDeleteI haven't bought a lantern battery in years.
BTW, there are 12 amp-hour nickel-metal-hydride rechargeable "D" cell out there now. With those in a flashlight, or a 6-volt clip in your feeder, you could do the whole season on one set.
I took one apart years ago and found 4 "F" size cells. You might measure the length of yours to see if they are longer than a D cell battery. I put two of the F and one C in my 3 cell maglite
ReplyDeleteDeacon
IIRC,
ReplyDelete6 volt lantern batteries are four 1.5 vdc F-cells in series, inserted into a case. Most folks have never seen an F-cell(looks like a longer D-cell), just like most have never seen an A-cell battery.
Many 9v batteries have six AAAA or AAA cells in them. Cheaper to use a bunch of 1.5v cells that you're making anyway (and will fit in a shell the size of the bigger battery) than to design a 6v or 9v call that's only used for that.
ReplyDelete