2.5V Lithium "AA" sized batteries: Where to find?

[9000 VAX]

On Sat, 05 Mar 2005 20:57:48 -0800, Eric F. <elf at ucsd.edu> wrote:
> 9000 VAX wrote:
> 
>  > I guess the lab computer uses 5v CMOS devices and the
>  > 2x2.5V battery let them skip the voltage regulator.
> 
> That does have rhyme & reason to it -- yes.
> 
> (And you are correct in that it takes 2 of these 2.5V lithium cells -- I
> failed to mention that in my original post.)

I guess the computer is pure CMOS, no TTL and that's the reason why it
is designed to use the expensive Lithium battery. If so, I would guess
that it can work with 4.8V (3.6V +1.2V), or 5.1V(3.6V+1.5V) too. There
are cheap 3.6V Lithium AA size batteries. What you need to do is to
add a 1.2V or 1.5V battery, and that is easy.

I have just bought two from goldmine-elec. I measured one and it had
3.70V open voltage. (You need to cut the leads though; It is a SAFT
brand!)
http://www.goldmine-elec-products.com/prodinfo.asp?number=G14788

vax, 9000

> 
> I suppose it just couldn't have been foreseen by them that SAFT would
> discontinue manufacturing this particular battery at some point down the road.
> 
> Still, though, wouldn't manufacturing a device which relies on a sole
> provider for its power cells raise a flag or two during the design process?
> It is not like these batteries are as common as dirt -- like your typical
> Duracell "AA". (Then again, I'm no hardware engineer, so I'm not familiar
> with how these decisions are made.)
>