Battery nomenclature

Standard array classification describes carriageable dry corpuscle batteries that accept concrete ambit and electrical characteristics changeable amid manufacturers. The continued history of disposable dry beef agency that abounding altered manufacturer-specific and civic standards were acclimated to baptize sizes, continued afore all-embracing standards were reached. Technical standards for array sizes and types are set by standards organizations such as All-embracing Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) and American Civic Standards Institute (ANSI). Popular sizes are still referred to by old accepted or architect designations, and some non-systematic designations accept been included in accepted all-embracing standards due to advanced use.

The complete classification for the array will absolutely specify the size, chemistry, terminal arrange and appropriate characteristics of a battery. The aforementioned physically changeable corpuscle admeasurement may accept broadly altered characteristics; concrete adequation is not the sole agency in barter of batteries.

National standards for dry corpuscle batteries accept been developed by ANSI, JIS, British civic standards, and others. Civilian, commercial, government and aggressive standards all exist. Two of the a lot of accustomed standards currently in use are the IEC 60086 alternation and the ANSI C18.1 series. Both standards accord dimensions, accepted achievement characteristics, and assurance information.

Modern standards accommodate both analytical names for corpuscle types that accord advice on the agreement and almost admeasurement of the cells, as able-bodied as approximate numeric codes for corpuscle size.

History of the IEC standard

The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) was accustomed in 1906 and co-ordinates development of standards for a advanced ambit of electrical products. The IEC maintains two committees, TC21 accustomed in 1933 for rechargeable batteries, and TC 35 accustomed in 1948 for primary batteries, to advance standards.1 The accepted appellation arrangement was adopted in 1992. Array types are appointed with a letter/number arrangement advertence amount of cells, corpuscle chemistry, corpuscle shape, dimensions, and appropriate characteristics. Certain corpuscle designations from beforehand revisions of the accepted accept been retained.2

The aboriginal IEC standards for array sizes were issued in 1957.3 Since 1992, International accepted IEC 60086 defines an alphanumeric coding arrangement for batteries.24 British accepted 397 for primary batteries was aloof and replaced by the IEC accepted in 1996.5

History of the ANSI standard

Standardization in the United States started in 1919, if the US National Bureau of Standards appear recommended analysis procedures and accepted ambit of cells.6 American standards were revised several times during the afterward decades, as new sizes of beef were alien and new allure developed, including chloride, alkaline, mercury and rechargeable types.

The aboriginal American Standards Association (predecessor to ANSI) accepted C18 appeared in 1928. It listed corpuscle sizes application a letter code, almost in adjustment of admeasurement from aboriginal (A) to beyond types. The alone after appellation was the 6-inch alpine "No. 6" cell. The 1934 copy of the C18 accepted broadcast the classification arrangement to cover alternation and alongside arrays of cells. In 1954, mercury batteries were included in the standard. The 1959 copy articular types acceptable for use with transistor radios. In 1967, NEMA took over albatross for development from the National Bureau of Standards. The 12th copy of C18 began to be harmonized with the IEC standard. Rechargeable batteries were alien in the C18 accepted in 1984, and lithium types were connected in 1991.

In 1999 the ANSI standards were abundantly revised and abstracted assurance standards provided. The accepted copy of the ANSI standards designates sizes with an approximate number, with a prefix letter to baptize shape, and with a suffix letter or belletrist to analyze altered chemistry, terminals, or added features.

IEC battery nomenclature

Battery categories

IEC classification classifies batteries according to their accepted actualization and all-embracing concrete appearance. These categories, however, are not articular in the IEC array number. 7

Category 1: Cylindrical beef with bulging absolute and recessed or collapsed abrogating terminals. The absolute terminal shall be concentric with the corpuscle overall. The absolute acme of the corpuscle is not necessarily the aforementioned as the absolute ambit amid terminals (This accounts for nubs, belly and array casings). The corpuscle case is insulated. Eg. R1 & LR8D425

Category 2: Cylindrical beef with bulging absolute and bulging or collapsed abrogating terminals. The absolute acme of the corpuscle is the aforementioned as the absolute ambit amid terminals. The corpuscle case is insulated. Eg. CR14250, LR61

Category 3: Cylindrical beef with collapsed absolute and abrogating terminals. The absolute acme of the corpuscle is not necessarily the aforementioned as the absolute ambit amid terminals (This accounts for any protuberances from the abrogating terminal). The corpuscle case is in affiliation with the absolute terminal. No allotment of the corpuscle is accustomed to beetle from the absolute terminal surface. Eg. CR11108, LR9

Category 4: Cylindrical beef with a bulging collapsed abrogating terminal. The absolute acme of the corpuscle is the aforementioned as the absolute ambit amid terminals. The corpuscle case is the absolute terminal and it is recommended that the alien apparent is acclimated for absolute affiliation even admitting it is accessible from the base. No allotment of the corpuscle is accustomed to beetle from the absolute terminal surface. Eg. LR44, CR2032

Category 5: Cylindrical batteries which fit none of the added categories. Eg. R40, 8LR23

Category 6: Non-cylindrical batteries. Eg. 3R12, 4R25, 6F22

Battery numbering

8 Examples of the IEC classification are batteries coded R20, 4R25X, 4LR25-2, 6F22, 6P222/162, CR17345 and LR2616J. The belletrist and numbers in the cipher announce the amount of cells, corpuscle chemistry, shape, dimensions, the amount of alongside paths in the accumulated array and any modifying belletrist accounted necessary. A multi-section array (two or added voltages from the aforementioned package) will accept a multi-section designation.

Prior to October 1990, annular beef were appointed with a consecutive numeric admeasurement cipher alignment from R06 through to R70, for archetype R20 is the admeasurement of a "D" corpuscle or ANSI"13" size. After October 1990, annular beef are systematically articular with a amount acquired from their bore and height. Primary beef beyond than 100 mm in bore or acme are appointed with an angled "/" amid bore and height.

Electrochemical system

The aboriginal letter identifies the actinic agreement of the battery, which aswell implies a nominal voltage. Assertive rechargeable array systems, frequently fabricated in sizes changeable with primary batteries, aswell accept symbols.

Letter

code Negative electrode Electrolyte Positive electrode Nominal

voltage Main article

(none) Zinc Ammonium chloride/Zinc chloride Manganese dioxide 1.5 Zinc-carbon battery

A Zinc Ammonium chloride/Zinc chloride Oxygen 1.4 Zinc-air battery

B Lithium Organic Carbon monofluoride 3 Lithium battery

C Lithium Organic Manganese dioxide 3 Lithium battery

E Lithium Non-aqueous asleep Thionyl chloride 3.6 Lithium battery

F Lithium Organic Iron disulphide 1.5 Lithium battery

G Lithium Organic Copper(II) oxide 1.5 Lithium battery

H Hydrogen arresting admixture Alkali Nickel oxide 1.2 Nickel-metal hydride battery

K Cadmium Alkali Nickel oxide 1.2 Nickel-cadmium battery

L Zinc Alkali Manganese dioxide 1.5 Alkaline battery

M

(withdrawn) Zinc Alkali Mercuric oxide 1.35 Mercury battery

N

(withdrawn) Zinc Alkali Mercuric oxide

manganese dioxide 1.35 Mercury battery

P Zinc Alkali Oxygen 1.65 Zinc-air battery

PB Lead Sulphuric acerbic Lead dioxide 2 Lead-acid battery

S Zinc Alkali Silver oxide 1.55 Silver-oxide battery

Z Zinc Alkali Manganese dioxide and nickel oxyhydroxide 1.70 Nickel oxyhydroxide battery

Italics announce a actinic arrangement absurd to be begin in customer or general-purpose batteries, or aloof from the accepted standard.

Bold indicates a accessory (rechargeable) corpuscle type.

It is accepted to accredit to the abrogating electrode aboriginal in IEC array definitions.

IEC accepted 61436 for rechargeable batteries defines assertive sizes that are interechangeable with primary batteries. 2

edit Shape

LR44 acrid cell.

Shape codes are:

R Round, (coin, button or cylindrical)

P Not round

F Flat (layer built)

S Square (or ellipsoidal or prismatic)

Italics announce a appearance cipher that is still in use but is not to be acclimated for new array definitions.

Size code

Certain sizes, accustomed by one or two chiffre numbers, represent accepted admeasurement codes from antecedent editions of the standard. Sizes accustomed as 4 or added digits announce the bore of the array and the all-embracing height.

The numbers in the cipher associate with the array dimensions. For batteries with ambit of < 100 mm the (truncated) bore in millimetres, followed by the acme in tenths of a millimetre; for batteries with a individual ambit ≥ 100 mm the bore in millimetres, again a carve (/) followed by the acme in millimetres.

As able-bodied as the recommended admeasurement cipher definitions there are aswell ten modifying suffix belletrist that can be added to the end of the specific admeasurement code. These run from A to L (omitting F and I) and depending on the better ambit of the array can either announce 0.0 – 0.9 mm best ambit or 0.00 – 0.09 mm best ambit with A getting 0.0 or 0.00 and L getting 0.9 or 0.09.

For collapsed beef the bore cipher is accustomed as the bore of a amphitheater belted about the accomplished cell's area.

Standardized admeasurement codes for annular batteries which do not chase the accepted classification but accept been retained for affluence of use are accustomed by a one or two chiffre amount afterward the R. These cover but are not bound to: 9

Size codes for round batteries

Number

code Nominal

diameter Nominal

height Common name

R25 32 91 F

R20 34.2 61.5 D

R14 26.2 50.0 C

R6 14.5 50.5 AA

R1 12.0 30.2 N

R03 10.5 44.5 AAA

Round button batteries aswell backpack two-digit admeasurement codes such as R44, see the button array table for archetypal dimensions. Added round, flat, and aboveboard sizes accept been connected but are acclimated mostly for apparatus of multi-cell batteries.

Several sizes of button and bread cells. Some are acrid and others argent oxide. 2 9V batteries were added as a admeasurement comparison.

The afterward is a fractional account of IEC accepted recommended bore and acme codes for annular cells:

Round corpuscle bore and acme codes Number

code Maximum

diameter Maximum

height

4 4.8

5 5.8

6 6.8

7 7.9

9 9.5

10 10.0

11 11.6

12 12.5 1.20

16 16 1.60

20 20 2.00

23 23

24 24.5

25 2.50

30 3.00

36 3.60

50 5.00

edit Modifiers

After the amalgamation admeasurement code(s), added belletrist may optionally arise in the blazon appellation to announce the electrolyte used:

S: sodium hydroxide electrolyte

P: potassium hydroxide electrolyte

no letter: amoebic electrolyte

Terminal styles and variants of the aforementioned array can be appointed with the belletrist X or Y. Performance levels may aswell be appointed with a C, P, S, CF, HH, or HB or added letter suffixes. Rechargeable types may accept a suffix L, M, or H to baptize low, average or top acquittal appraisement designs. An added letter "W" states that this array complies with all the requirements of the IEC 60086-3 accepted for watch batteries.

ANSI battery nomenclature

Previous editions of the ANSI accepted acclimated a letter cipher to analyze the ambit of the cell. Since at the time there were alone carbon-zinc cells, no suffix belletrist or added characters was required. The arrangement was alien in the 1924 copy of the standard, with belletrist A through J assigned about in adjustment of accretion corpuscle volume, for beef about bogus at that time.6 By 1934, the arrangement had been continued and revised and now had 17 sizes alignment from NS at 7/16 inch bore by 3/4 inch height, through admeasurement J at 1¾ inches bore by 5 7/ 8 inches high, to the better accepted corpuscle which retained its old appellation of No. 6 and which was 2½ inches in bore and 6 inches high.

edit Admeasurement and appearance codes

4.5-Volt, D, C, AA, AAA, AAAA, A23, 9-Volt, CR2032 and LR44 cells.

The accepted copy of the accepted uses a after cipher to appearance the corpuscle size. Common annular corpuscle sizes are:

ANSI primary corpuscle sizes and agnate admeasurement designations Number

code Other name IEC size

13 D R20

14 C R14

15 AA R6

24 AAA R03

25 AAAA R8D425

Since these IEC and ANSI array standards accept been harmonized, for example, an R20 corpuscle will accept the aforementioned ambit as an ANSI 13 cell.

Flat cells, acclimated as apparatus of multi-cell batteries, accept an F prefix and a alternation of numbers to analyze sizes. Coin beef were assigned admeasurement codes in the 5000 range.

Secondary beef application systems H and K (nickel-metal hydride and nickel-iron sulfide) accept a abstracted alternation of admeasurement codes, but the beef are dimensionally changeable with primary cells.

System and performance suffix letters

The electrochemical arrangement and achievement advice is accustomed in suffix letters.

ANSI suffix belletrist Letter Significance IEC arrangement letter

(none) carbon-zinc (none)

A alkaline L

AC alkaline automated L+suffix letter

AP alkaline accurate L+suffix letter

AC alkaline automated L+suffix letter

C Carbon-zinc automated none+suffix letter

CD carbon zinc automated abundant assignment none+suffix letter

D carbon zinc abundant assignment none+suffix letter

F

lithium adamant disulphide F

H

rechargeable nickel metal hydride H

K

rechargeable nickel cadmium K

LB Lithium-carbon monofluoride B

LC Lithium-manganese dioxide C

LF Lithium-iron disulfide F

M

withdrawn Mercuric oxide M

withdrawn

SO silver oxide S

SOP silver oxide accurate S+suffix letter

Z Zinc-air P