Real Life Adventures by Gary Wise and Lance Aldrich for July 01, 2015

Actually, there were A and B size batteries in the old days, they were large sizes that were phased out. They were used in old equipment like the old crank style phones.

A & B batteries weren’t a size, but a type of battery, used to supply power to tube radios.And the correct designation for AA, AAA, C, D, etc. are cells, not batteries. A battery is a bank of two or more single cells. Thus a 9 Volt is a battery, as internally it is comprised of six individual 1.5 Volt cells. Likewise a typical car battery is comprised of six 2 Volt Cells.There are many other letter-named sizes of cell, including F, which is quite common but seldom sold in individual quantities. You’ll generally find them inside 6 Volt lantern batteries and other large portable batteries.

A D for your thoughts.

I remember my mother getting an old tube radio and I had to buy a 64V battery and a 22V battery and it weighed a ton. Now I have an MP3 player the size of a postage stamp!

I used to have a voice recorder that too three AAAA cells. For a while, they were practically impossible to find. I used to have to unwrap 9 volt batteries to get at their six-packs of AAAA cells.

I read somewhere that B’s are used in Europe for bicycle headlamps. Now if only the world of button batteries could be as standardized as the A through D’s.

As an oldtime radio repair man, I remember the A battery as the power source to light the filaments of the vacuum tubes.Likewise, the B battery powered the ‘plates‘ and the C battery provided ‘grid‘ bias to control the gain of the vacuum tubes.Wow! Sorry for all the words, but I just couldn‘t contain myself. Thanks for listening, from an 86 year old timer.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a AAAA battery, let alone did I know they exist.

As a former battery retailer, I can say that “A” cells are still used. They’re usually used as rechargeable cells inside devices like electric shavers and toothbrushes. Same for “Sub-C” size cells.You’ll probably never see any of these since they’re typically not serviceable by consumers. Unless you’re tech savvy and like tinkering.

There is a whole letter cell series (Eveready design handbook) which specifies dimensions but only describes electrical for the carbon/zinc types. The old wall phones used a pair of number six cells and had screw terminals. The fence chargers I remember used a six volt internally using four number six cells. The ‘c’ cell mentioned for the old radios was closer to being like’ button’ cells and mounted inside the radio!For some ‘A’ and ‘B’ cells never caught on. I have an LED penlight which uses AAAA and yes they’re hard to find. My daughter works at an auto supply wholesaler and keeps me supplied.

To rpstrongI tear old 9 volt batteries apart sometimes to re-use the connector (it’s symmetrical and can be used as a connector). I was very surprised to find one built with AAAA cells as I had always found the flat cells (probably because they pack better and therefore increase capacity).