[volt-nuts] Wanted - UK source of a replacement battery (type LX 1634) for HP 3457A 6.5 digit multimeter

[Steve Krull]

Dave,

Just had a look at my 3457A. The battery is made by Saft, pn. LX1634,
labeled 3.0 volt lithium. Mine measures 3.03 v, same as yours. The
service manual describes the battery only as being part of the power on
reset circuit. It doesn't mention it backing up anything, just acting as
the reference for monitoring the status of the 5v on power up and reset
conditions.

Hope this helps,

Steve

-----Original Message-----
From: Dr. David Kirkby (Kirkby Microwave Ltd)
<drkirkby at kirkbymicrowave.co.uk>
To: Discussion of precise voltage measurement <volt-nuts at febo.com>
Cc: hp_agilent_equipment at yahoogroups.com
<hp_agilent_equipment at yahoogroups.com>
Subject: Re: [volt-nuts] Wanted - UK source of a replacement battery
(type LX 1634) for HP 3457A 6.5 digit multimeter
Date: Sun, 24 Jan 2016 22:08:53 +0000


On 24 January 2016 at 21:24, Poul-Henning Kamp <phk at phk.freebsd.dk> wrote:

> --------
> In message <
> CANX10hADbw1u9eJC8_ZgsK94k8Az8vzG4oSe+XnGfWRALi0B0w at mail.gmail.com>
> , "Dr. David Kirkby (Kirkby Microwave Ltd)" writes:
>
> >Opening the meter up, I see the PCB shows "BT 601". There's no name on the
> >battery I can see, but the type number of LX 1634. The voltage measured on
> >my 4.5 digit handheld DVM is 3.03 V. Googling around
>
> My guess is that this is a 3.6V Lithium-Thionyl battery, and if it is
> only 3.03V now, you're very likely tethering right on the brink.
>
> The most reputable vendor in this space is Tadiran, and they charge
> accordingly.
>


The post by Glenn (WB4UIV) in the link

https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/hp_agilent_equipment/conversations/topics/48964

does say that it is Lithium-manganese dioxide (Li-MnO2). That information
was apparently taken from the battery manufacturer's web site. So I don't
think it is a Lithium Thionyl Chloride cell, although I'm very tempted to
fit one, as I can get one easy enough and I can't see the extra voltage
would do any harm given the SRAM is 5 V. The SRAM actually gets about 4.8 V
when on mains, so even a fresh Lithium Thionyl Chloride cell, which would
be more than 3.6 V off load, would not be too much for the SRAM. So I think
I am safe for now, but given the cell is at least 11 years old (probably
much older), it is living on borrowed time.

Dave
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