[volt-nuts] 3457A battery replacement at Keysight - not as cheap as I thought it would be!

[Dr. David Kirkby]

Last year I went down to Keysight for a course, and got a tour of their cal
labs. I spoke to the person showing us around about the 3457A battery. He
said if the battery was less than £35 or so, it could be replaced free of
charge when the instrument was calibrated.

So despite my 3457A's battery must be on its last legs, I decided not to
bother replacing it, as I thought Keysight would do it free. The other more
serious reason is that I can't seem to find a suitable battery in the UK.
This from Mouser

The Panasonic BR-2/3AE5SPN

https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/panasonic-bsg/BR-2-3AE5SPN/P226-ND/61161

looks like it will do the job, and is less than $6 in the USA, but I can't
get one in the UK.

Anyway, my meter was sent to Keysight for a technical evaluation, and today
I received a quote

* Keysight calibration with uncertainties £140 (GBP)
* Repair (time and material) £289.35 (GBP)
* Total £429.

All + 20% VAT

So far from being free, they now want a serious amount of money to replace
the battery! It's more than a third of the cost of a brand new 6.5 digit
meter, with the complete battery and calibration costing more than 50% of
the price of a new 6.5 digit meter.

With eBay being a counterfeiters paradise, I will not buy a battery from
there. None of the UK companies I find have something that looks suitable.
I might try to find someone in the USA who will post me one by surface
mail. That should avoid all the problems with air transport of lithium
batteries.

Dave