Soviet Era 1.5 volt battery?

September 13, 2021 6:31 AM

I need help finding this standard Soviet-era battery if I can.

An elderly Russian friend gave me this clock. It takes a 1.5 v battery, but I can’t for the life of me find a Russian set of battery standards. What do I want to be looking for? Searching google gets me a ton of nonsense, but that is probably my lack of the correct keywords.

If it isn’t something I can just get on Amazon, I’m (barely) competent reading Russian to the degree this requires.

posted by Tchad to Technology (8 answers total)

Best answer: I don't know the specific Russian battery, but if a AA or AAA fits length- wise, they are 1.5v. If they're too short, use a stack of pennies or similar metal objects to lengthen them. At a minimum this will tell you if the clock still works.
posted by fake at 6:39 AM on September 13, 2021 [1 favorite]

Best answer: also, to my eye, it looks like a standard size "C" battery.
posted by fake at 6:42 AM on September 13, 2021

Best answer: Can you measure (or estimate) the distance between the two metal contacts? Many standard US cylindrical batteries are at or close to 1.5V. if one fits, you're done.
posted by eotvos at 6:47 AM on September 13, 2021

Best answer: For what it's worth, I have a Soviet era doctor's wristwatch, and it was able to take a 'standard' American battery of the correct voltage.
posted by Comrade_robot at 6:48 AM on September 13, 2021

Best answer: Offhand, I'd guess C or D depending on how long the slot is. The same battery standards are used in Eastern Europe.
posted by I claim sanctuary at 6:52 AM on September 13, 2021

Best answer: I'd take the largest of C or DD battery that fits in the slot, and pad it out with any sort of spring you can find that fits. The battery chemistry (which determines the voltage) does not care about ideology or nationalism.

Don't use a rechargeable, which will be 1.2v rather than 1.5v.

(ETA: or even AA if the width is a problem - but a larger size will last longer)
posted by pompomtom at 7:03 AM on September 13, 2021

Response by poster: Thanks, everyone! What a “well duuuh” moment! A C battery works fine, I was under the impression that I needed something obscure because she said “we brought this to the states with us and it isn’t nice, but it was the nicest things we could get at the time... I just can’t find the batteries for it here” and then I just assumed that I was on the hunt for something else without actually checking myself.
posted by Tchad at 7:10 AM on September 13, 2021 [2 favorites]

FWIW the list of battery sizes has various Soviet batteries listed, all common AA, C, etc sizes. I don't think they had some sort of exotic communist battery. OTOH this Wikipedia article makes it sound like modern battery sizes were only standardized internationally around the 1950s.
posted by Nelson at 3:20 PM on September 13, 2021