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Old 22nd Feb 2015, 4:23 pm   #1
thevalveset
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Default Drydex H1049 H.T. 108Volt battery info please?

HI everyone,
Does anyone have any vintage battery artwork for a:-
Drydex H1049 108Volt H.T. Battery?
Or know what it looked like?
I have just about finished completely restoring an Aerodyne 296
Circa 1938 valve portable and the Broadcaster Service Man's Manual says the HT battery is a "Drydex H1049 H.T. battery of standard capacity".
Can anyone help please?
Thanks
Dave
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Old 22nd Feb 2015, 5:20 pm   #2
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Default Re: Drydex H1049 H.T. 108Volt battery info please?

It might be easier to find battery artwork for an Ever Ready battery.

Do you know the dimensions of the Drydex (Exide) H1049 battery?
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Old 22nd Feb 2015, 5:40 pm   #3
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Default Re: Drydex H1049 H.T. 108Volt battery info please?

Post number 307 of 'The Thanks Tread' shows a Drydex H1044 which is a 108V battery.
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Old 22nd Feb 2015, 5:52 pm   #4
Mike. Watterson
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Default Re: Drydex H1049 H.T. 108Volt battery info please?

I have it somewhere.
Probably it's the one with a 9V tap.
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Old 23rd Feb 2015, 10:52 pm   #5
thevalveset
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Default Re: Drydex H1049 H.T. 108Volt battery info please?

Hi,
Thanks for your thoughts, I guess any 108V battery artwork would suffice. I have failed to find any 108V battery information on the web at all!
If you can link me to the URL that would be most appreciated.
Thanks....
Dave
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Old 24th Feb 2015, 12:35 am   #6
Peter.N.
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Default Re: Drydex H1049 H.T. 108Volt battery info please?

They were all 90v or 120v when I was alive, never seen a 108v one.

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Old 24th Feb 2015, 12:48 am   #7
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Default Re: Drydex H1049 H.T. 108Volt battery info please?

Hi Dave,

The Drydex H1044 is apparently the post-war equivalent of the H1049 and was definitely 108 volts, with several taps at lower voltages. I needed the one I made to fit a 1936 McMichael portable. The artwork is not of my own making; the credit must go to Bill (Batterymaker1) in the USA to whom I extended my thanks.

The finished dimensions of the H1044 are 254mm long, 126mm wide and 72mm high. Hope that helps,

Phil
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Old 24th Feb 2015, 1:27 am   #8
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Default Re: Drydex H1049 H.T. 108Volt battery info please?

I've got a 1930's catalogue here of HT batteries, there are 2 listed at 108V with 9V tappings. There are no part numbers but one is from the economy Red triangle series which states 'not suitable for pentode or superpower sets' and the other is from the premium Blue Triangle series L10in, W5in H3in, 'for portable receivers'.

The artwork looks identical to Phil's picture but the catalogue is in black & white. A rough swap from imperial to metric and they might as well use the same box.

There are lots of HT batteries from ever ready, drydex, pertrix, hellesens, GEC, lissen, siemens, grosvenor and marconi, and only the 2 I mentioned are at 108V.
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Old 24th Feb 2015, 9:47 am   #9
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Default Re: Drydex H1049 H.T. 108Volt battery info please?

Quote:
Originally Posted by McMurdo View Post
I've got a 1930's catalogue here of HT batteries... the catalogue is in black & white...
That sounds like a wonderful resource! Have you considered scanning a few pages and sharing them? Easy for me to say, I know, and I'm aware of the work involved, but given the level of interest in making replica vintage batteries, many people would find this invaluable

And yes, the imperial size of 10"x5"x3" was common at the time.
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Old 24th Feb 2015, 10:06 am   #10
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Default Re: Drydex H1049 H.T. 108Volt battery info please?

The tapped 9V section was for grid bias. Being part of the HT battery the bias dropped as the HT dropped leaving operation of the output stage about right. Many of these combined batteries were produced with voltages up to around 150.
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Old 24th Feb 2015, 10:42 am   #11
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Default Re: Drydex H1049 H.T. 108Volt battery info please?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Heatercathodeshort View Post
...the bias dropped as the HT dropped...
I'm not sure I understand this. If the grid bias 'section' of the series stack of cells was at the negative end of the battery, i.e. providing a grid bias potential negative with respect to HT-, then the current drawn from the grid bias cells would be very much smaller than the HT current drawn from the main HT stack. Thus the GB cells would actually last a lot longer than the rest of the battery. As the main HT battery ran down, the grid bias potential would have to be reduced by selecting a less negative bias voltage, hence the presence of several GB tappings. As I wasn't around at the time, I could well be wrong...

The lifetime of a grid bias battery in use was almost the same as its shelf life. I wonder if manufacturers used smaller capacity cells for this purpose?
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Old 24th Feb 2015, 12:36 pm   #12
thevalveset
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Default Re: Drydex H1049 H.T. 108Volt battery info please?

Hi Phil
Thanks for the taunting picture of the H1044, it looks great.
Where do I find the Bill's artwork so I can attempt making a reproduction for my Aerodyne 296?

Incidentally I have a corrected copy of the circuit diagram for this set as the original Broadcaster Service Man's Manual has a large section not illustrated.

Thanks in anticipation
Dave G6UWO


"The artwork is not of my own making; the credit must go to Bill (Batterymaker1) in the USA to whom I extended my thanks.

The finished dimensions of the H1044 are 254mm long, 126mm wide and 72mm high. Hope that helps,"
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Old 24th Feb 2015, 1:07 pm   #13
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Default Re: Drydex H1049 H.T. 108Volt battery info please?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Phil G4SPZ View Post
I'm not sure I understand this. If the grid bias 'section' of the series stack of cells was at the negative end of the battery, i.e. providing a grid bias potential negative with respect to HT-, then the current drawn from the grid bias cells would be very much smaller than the HT current drawn from the main HT stack. Thus the GB cells would actually last a lot longer than the rest of the battery. As the main HT battery ran down, the grid bias potential would have to be reduced by selecting a less negative bias voltage, hence the presence of several GB tappings.
Agreed. The set up is electrically no different from having the 9V GB section in its own pack. Just the common connection between HT- and GB+ is inside the pack.

Maybe a resistive load on the GB stack to draw the same current as the set's HT would do the trick? It could be tapped to provide the various GB voltages for different stages.
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Old 24th Feb 2015, 1:19 pm   #14
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Default Re: Drydex H1049 H.T. 108Volt battery info please?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Herald1360 View Post
Maybe a resistive load on the GB stack to draw the same current as the set's HT would do the trick...
That might work, but would be a bit wasteful on batteries!

My present replica battery project for an HAC kit receiver will have ten PP3s and six AAA cells in a holder, wired to sockets every 1.5 volts. I can replace the PP3s when they run down, but retain the AAAs as they will outlast the PP3s several times over.

Edit: Bill (batterymaker1) has just said that if you send him a PM, he will supply you with a copy of the Drydex artwork.
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Last edited by Phil G4SPZ; 24th Feb 2015 at 1:23 pm. Reason: Update
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Old 24th Feb 2015, 4:18 pm   #15
thevalveset
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Default Re: Drydex H1049 H.T. 108Volt battery info please?

Hi,
Many thanks, I have just sent him a PM (I hope) that is very kind of you to inquire on my behalf.
Thanks
Dave

Edit: Bill (batterymaker1) has just said that if you send him a PM, he will supply you with a copy of the Drydex artwork.
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Old 25th Feb 2015, 1:11 pm   #16
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Default Re: Drydex H1049 H.T. 108Volt battery info please?

I don't think the Aerodyne 296 needs a grid bias battery/tapping.

It just needs a 108V HT battery.
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Old 25th Feb 2015, 11:42 pm   #17
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Default Re: Drydex H1049 H.T. 108Volt battery info please?

Some battery sets of the 30's had a wander plug for the pentode screen which would utilize the extra tappings on the HT battery, the correct tapping being printed on the pentode compensating for production spread
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Old 26th Feb 2015, 1:29 pm   #18
thevalveset
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Default Re: Drydex H1049 H.T. 108Volt battery info please?

Hi everyone,
First of all thanks to all who responded to my plight. I now have artwork for the H1049 H.T. battery which is brilliant!
This has now spawned a further mystery unfortunately:-

I have just had a go at printing out the H1049 artwork and it has made me completely reconsider the battery arrangement for this radio.
If the Drydex H1044 battery is the same dimensions as the specified Drydex H1049 then the H.T. battery fills the back of the cabinet (which I was not expecting)!
However further examination of the inside of the cabinet reveals that there might have been wooden blocks glued to the top (inside) which may have been used to hold the battery in place?
I now need to find out what a Three Star 2V 20Ah jelly-acid accumulator UJ3 looks like as there hardly seems room for the L.T. battery?
If the HT battery really was that large, then the accumulator would have to 'tuck' under the chassis somehow!
Anyone know the dimensions of a Three Star 2V 20Ah jelly-acid accumulator UJ3 so I can test out this theory?
Thanks
Dave
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Old 26th Feb 2015, 1:40 pm   #19
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Default Re: Drydex H1049 H.T. 108Volt battery info please?

It wasn't unusual for the accumulator to be outside the set- for obvious reasons! Don't know if that's the case here though.

Edit: Ahh, perhaps not on a portable set
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Last edited by Herald1360; 26th Feb 2015 at 1:58 pm.
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Old 26th Feb 2015, 5:40 pm   #20
Phil G4SPZ
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Default Re: Drydex H1049 H.T. 108Volt battery info please?

In my McMichael portable, the space for the unspillable lead acid accumulator is quite small, perhaps 2" wide by 3" high by 5" long. I have seen pictures of this type of cell and they are indeed quite compact, but 20Ah sounds quite a large capacity.

In practice I have used a 2 volt 5Ah Cyclon sealed lead acid cell, concealed inside a small cardboard box with a made-up Ever Ready cover. Hopefully you will have sufficient space within your Aerodyne to do something similar.

Any chance of a photo of the battery compartment?
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Last edited by Phil G4SPZ; 26th Feb 2015 at 5:41 pm. Reason: Typo
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