Beltone B401 Type "N" Mercury Hearing Aid Battery
The Beltone B401 (type "N") mercury battery was made for the Beltone
Electronics Corp. of Chicago, IL by Ray-o-vac, a major battery
manufacturer.
"N"-sized batteries were
commonly used in transistor body hearing aids from the early 1950s
through the 1970s. This one was from around 1977.
The Beltone B401 was a 1.4 volt mercury battery and weighed 0.3 oz.
(10 g). It measured 1⅛" high
by 7/16" in diameter (2.85 x 1.15 cm).
Mercury batteries
are no longer sold today because of the large quantities of mercury in
them, and the consequent environmental concerns.
This battery is equivalent to the
Duracell RM-401H, the
Eveready E401E, the Rayovac RP401 and the
Zenith ZM401.
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Front view of an earlier Beltone B401 battery showing a different
design. This battery is from around 1968.
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Front view of an even earlier Beltone BP401R battery showing a much
simpler design. This battery is probably from around 1954.
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Front view of the Beltone B401 battery. In the blue it reads "Mercury
Hearing Aid Battery".
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Rear view of the Beltone B401 hearing aid battery. It read,
"Distributed by Beltone Electronics Corp. Chicago, Illinois 60646. In
Canada: Beltone Electronics of Canada Ltd. Montreal 455, Quebec.
Caution: Battery may explode if recharged or disposed of in
fire. Made in U.S.A."
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Side view of the Beltone B401 battery showing the model number (B401),
the voltage (1.4 volts), the size ("N") and the polarity.
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Top view of the Beltone B401 battery showing the negative terminal.
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Bottom view of the Beltone B401 battery showing the positive terminal.
It also shows some U.S. Patent numbers.
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Front view of the 1968 version of the Beltone B401 battery showing the
battery number (B401) near the bottom.
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Another front view of the 1968 version of the Beltone B401 battery
showing the tag line at the top (Sure Power) and that it was a Beltone
mercury hearing aid battery.
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The 1968 version of the Beltone B401 battery was sold two to a box. This
is the front view of the box.
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Top view of the 1968 version of the Beltone B401 battery box showing two
holes so you could test the batteries without taking them out of the
box. The batteries were put in the box upside down so the positive
terminal was at the top—shown by the "+".
The bottom of the box had two similar holes exposing the negative
terminals—shown by a "-".
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View of the right side of the Beltone B401 battery box.
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View of the left side of the Beltone B401 battery box.
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