Beltone Hearing Aid Battery Tester
The Beltone hearing aid battery tester was made in the USA for
the Beltone Hearing Aid Co. of Chicago, IL in 1944.
It measured 2 5/16" in diameter by ¾" thick (5.9 x 2.0 cm) and weighed
2.8 oz. (80 g).
The black A-B "wand" was the negative side and the tester case, disc
and prongs were the positive side.
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Close-up view of the meter of the Beltone hearing aid battery tester. The meter had
two scales. The "B" (upper) scale read up to 50 volts. This was enough to test the
45 volt "B" batteries used in Beltone hearing aids up to 1943.
However, in 1944 Beltone switched to 30 volt "B" batteries. As you can
see, the meter is optimized for 30 volt batteries—notice that the green
is set for 30 volts (not for 45 volts). Thus, this meter was used
primarily for Beltone hearing aid batteries from 1944 to 1947 as they
changed to 22½ volt "B" batteries in 1948.
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View of the back of the Beltone hearing aid battery tester showing the
round disc folded away.
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View of the back of the Beltone hearing aid battery tester showing the
disc unfolded ready to use.
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Top front view of the Beltone hearing aid battery tester showing the
disc unfolded. The outside of the tester case is the positive side. Thus
you could use the nubbin on the top of the meter as the positive probe,
or you could set the battery with the positive side down on the disc. |
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The negative probe was the black "wand" labeled "A" and "B". You used
the "A" tip when testing 1½ volt "A" batteries and read the result on
the "A" (bottom) scale on the meter. Similarly, you used the "B" tip
when testing "B" batteries and read the result on the "B" (top) scale on
the meter. "B" batteries could have voltages of 45, 30, 22½ or 15
volts.
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Close-up of the bottom of the Beltone hearing aid battery tester showing
another positive probe attached to the bottom of the case and the
negative "B" probe tip.
To test a battery's voltage, you touched the positive prong to the
positive terminal of the battery, and touched the negative lead (bottom)
to the negative terminal of the battery.
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