would like to know what battery is used in this meter, it has one d cell and what looks like smaller than normal 9 volt with contacts on each end

Hi, Scotty,

The generation of Simpons 260s that were manufactured in the late 1960s
used a 15-volt battery with end contacts as you describe. Later units use
the standard 9-volt "transistor radio" battery. I find only two 15-volt
batteries in the Newark catalog (www.newark.com) and the one that's the
closest is the Eveready 411, Newark catalog number 03F7084. I'm not absolutely
sure that it's the right one (it measures almost 1.5 inches long, an inch wide
and about 5/8" thick), but at least it's 15 volts! The other 15 volt
battery they show has a square cross-section.

There are some Simpson 260 manuals (whole manuals) on the Boatanchor site
at http://bama.sbc.edu/ but I don't know if they go back far enough to
catch yours. The Simpson 260-6, -7 and -8 use the 9-volt batteries. The
Simpson 260-5 uses a 6-volt battery. You must have a -4 or -3?

By the way, Simpson 260s are rare in that they are a VOM with calibration
adjustments. I used to do those by the boatload as a PMEL technician in the
Navy. I've never seen a cal procedure for adjusting them in their manuals.
If you want the procedure, let me know.

Dean
dhuster@pb.k12.mo.us

Hi, Scotty,

The generation of Simpons 260s that were manufactured in the late 1960s
used a 15-volt battery with end contacts as you describe. Later units use
the standard 9-volt "transistor radio" battery. I find only two 15-volt
batteries in the Newark catalog (www.newark.com) and the one that's the
closest is the Eveready 411, Newark catalog number 03F7084. I'm not absolutely
sure that it's the right one (it measures almost 1.5 inches long, an inch wide
and about 5/8" thick), but at least it's 15 volts! The other 15 volt
battery they show has a square cross-section.

There are some Simpson 260 manuals (whole manuals) on the Boatanchor site
at http://bama.sbc.edu/ but I don't know if they go back far enough to
catch yours. The Simpson 260-6, -7 and -8 use the 9-volt batteries. The
Simpson 260-5 uses a 6-volt battery. You must have a -4 or -3?

By the way, Simpson 260s are rare in that they are a VOM with calibration
adjustments. I used to do those by the boatload as a PMEL technician in the
Navy. I've never seen a cal procedure for adjusting them in their manuals.
If you want the procedure, let me know.

Dean
dhuster@pb.k12.mo.us

Hi Scotty and Dean,

I found the comments by Dean as I searched for... yes,
replacement battery info! My search did not pull back
the comments by Scotty, but re the question about which
model: The 260-5 might have had a 6 volt, but my 260-5P
has an Eveready 417 15 volt battery. That has been
discontinued and so far nobody has indicated they can
find a direct substitute listing. However, I found a
15 volt at a local store that was very close in size to
my old 417 (and about $14) but was a little shorter.
Unfortunately I did not note the number as I intended
to check online in hopes of either a direct sub or
possibly an adapter/sub combo because the one I found
would require a spacer/contact of some kind. The 411
sounds good as it is exactly the same length as my 417
and 1/4 narrower and slimmer. I will go back and see
if they have that and I will also check the number of
the one they did find. Dean, I would like to have
that cal procedure you offered-- Thanks in advance!

Dave dave3@acd.net

: Hi, Scotty,

: The generation of Simpons 260s that were manufactured in the late 1960s
: used a 15-volt battery with end contacts as you describe. Later units use
: the standard 9-volt "transistor radio" battery. I find only two 15-volt
: batteries in the Newark catalog (www.newark.com) and the one that's the
: closest is the Eveready 411, Newark catalog number 03F7084. I'm not absolutely
: sure that it's the right one (it measures almost 1.5 inches long, an inch wide
: and about 5/8" thick), but at least it's 15 volts! The other 15 volt
: battery they show has a square cross-section.

: There are some Simpson 260 manuals (whole manuals) on the Boatanchor site
: at http://bama.sbc.edu/ but I don't know if they go back far enough to
: catch yours. The Simpson 260-6, -7 and -8 use the 9-volt batteries. The
: Simpson 260-5 uses a 6-volt battery. You must have a -4 or -3?

: By the way, Simpson 260s are rare in that they are a VOM with calibration
: adjustments. I used to do those by the boatload as a PMEL technician in the
: Navy. I've never seen a cal procedure for adjusting them in their manuals.
: If you want the procedure, let me know.

: Dean
: dhuster@pb.k12.mo.us

And the first Simpson misspelling was a typo, not ignorance!

Hi Scotty, Dean, I have the schematic and specifications for the Simpson 260 series III and it shows the batteries as 1.5 volt and 6 volt. I've got it scanned, I'll email it to you to compare. It doesn't indicate any details of the battery other than the voltage. You might be able to check the circiutry of your meter to see which version it matches. Cheers, Don Black.

: would like to know what battery is used in this meter, it has one d cell and what looks like smaller than normal 9 volt with contacts on each end

I have problems with my vintage 260 vom, have r21 defective needs to be replace, I don't have any schematics for it. My vom is the first one's of the 260-6 no letters attached. Can anyone help????

Thanks

Dennis

:Hi Scotty, Dean, I have the schematic and specifications for the Simpson 260 series III and it shows the batteries as 1.5 volt and 6 volt. I've got it scanned, I'll email it to you to compare. It doesn't indicate any details of the battery other than the voltage. You might be able to check the circiutry of your meter to see which version it matches. Cheers, Don Black.
:
:: would like to know what battery is used in this meter, it has one d cell and what looks like smaller than normal 9 volt with contacts on each end
:
:

Scotty!! You never did mention what the particular model of
your Simpson 260 was! You should find it on the meter face, smack-
dab in the center under the dB scale. It should read something like,

Simpson
260
Series 6P

Oh, wait. As I reread your "Subject" you have "sp". Is that really "5P"?
If so, that IS a 6 volt battery as Don's series III is. It must be only
the Series 4 that uses the 15 volt battery. And the particular station that
I was at must've bought a ton of them since that was all I saw there. OK.
Six volts it is. However, there's a new twist if you truly have the 5P. I
have a manual for the Series 5 and 5M, and it indicates that the 6 volts is'
derived from four "Z" cells in series. You indicate that it was one battery.
It may be that the "P" models use the 15 volt battery because it also operates
the protection circuit, come to think of it. I was going to send you the manual
I have for the 5/5M, but I'll bet it would be no good for you! I think that
it's time for you to contact Simpson and ask them for a manual. Surely they'd
send you one of the little things for free, or at least a Xerox copy of one.
They're at simpsonelectric.com and I do have a name in the service department
whom you could e-mail. He's Robert Blodgett at rblodgett@simpsonelectric.com

Scotty, I've rambled a lot, and wrote as I rambled. Maybe someone will dig that
fileserver up 3000 years from now, decipher this and say, "My gosh, what an idiot
this Dean thing is!" By the way, in case you don't know, the various series
designations such as 5, 5M and 5P indicate a basic meter (5), a meter with a
mirrored scale (5M) and the model with built-in electronic relay protection (5P).
My memory's gone, but it may be that there's a 5MP also which would incorporate
both those features.

Bottom line from me is, I'm 99% sure that you can use that 15 volt battery
with confidence. The more I think about it, the more I'm sure that the "P"
models were batteried different than the others.

And Don, thanks for the scan of the book. That one was particularly clean
and didn't lose a bit of detail. Would've sworn it was a Xerox copy.

Dean

Hi,
You have the need for a battery that is no longer produced.

That battery was a mercury cell, both batteries mentioned by Don Black and Dean Huster were used.

If yours is the legitimate 1938 circa 260, you would want to use the 6 volt facsimile.

In any event, you will have to build the battery.

: would like to know what battery is used in this meter, it has one d cell and what looks like smaller than normal 9 volt with contacts on each end

I thought I'd post a final note here just to wrap things up on this subject in case we've
had any curious readers who would otherwise be left hanging. Scotty let me know that his
meter is definitely a 260-5P, the one with the protection circuit. That protection circuit
causes the meter to have a different manual/schematic than what the -5 or -5M would have
and it definitely uses a 15 volt battery. If memory serves me correctly (that'd be a first!),
the 15 volt battery is used because it not only powers the high range of the ohmmeter circuit,
but also the protection circuit. Simpson told Scotty that the 15 volt battery is no longer
available (but I don't know how the old one compares in size to the one I found in the Newark
catalog, so I'm a little curious there) but they have a modification kit available that allows
the meter to use an available battery. Before I spent the money on the mod, I'd sure check out
that 15 volt battery that Newark has and if it's too short, make a little metal adaptor collar
or something!

If any of you ever have need to adjust the internal pots on your Simpson 260, let me know and I'll
scrounge up the calibration steps for that. They aren't published in the manuals. For that matter,
I can't say that I've ever seen them published. And I don't recall where or how I came up with
the procedure I have. All it takes is a couple of pots, a DMM and a power supply.

Dean

I recently acquired a Simpson 260 AFP-1.
I know what the P stands for, but not the "AF".
Anybody?
It takes that 15V battery (Burgess K10),
which still has enough poop to zero on high ohms,
and run the protection circuit.

Can anybody tell me anything about this series?

thanks,
Lance

Please send the calibration steps. Especially the RX1 .

Thanks Greg

: If any of you ever have need to adjust the internal pots on your Simpson 260, let me know and I'll

: scrounge up the calibration steps for that. They aren't published in the manuals. For that matter,

: I can't say that I've ever seen them published. And I don't recall where or how I came up with

: the procedure I have. All it takes is a couple of pots, a DMM and a power supply.

: Dean

:would like to know what battery is used in this meter, it has one d cell and what looks like smaller than normal 9 volt with contacts on each end

I have several old 260's. One doesn't even have a Series code on the meter face. Thes all have various problems with battery corrosion. What is the best way to clean this and can you get replacement battery terminals anymore? thanx,Jack

Hi,
The best way to deal with the corrosion is to scrape off any of the green material first. The contact surface need not be perfectly shiny, and then put a drop of "Rail-Zip" on each contact point. Put your batteries in one at a time, and roll them back and forth, this will ensure a reliable contact.

"Rail-Zip" can be found at any hobby store that handles a good amount of model railroad supplies, or try www.walthers.com.

I have restored to service a number of meters and radios in this manner, including 2 of the Simpson's I have currently.

:I have several old 260's. One doesn't even have a Series code on the meter face. Thes all have various problems with battery corrosion. What is the best way to clean this and can you get replacement battery terminals anymore? thanx,Jack

:would like to know what battery is used in this meter, it has one d cell and what looks like smaller than normal 9 volt with contacts on each end

I was wondering if anyone had a schematic for a Simpson 260-8. I have one that does not read voltage. Any information on the diodes or possible component that has failed, would also be appreciated. Feel free to e-mail me at jjguarino@hotmail.com. Thank you.