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IEC Standards

IEC Type Designation

  • C denotes Lithium Manganese Dioxide.
  • F (in some batteries, i e 10F20) denotes flat (biscuit) Layer Zinc Chloride cell(s).
  • F (in other batteries, usually with another letter eg: "FR") denotes Lithium Sulphur Dioxide.
  • H denotes Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH). Rechargeable.
  • K denotes Nickel Cadmium. Rechargeable.
  • L denotes Alkaline Manganese .
  • M or N denote Mercury, now banned because of its toxicity.
  • R (on its own) denotes a Zinc Chloride / Zinc Carbon round cell.
  • R after another letter denotes a round cell with the chemistry shown by the first letter.
  • S denotes Silver Oxide.

IEC Size Designation
A four digit number prefixed by R is diameter in mm and height in 10ths of a millimeter, i.e. CR2032 is 20mm diameter and 3.2 mm high, Round, Lithium Manganese Dioxide. Typically used for coin and button cells.  A number prefixed to the letter(s) is the number of cells in a battery package, usually in series.

ANSI or NEDA Type Desgination

  • _ No suffix letters Carbon zinc
  • A Alkaline.
  • AC Alkaline Industrial.
  • AP Alkaline Photographic.
  • C Carbon zinc Industrial.
  • CD Carbon zinc Industrial (heavy duty).
  • CS Carbon zinc Industrial (super heavy duty).
  • D Carbon zinc (heavy duty).
  • F Carbon zinc (general purpose).
  • L Lithium.
  • M Mercury (no longer produced).
  • MP Mercury Photographic (no longer produced).
  • P Photographic.
  • SO Silver oxide.
  • SOP Silver oxide Photographic.
  • Z Zinc air.
  • ZD Zinc air (heavy duty). 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

General Battery Standards

 

 

 

 

 

Standard

Title

IEC 60050

International electrotechnical vocabulary. Chapter 486: Secondary cells and batteries.

IEC 60086-1 

Primary Batteries – General BS 387

IEC 60086-2

Batteries – General

ANSI C18.1M

Portable Primary Cells and Batteries with Aqueous Electrolyte – General and Specifications

ANSI C18.2M

Portable Rechargeable Cells and Batteries – General and Specifications

ANSI C18.3M

Portable Lithium Primary Cells and Batteries – General and Specifications

UL 2054

Safety of Commercial and Household Battery Packs – Testing

IEEE 1625

Standard for Rechargeable Batteries for Mobile Computers

USNEC Article 480

Storage Batteries

ISO 9000

A series of quality management systems standards created by the ISO. They are not specific to products or services, but apply to the processes that create them.

ISO 9001: 2000

Model for quality assurance in design, development, production, installation and servicing.

ISO 14000

A series of environmental management systems standards created by the ISO.

ISO/IEC/EN 17025

General Requirements for the Competence of Calibration and Testing Laboratories