"Henry Kolesnik" asked:

Anyone know what battery this VTVM takes for resistance.
It looks like C size but a C won't quite fit.

"John Sheatsley" reckoned:

According to manual at Bama site,
ftp://bama.sbc.edu/downloads/triplett/850/850.pdf

it's an Eveready #935 or Burgess #1 (see pg. 4).

and "Bill Morris" added:

Those cross as a standard C cell.

Which is almost certainly correct. The problem is that the
sizes of the various cells have changed over time, as the
"thin layer of cardboard over zinc cell casing" has been
replaced by "thick cardboard jacket over painted tinplate
casing" of the modern "leakproof" cell. I have this problem
with an SEI photometer - you are supposed to strip the card
jacket off the U2 (D cell) before fitting it, as the cell
compartment is insulated with a thin paxolin liner. If you
remove the liner, /some/ modern 'D' cells will fit, but
certainly not all brands of them.

Try zinc-carbon (not alkaline), and either military surplus
(which may still be the non leakproof style), or the very
cheapest cells you can find. Failing that, you'll need to make
up a dummy cell that takes something smaller (AA is probably
too tall, maybe an 'N' or 1/2 AA).

Good luck! (I have this problem with discontinued radio batteries.)
Chris.


--
"No man can have a higher moral duty than to
stand for parliament against David Mellor"
Dominic Lawson