That’s folly. Replacing only the dead cells in a pack ensures that the remaining old cells will be dead in short order. But it’s his wasted labor (edit: labour), not mine.
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Hahah. Then I suppose he’ll just be taking it apart sometime in the near future to replace those other batteries fairly shortly? 
It honestly didn’t take him long to pull the pack apart. Changing the batteries doesn’t seem to be a very big deal.
Remember that this is a recorder that is often going to be riding on a shoulder strap for a whole day’s worth of film shooting. A bunch of extra weight just for the hedonic impact of a bunch of extra weight is counterproductive in terms of marketing.
I can imagine given the product design-cycle and lifespan of typical Nagra products, that either the battery case form-factor was designed for NiCd and then plans changed before coming to market, or that they had intentions to use some lighter-but-also-less-dense tech such as a Prieto battery that just didn’t work out in the same timescale as the rest of the recorder.
Although replacement batteries are an absolutely essential accessory item for continued use, vendors don’t like to stock such accessories because the demand is so unpredictable. That probably partly explains the markup – it is less than the income lost from losing a day’s shooting, but well more then enough to give the dealer a really good incentive to stock the thing. When I needed new shock mount elastics for a Schoeps CMIT 5 U microphone, I found only 3 online vendors for the part vs hundreds for the microphone itself.
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Edit, because I’ve used forum posts such as this one as an information source for purchase of generic parts, and like details to be explicit:
You are looking for a 3S2P (three cells in series, each with an extra paralleled) pack, 11.1V, with 4.6Ah cells of type UR18650F
The second picture is of an incorrect pack for this recorder.
One too many A’s, but every 9-volt I’ve opened so far has been 6 of 'em in series.
I stand corrected. To the optometrist!
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Ha! The second comment: “The bolts make it heavier! Like something of value!”
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I finally got around to watching the video on capacitors. Was I the only one paying attention in physics class? I remember all this stuff from high school.
Did I miss it, or did he forget to explain what a dielectric is? (One place I used to work, we called it dielectric tape, not electric tape.)
That reminds me of that horn antenna in Holmdel where the microwave background was first discovered. There were many attempts to get rid of the noise. There was a pigeon family nesting in part of the antenna; their deposits had to be cleaned too, and Penzias and Wilson called it “white dielectric material”.
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True that.
However, the still somewhat alive cells can be relegated to some lighter duty and used either together, as they still match and there’s just fewer of them, or as standalone.
A cell with half capacity lost and raised internal resistance that makes a cellphone die when loaded with the transmitter will still be able to power a small LED light, or a small portable instrument that’s not too hungry, for considerable time.
While this is probably a scam, just because you open a battery and find AAAAs or whatever inside, doesn’t mean someone is cheating you. By definition, a “battery” is composed of multiple cells connected together. What we refer to as a “D” battery, isn’t actually a battery. It’s a cell.
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This reminded me that I needed to order a new battery for my Sound Devices 744t recorder, in the same league as this Nagra recorder. The sony camcorder battery cost $70, but I got a knockoff for $9 delivered next day on amazon! It’s all about economies of scale, which is why accessories for high end low volume equipment can end up being more expensive than the devices themselves.
knockoff batteries have been known to void warranties. The Nagra IV is $9900 device so perhaps some of that markup is “insurance”?
In my experience, cheap no-name knock off batteries will inevitably die in short order. There’s a huge range of variability in the quality of the cells that can go into a battery pack. If you buy from the cheapest merchant you can find on Ebay or Amazon, you will get a pack made from cheap low grade components, and it will die dead rather quickly. If you buy from a reputable merchant that sells replacements made from good quality components, you will pay more, but get something that will last at least as long as the original battery did, and will fail gradually.
AAAA cells aren’t all that common, but they’re a bit smaller than AAA cells
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Coming soon: Nagra batteries with luxury soldered cases!
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In the same vein: if you need those larger button batteries in large supply for some reason, buy the candle assortment with extra batteries at Costco, which brings the cost of each individual button battery down to something like $0.50. Plus, you get mood lighting options!
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