Q-117: I recently purchased some new batteries and began to wonder about the meaning of some of the cell terminology or designations. I see the abbreviation ‘SCR’ and wonder does that mean ‘Standard Charge Rate’? I also see the term ‘RC’ and wonder if that means ‘Rapid Charge.’ Can you shed any light on this?
A-117: I have to admit that I never gave these terms much thought. I
always knew what I was ordering and using, and that was it. But I also have to
admit that my reader’s question made me wonder.
I asked a close friend and battery expert for his thoughts on this terminology.
Following is his answer.
“The letters involved are Sanyo cell designations and have nothing to do with
the battery industry at large. The ‘SC’ stands for ‘SubC,’ which is the physical
size of the cell, or, more specifically, the diameter of the cell. Sanyo's
standard-rate SubC-size cells would simply have ‘SC’ designations in their
names.
“Sanyo uses the ‘R’ designation to identify their lower impedance,
‘rapid’-charge cells. So an ‘SCR’ cell is a rapid-charge, low-impedance, SubC-size
cell.
“The ‘RC’ designation is for all of us: RC fliers, drivers, and boaters. It's RC
as in Radio Control. When the RC car part of the hobby got big enough to justify
it, Sanyo started identifying cells as ‘RC’ for our field and switched over to
special distribution so that ‘RC’ cells are not sold through normal cell
sources.
“As for the differences between an ‘SCR’ and ‘RC’ cell, they are very close to
being identical. The RC cells seem to have an advantage in some applications and
they usually cost more. This is more of a competition issue rather than one for
sport fliers.”
That was an interesting response. I’m glad you asked the question and I’m
equally glad for the response I received.