A Comprehensive Guide To Battery Holders & Mounts

An AA size battery holder is one of the more common types of battery storage compartments you’ll see on sale from suppliers. AA size (‘double-A’) is what most people would typically think of as a ‘standard’ battery and remains extremely common in all kinds of portable electrical items and equipment.

AA battery pack holders can be manufactured to house any number of cells in theory, but in daily use it’s usually anywhere between 1-10 batteries, with 2-8 being by far the most popular options. AA single battery holders are also common.

Relatively few cell-powered tools or other pieces of electrical equipment will be designed to require more than 8 AA batteries for achieving sufficient power supply. Items that demand a higher power draw than this will usually be built around a larger cell type, for improved practicality and less frequent need for battery replacement or recharging.

C size battery holders are designed around the fairly common C battery (sometimes known as an R14). This is a fairly wide diameter cylindrical cell, smaller than D batteries while being the same height - but significantly wider - than AA standard.

C cell batteries, holders and mounts are less widely used than either AA or D versions, particularly since power efficiency is continually improving across most cell-powered devices. However, they can still often be found on a range of medium-drain electronic items, including:

• Heavier flashlights and smaller ambient lighting fixtures (e.g. table lamps)
• Radios and portable speakers
• Toys and games Musical instruments and amplifiers

D batteries are among the larger types of ‘everyday use’ cells you’ll commonly encounter around the home or workplace. D size batteries tend to be used for higher-drain devices that tend to be used for longer periods at a time, including:

• High power torches and flashlights
• Safety systems
• Geiger counters
• Megaphones, larger musical instruments and more powerful audio devices or speakers
• Motorised toys and portable gaming consoles
• Products with inbuilt electric motors

Battery holders for D cells are most commonly sold in configurations designed to house either 2 or 4 individual batteries.

Battery holders for 12V cells are somewhat less widely available, chiefly because the 12V standard incorporates such a wide range of battery shapes and sizes, although 12V battery contacts themselves are more commonly sold as separate components (see Battery holder mounts, below).

The precise sort of 12V battery you might need for specific applications will dictate the appropriate form factor, which can be anything from a large heavy car battery type to one closely resembling a traditional AA cell.

With larger 12V batteries, in particular, it’s less common to need more than one at a time, and they’re generally built more intrinsically into the device or equipment being powered than other types of ‘snap in/out’ batteries designed for frequent and quick replacement. This means that 12V battery holders and mounts aren’t as frequently sold by suppliers as versions for other, more common cell types.

A panel mount battery holder is designed to be slotted into a pre-existing cavity in the side, top or back exterior panel of a device, and removed entirely as a single self-contained unit when it’s time to swap out the batteries. They’re often manufactured such that the cover of the battery holder will sit flush with the device’s panel once inserted.

Panel mount battery holders are most commonly secured in place via one of two methods - either via a screw-in system for optimal stability or with a flange for easier removal and reinsertion.

As the name implies, a PCB mount battery holder is intended for applications where the battery holder needs to be installed directly onto a printed circuit board.

The most common design is for the PCB mount holder to include several small sharp pins around its perimeter - these are pushed directly through the surface of the PCB and then soldered on from the rear side.

Holders for PCB mounted batteries can be made from metal or plastic. While they’re frequently built to accommodate single coin cells, such as you might find on a typical computer motherboard, they can also be configured to allow for multiple cells and other battery types, including cylindrical AAA, AA, C, or D cells.

As noted above, a slide-in mount battery holder will generally refer to the way the individual cells are inserted into and removed from the battery holder as a whole.

Slide-in mounts are arguably the most common type of battery connection/terminal setup, requiring the user simply to ‘drop’ the cells into place either lengthways or side-on, at which point they’re either held in place by opposing forces from the two terminals, or secured with a cover or cap

Slide-in battery mounts tend to be among the cheapest and most cost-effective choices to buy for quickly and simply inserting a cell into an appropriate holder. They work reliably well and are most often seen in molded plastic or metal battery holders incorporating self-contained battery compartments.

A snap-in mount battery holder (sometimes called snap-on, depending on the manufacturer or supplier) denotes a terminal/contact setup where the cell is held more securely in place. 

This is usually achieved using tensioned metal clips, sometimes incorporating springs, through which the battery needs to be pushed with a small amount of force before it clicks into place ready for use. Snap-in battery mounts give the device greater protection against accidental cell power loss during movement, vibration and shock

The term ‘snap-in’ or ‘snap-on’ is also widely used to refer to the standard contact types used on 9V cells (see Strap and lead battery holders below).

Strap and lead battery holders aren’t actually holders per se, but rather a method of directly attaching a freestanding cell to an electronic device or motor without the use of an entire housing unit.

They generally consist of a wire, which is designed to be hooked up to the circuitry of the device via tinned ends, combined with a flat plastic terminal pad that attaches to the contacts of a battery via two press studs.

The strap and lead battery holder type is most often used with 9V PP3 cells, allowing the cell to be lifted clear away from the main body of the item for removal, replacement or reattachment.

A surface mount battery holder is designed to sit flat on any internal or external panel or plate, either around or inside the device being powered, and is generally open-faced.

Holders of this type are most often seen as a mounting solution for coin-type batteries with button terminal contacts, in applications where the cell doesn’t need to be connected directly to a PCB.

A through-hole surface mount battery holder is a common variation on the type outlined above, except it’s affixed to the surface of the device in question via a hole in the housing rather than via tabs around the perimeter. This makes the through-hole version better suited to applications where space is at a premium.

Wire lead mount battery holders denote a particular type of external connection between the battery holder itself and the circuitry of the device being powered. A wire lead mount battery holder will be supplied with two leads attached to the holder at one end, with the other ends free to be hooked into the circuitry of the device as the holder is attached.

This can offer greater flexibility in terms of battery holder mounting locations than certain pin or foot connection types, which must make immediate contact with the circuit wherever the holder is positioned.

A battery holder clip is a simple, economical choice for mounting batteries securely within a holder. They tend to consist of two metal arms, arranged in a loop with a small gap at the apex, through which the cells are pushed and subsequently held in place. Clip battery holders tend to be most often associated with common cylindrical batteries such as AA and AAA, but are also sold for securing C, D and 9V PP3 cells into position.

Contact battery holders refer to the simple tension-type terminal contact plates and accessories (including coil springs, button, top spring arm and leaf spring contact types) that hold a battery in place while allowing it to deliver power to the device drawing from it.

Again, these are cheap and cost-effective components widely available as separate swap-in or replacement parts that can be used to fit a very wide range of different cell sizes and battery holder types.