# AAAA batteries **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 4, 2008, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aaaa-batteries/455274 "2008-07-04T07:00:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2008, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aaaa-batteries/455274/1 "2008-07-04T07:00:10Z")
Today at the grocery store, they were selling AAAA batteries. Have these always\* existed and I simply somehow never noticed, or is this a new kind of battery? -FrL- \*Come on now, don’t be silly. ---
**Author:** ![IAmNotSpartacus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@IAmNotSpartacus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IAmNotSpartacus)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2008, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aaaa-batteries/455274/2 "2008-07-04T07:05:29Z")
Well they’ve probably been around about as long as the 9 volt batteries you’re certainly familiar with. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2008, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aaaa-batteries/455274/3 "2008-07-04T07:12:23Z")
Some PP3 batteries contain six AAAAs wired in series, as **IAmNotSpartacus** implies. Some don’t though - some contain a stack of flat rectangular button cells, or a cluster of longer cells similar in size to AAAA, but rectangular in cross section rather than round. But the spec has been around a long time - it’s just an obscure variety. ---
**Author:** ![St.Urho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8e7dd6/32.png) [@St.Urho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/St.Urho)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2008, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aaaa-batteries/455274/4 "2008-07-04T07:15:59Z")
I’m surprised you found them at the grocery store. I use [a flashlight at work](http://www.streamlight.com/product/product.aspx?pid=52) that requires them and the only place that had them was Batteries Plus. ---
**Author:** ![SlickRoenick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e68b1a/32.png) [@SlickRoenick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlickRoenick)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2008, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aaaa-batteries/455274/5 "2008-07-04T13:44:00Z")
Back when Compaq/HP made the TC1100 tablet i needed one AAAA for the stylus and would order AAAA from the catalog for Kelly’s Stationery. Nowadays a new tablet comes with a stylus that doesn’t need the batteries changed. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2008, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aaaa-batteries/455274/6 "2008-07-04T14:42:11Z")
I once saw a laser pointer that needed them. The only common place I know of that carries them is Radio Shack (or in Canada, The Source, which acquired all the Radio Shack outlets). Other than that you have to try specialty electronics suppliers like Active Components. I’ve never tried the batteries places, though. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2008, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aaaa-batteries/455274/7 "2008-07-04T15:39:30Z")
I first heard of them a few years ago when my Snap-On tool dealer started carrying the stylus penlight mentioned above. He carried the AAAA cells, and I found that Radio Shack had them, but everywhere else I went the clerks invariably thought I meant triple-A batteries when I asked about quadruple-A. It seems no one else even knew they existed. Somewhere along the way I learned that 9-volt batteries had been made of six AAAA cells encased in a rectangular shell\*, which I found interesting. Presumably they’ve been around for decades but with very little general awareness of their existance. I have noticed that in the last year or so that more places seem to have them. * * * \*On a related note, [this Dope column](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a4_005b.html) says that 6-volt lantern batteries are composed of four F cells in a rectangular shell. Never heard F cells mentioned anywhere else before or since reading that. ---
**Author:** ![Mindfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindfield/32/19759_2.png) [@Mindfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mindfield)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2008, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aaaa-batteries/455274/8 "2008-07-04T17:31:45Z")
I’d never actually heard of them either until I bought a Boostaroo headphone booster, which required the use of one AAAA battery to power the amp. It was the first (and so far the last) time I’ve ever encountered a device that used them – though I do recall seeing AAAA-based penlights on eBay when I was looking to buy more AAAA batteries. ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2008, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aaaa-batteries/455274/9 "2008-07-04T19:23:27Z")
Best Buy has had them for at least a few years. ---
**Author:** ![Rael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@Rael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rael)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2008, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aaaa-batteries/455274/10 "2008-07-04T22:47:02Z")
My Bluetooth headset uses one ---
**Author:** ![neutron\_star](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2008, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aaaa-batteries/455274/11 "2008-07-05T02:25:04Z")
You can [pull apart](http://blag.xkcd.com/2007/08/20/testing-the-9v-battery-hack-or-assault-on-battery/) a 9v battery with pliers for a cheap source of AAAA batteries that can also be used as AAA batteries in a pinch. ---
**Author:** ![Jiminator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jiminator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jiminator)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2008, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aaaa-batteries/455274/12 "2008-07-05T06:27:15Z")
I worked at RadioShack for a while a few years ago and we carried them. People often came in to purchase them, and at least a few times a week someone would call and ask if we carried them. People also would bring in remote controls, for TVs old VCRs or garage door openers, and require the quad-A batteries.