Recycle M8 batteries

[Guy Mancuso]

Well after what went on in Moab with my batteries failing in the cold weather. i was inspired to deep recycle my batteries all six of them and almost done. But if you want to do this , here is the process turn camera on and drain to fully discharged than charge over again. Make sure in the menu you set camera to not turn off. Now my batteries maybe close to end of useful life since there are countless recharging and over 30 k on my actuations with my bodies. not sure how long these batteries will truly last but if anyone will know it will most likely be me first since i had these since day one and maybe have shot more on them than most people. Hopefully this deep recycle will bring them back to life much better.

 

[scott kirkpatrick]

Guy, Li Ion batteries don't last forever. Even if they are not used at all, I have read they have a useful life of only a few years. When you get them all charged up, let us know roughly what fraction of there original capacity they seem to have. 100% would be outstanding, 75% pretty darn good, ...

scott

 

[Guy Mancuso]

I will do that Scott . Interested to see how many frames I can get now. Taken a full day to do this . LOL

 

[vieri]

Just ended doing my 2 M8s' battery as well just a few thousand shots on them, but I recycled them anyway just in case...

 

[Bob]

Here is a nicely written page on Li-ion batteries.
Bottom line is that they wear out in 300-500 cycles and slowly go bad aggravated by high storage charge levels.
http://www.batteryuniversity.com/parttwo-34.htm
-bob

 

[LJL]

and it is key to think about the difference between a full charge cycle, which the Li-Ion battery cycles are geared for, versus partial charges that the smart chip tries to keep added up against the total number of cycles.

I have been so conditioned to do a monthly deep cycle recharge on my Canon NiMH batteries, that I have taken to doing the same, but every other month on my Leica batteries. After that early debacle with battery charge states and meter readings and stuff for the M8, I created my own battery conditioning schedule and have not had a single problem yet.....knock on wood.

Guy, it will be interesting to see how your deep cycle recharge works after all the various "top off" efforts. Another thing to consider, Li-Ions do not seem to do greatly in cold. Maybe not as bad as some others, but I find them to loose charge a lot faster. The good things...winter is nearing end in many places, and the batteries are small enough to keep in a warm interior pocket more easily than the big honking Canon bricks ;-)

LJ

 

[scott kirkpatrick]

Here is a nicely written page on Li-ion batteries.
Bottom line is that they wear out in 300-500 cycles and slowly go bad aggravated by high storage charge levels.
http://www.batteryuniversity.com/parttwo-34.htm
-bob

Thanks, that's a very interesting site and a relevant page for us. I would also point out his Fig. 3, which shows that gentle discharges give more cycles even when you are counting complete discharges. (The labels 1C, 2C, 3C refer to discharge rates. 1C means that the battery is discharged in one hour, 2C in half an hour, 3C in 1/3 of an hour.) Since I can't shoot fast enough to discharge my battery in an hour, I think we are in the gentle category. Anyone have a different experience, say in an event or sports setting?

The other point that is made is that in camera/battery systems the chemistry of a Li-ion battery is not affected by recharging a partially discharged battery, as is the case with NiMH, but the smart battery meter can get confused. So it is the meter which cuts off the battery too soon, or permits it to run down to the point where damage occurs. A full discharge every 30 charges (that can't be more than once a month, I guess) is recommended.

scott

 

[Guy Mancuso]

Good points guy's . i have a little shoot tomorrow . My wife and her big mouth . Oh, Guy can shoot your baby. Love her to death but i need a muzzle on my wife's mouth.:ROTFL::ROTFL::ROTFL:

let's see if this truly worked , they all say full but you know how that goes.

 

[Mitchell]

Usually, I just shoot until the battery dies. (Mostly Landscapes.) Replace with my spare.

Is this as good or better than leaving the camera on to run the battery fully down?

Thanks,

Mitchell

 

[scott kirkpatrick]

Usually, I just shoot until the battery dies. (Mostly Landscapes.) Replace with my spare.

Is this as good or better than leaving the camera on to run the battery fully down?

If your objective is to run the battery all the way down, it doesn't matter which way you do it. But your battery will probably last longer if you recharge it when it's partially depleted. More convenient, too.

scott

 

[Bob]

My usual habit is to recharge at the end of the day or whenever power is convenient.
So far, 10k exposures and zero battery problems
-bob

 

[Cindy Flood]

For future reference, I believe it was Cam from the Small Sensor Forum, who said that putting your batteries in a small neoprene case and putting them near your body (for instance, an inside shirt pocket), will extend the life in cold weather.

My four batteries are all OEM Leica batteries. Are there any safe replacement batteries yet that anyone has found?

 

[jaapv]

Afaik there have been no unsafe ones reported. I have some no-brand ones at 5 Euro a piece from Hong Kong as emergency spares. They work just fine, only they need to be run down all the way, or they lose their calibration.

 

[Cindy Flood]

Thanks, Jaap. That is good to know. I remember early on, that there was talk of possibly voiding your warranty by using non-OEM batteries, so I have never tried any.

There is a lot of difference between 5 Euro and the price of Leica OEM batteries.

 

[TRSmith]

My recent battery woes have been alleviated since I picked up a brand new one today in SF. But the original battery (only 4 months of use) refuses to take a full charge. The most I can get it to take is about a quarter full. I'll try Guy's suggestion for running it all the way down and then recharging. I hope that will fix it. Otherwise it looks like it might be a dud.

 

[Guy Mancuso]

Tim you may actually have a bad battery. maybe when you get home send to Leica in NJ or your dealer and tell them you may have a dud.

 

[TRSmith]

I have a suspicion it's as dead as Elliot Spitzer's career. I'll follow your advice and contact David at Dale camera when I get home.

 

[pascal_meheut]

BTW, one of my 3 batteries had the kind of problem we discuss here: it was charging ok but on the day after, even if not shooting with the M8, it will be not have any juice in it.
So I did a deep discharge by firing the camera over and over, more than 700 shots and now, it works fine.

Thanks for the "letting the screen on" advice, it will be easier next time.

 

[LJL]

Tim,
Not that this may be of any help now, and not being sure of your method of travel on your recent California coast trip, but did you have the car charger attachment along to charge things while driving from place to place? I know it sounds a bit much, but after having batteries quit when I thought they were fine, it has saved me a few times to at least get some juice into it between stops, unless it was totally dead. (I keep all my car charger components for various devices in a small kit that I usually leave in the vehicle. I find that all those things do little good when left at home.)

Hope that the deep discharge/recharge cycle "fixes" it, but as Guy mentioned, it may be worth returning it to dealer/Leica for replacement. It could really be a bad battery.

LJ

 

[Guy Mancuso]

BTW, one of my 3 batteries had the kind of problem we discuss here: it was charging ok but on the day after, even if not shooting with the M8, it will be not have any juice in it.
So I did a deep discharge by firing the camera over and over, more than 700 shots and now, it works fine.

Thanks for the "letting the screen on" advice, it will be easier next time.

I'm a little nervous about the screen on. Maybe it is a computer thing and may not be the case here but what about burn in. See my engineering degree at failure point. LOL