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A900 Lithium battery?

dhsimmonds

New member
This morning on switching on, I saw the error message Lithium Battery[1] in the rear LCD. The camera wouldn't allow me to shoot.:mad:

I am assuming that the cameras own Lithium battery need changing, has anyone needed to do that yet? My camera is about 2.5 years old.
 

edwardkaraa

New member
Mine is also 2.5 years old, but I'm using a couple of batteries. The oldest one, that came with the camera, is getting drained faster than the other one, but still usable. Usually Lithium batteries last around 3 years anyway.
 

pegelli

Well-known member
That's a bummer. My A700 is now more than 3 years old and still no real degradation of battery life observed.

The sequence I would try to fix this is:
1 fully load battery
2 put battery in camera
3 leave in overnight, without switching on
4 switch on after 12-14 hours.

The internal battery gets charged by the removable one, so with the sequence above you have maximum chance the problem might be corrected.

If that doesn't work I think Sony service would be the next step.
 

dhsimmonds

New member
I think that I have cracked it! :thumbs:

I use the excellent vertical grip with two batteries and both were giving the same error message. I removed the battery grip from the camera having removed the batteries first, then re-inserted both fully charged batteries in the usual battery compartment on the camera, one works fine, the other is dead!

When the "dead" one is "recharged" again, I suspect it will still be dead but then you never know! The battery in my A700 is just fine and as it is the same type as the A900 they all get swapped around between cameras.

When all the batteries are fully charged again, I will replace the vertical battery grip and see if the problem is fully resolved. At least the camera is working again now! I will report back just in case others get this problem and I will also buy another couple of batteries!;)
 

edwardkaraa

New member
That's good news Dave :)
Just out of curiosity, can you check the serial numbers of the batteries? I bet the dead one has the oldest number.
 

dhsimmonds

New member
Hi Edward, yes it does have the oldest serial number but guess what? It took the charge and is showing 100% capacity in the camera! :D I will keep a careful watch on it's discharge both in use and idle.

I have a sneaking feeling though that either the internal battery needed charging from a fully charged camera battery, or the process of removing and re-fitting the vertical grip solved the problem. I tend to think the former as I haven't used the A900 for a while. The vertical grip hasn't come off the camera since I first fitted it 2.5 years ago! I find that it balances the and long heavy lenses that I use for my natural history work. It also give me enough battery power for really extended shoots.

So far all's well that ends well but I will keep an eye on that battery discharge now!
 

roweraay

New member
This morning on switching on, I saw the error message Lithium Battery[1] in the rear LCD. The camera wouldn't allow me to shoot.:mad:

I am assuming that the cameras own Lithium battery need changing, has anyone needed to do that yet? My camera is about 2.5 years old.
I got my A900 into my grubby paws in October 2008. The battery (and camera) runs like a charm and has never failed me. I have a backup battery too and do pop it in once in a while.

In your case, do we know it is the battery ? Or is it the camera ?:(
 

roweraay

New member
Hi Edward, yes it does have the oldest serial number but guess what? It took the charge and is showing 100% capacity in the camera! :D I will keep a careful watch on it's discharge both in use and idle.
Oops...answered too soon, above. :eek: Glad you got your situation fixed and things are working perfectly well. :)
 
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