M9 problem - battery charged, camera says "low level"..

[odin_cro]

Hi, please help, I am devastated :-(


Charger says that battery is fully charged, but when I place it in the camera and turn it on, it says "ATTENTION - BATTERY LOW" and it refuses to take a shot...


I have tested the battery, and it seems OK, 4V like declared...


I am having this strange problem since day one with my M9, but usually after few clicks of the shutter and annoying battery low messages, it would work normally.


I accepted the problem, as I am in Croatia, and the whole procedure of sending the camera somewhere for repair is horrible :-( But now, M9 is refusing to work :-(


Anyone had similar trouble?


Also, where I am supposed to send my M9 for warranty repair? To Solms or somewhere

else? Who takes the shipping expenses, me or Leica?


Thank you in advance.



Dinko

[Xmas]

Hi Dinko

Before you post it

a) Try a different battery, stop a tourist...
b) Try zippo fluid on q tip (cotton bud) gently rub on battery and camera contacts.

Noel

[k_g_wolf]

Welcome to this forum !

Is it an original LEICA- accu or a third-party- product ?

I tried a few non LEICA-accus and the camera said "low battery"
even when fully loaded.

Is there a LEICA-dealer where you are ? He should be in a position to
give some advice. Try a second accu in case you can get/ borrow one and check
what´s happening ...


Best
GEORG

[Double Negative]

Could be a bad battery; short of trying another you'd be guessing. You should have a spare anyway - so buy another and see what happens. Go from there.

[jaapv]

Possibly not a great problem. When you get the battery low message press set to override and use the camera until it shuts down completely. Then recharge the battery and there is a good chance it will function normally. If this is a non-Leica battery you will have to do this all the time.If this does not work, as others have said, the most likely culprit is the battery.

[zlatkob]

Related to what Jaap suggested, try turning off the camera's auto power off feature, so that the camera stays on until the battery is fully drained and the camera shuts off from lack of power. This may reset the battery. Then recharge the battery fully. For non-Leica batteries, this is a common problem. For genuine Leica batteries, this should not occur. If it is the original battery, I am guessing Leica would replace it under warranty. Good luck!

[odin_cro]

Thanks everyone for the welcome and good advices.

Battery is genuine Leica, bought it one year ago, and the problem is present all the time, but pressing the shutter couple of times would usually make the annoying message disappear. However, not any more

Unfortunately - I am not able to try another battery, as here in Croatia the closest Leica dealer which might have M9 or the battery in the shop is Venezia or Wien, so that is out of question.

I hoped that this problem happend to somebody already, I wouldn't mine buying a new battery - I prefer that to ship my beloved camera to Solms :-(

Will try the 'SET' button override, hope it will work, also the draining battery solution with 'AUTO OFF' option and cleaning the tip of the contacts on camera and battery.

Thank you very much everybody, have been lurking here a lot, such a great place, I am so in love with my M9, and now it made me so sad :-(

[lct]

Originally Posted by odin_cro

...I am not able to try another battery, as here in Croatia the closest Leica dealer which might have M9 or the battery in the shop is Venezia or Wien, so that is out of question...

Can't you buy new batteries on line? There for instance. Also you can buy cheaper third party batteries on e**y or elsewhere. You'll just have to discharge them completely before recharging to get the battery meter working normally

[odin_cro]

Originally Posted by lct

Can't you buy new batteries on line? There for instance. Also you can buy cheaper third party batteries on e**y or elsewhere. You'll just have to discharge them completely before recharging to get the battery meter working normally

I have decided to risk a new battery puechase before sending the camera to Solms.

Hope it will work...

Thank you for the tip

[fjheimann]

Dink,
I had the same problem.
The battery worked in other m9s.
Had to be fixed in Solms.
If there is guaranty, they will take care for shipping incl. Insurance.
With my m9 it was even so, that I put the battery in another m9 and when I put it back into the first it worked normal, but only for a while,
Franz

The joke is, they could not produce the failure in Solms but changed a "band"
A second battery is never a mistake

[odin_cro]

Originally Posted by fjheimann

Dink,
I had the same problem.
The battery worked in other m9s.
Had to be fixed in Solms.
If there is guaranty, they will take care for shipping incl. Insurance.
With my m9 it was even so, that I put the battery in another m9 and when I put it back into the first it worked normal, but only for a while,
Franz

The joke is, they could not produce the failure in Solms but changed a "band"
A second battery is never a mistake

Dear Franz, thank you for your valuable answer. I called Solms, and they told me that I should take care of shipping cost to Solms, and they will pay the shipping back to me... In my opinion, it would be fair from them to pay both ways...

What would be the 'band' you are mentioning?

[fjheimann]

A flat tape which connects chips,
Franz

[jaapv]

Originally Posted by odin_cro

Dear Franz, thank you for your valuable answer. I called Solms, and they told me that I should take care of shipping cost to Solms, and they will pay the shipping back to me... In my opinion, it would be fair from them to pay both ways...

You can send it for free through your dealer and Leica's organisation. In that case Leica would be paying both ways. However, sending it yourself is faster.

[PasMichiel]

I have the same with the non original.

when it is fully loaded it indicates half full, but when I use it and starts to go empty it then goes fully loaded. So it looks to me that the battery is one and a half times full. so it is fine to my.

[lct]

Originally Posted by PasMichiel

...when it is fully loaded it indicates half full, but when I use it and starts to go empty it then goes fully loaded...

Comes from third party batteries. They need to me fully discharged before recharging to be recognized by the camera. But you know it already i guess.

[odin_cro]

My battery i original I got with the camera...

Seems that I will have to pay for shipping from Croatia to Solms... Now it is totally unredictable - until now I would face the problem only after charging the battery, and after couple of minutes trying to override, I had couple of days without troubles, until the next charge...

But now every time I turn the camera off, there is more than 75% of probability to see 'attention barttery low message' :-(

[ho_co]

Remember, in a case like this there are three possibilities:

1. the camera is at fault and can't read the battery properly;
2. the battery is at fault and won't take a full charge;
3. the charger is at fault and can't charge the battery fully, usually leading to #2 also being the case.

[odin_cro]

Originally Posted by ho_co

Remember, in a case like this there are three possibilities:
[*]the camera is at fault and can't read the battery properly;[*]the battery is at fault and won't take a full charge;[*]the charger is at fault and can't charge the battery fully, usually leading to #2 also being the case.

Thank you...

I would say that #1 is the one to check... Usually, after some time trying to switch it on and off, or removing and reniserting the battery into the camer, it woul 'recognize' the battery status, and m9 would work fine until draining the battery juice... And them after recharging, the same problem reoccurs...

Will definitely send it to Solms...

[jaapv]

I would never do that without checking the camera with another original battery. Chances are the battery is at fault and in that case you would be without the camera for some time before getting it back with the remark "within specifications"...

[odin_cro]

Originally Posted by jaapv

I would never do that without checking the camera with another original battery. Chances are the battery is at fault and in that case you would be without the camera for some time before getting it back with the remark "within specifications"...

Jaap,you convinced me
My M9 battery is on its way from BH Photo already 52$ for shipping, hope it will work )

I would buy the extra battery anyway, and DHL to Solm s would cost me at least 200EUR :-)