Partially charged battery, half capacity SD card question

[billh]

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Partially charged battery, half capacity SD card question

 

One of my M8 batteries only shows three quarters charge when I install it fresh from the charger (I have been leaving a battery plugged into the charger so it will be fully charged when I need it - is this OK?). Is there a way to fix this problem? I am afraid to use a battery not showing a full charge because of the possible links to lockup and failure.

 

I have a “Lexar Professional SD Card, 2 BG 133x Speed” card, but lately it will only hold 1 GB of files. I have reformatted it in the M8, but it has apparently lost half its capacity. Any idea what happened, or how to fix this?

 

Thanks!

 

Bill

[marknorton]

Bill

 

Key to know about Li-Ion batteries is that they go through a charge cycle and the charger then switches off to avoid over-charging them and for safety. there's no concept of trickle charging Li-Ion cells as there is with Ni-Cads. There is therefore no point leaving the battery in once the yellow light has gone out.

 

Actually, when I was working on the charger, I noticed there's a small current drain back into the charger after it's finished, so it might be this which is causing the battery to drain slightly.

 

If you have a voltmeter, you can measure between pins 2 and 6 using "blades" made out of kitchen foil; you should get 4.2 +/- 0.05v on a fully charged cell and about 3.55v on a notionally "empty" cell. Just make sure you don't short the battery contacts - that will blow the internal fuse.

 

As regards your card, some cards have a slide switch which allows them to appear as 2 * 1Gb cards. Check to see if this applies to your card.

[billh]

Bill

 

Key to know about Li-Ion batteries is that they go through a charge cycle and the charger then switches off to avoid over-charging them and for safety. there's no concept of trickle charging Li-Ion cells as there is with Ni-Cads. There is therefore no point leaving the battery in once the yellow light has gone out.

 

Actually, when I was working on the charger, I noticed there's a small current drain back into the charger after it's finished, so it might be this which is causing the battery to drain slightly.

 

If you have a voltmeter, you can measure between pins 2 and 6 using "blades" made out of kitchen foil; you should get 4.2 +/- 0.05v on a fully charged cell and about 3.55v on a notionally "empty" cell. Just make sure you don't short the battery contacts - that will blow the internal fuse.

 

As regards your card, some cards have a slide switch which allows them to appear as 2 * 1Gb cards. Check to see if this applies to your card.

 

 

Thank you Mark!

[Knorp]

Hi Bill,

I have the same issue with my (original) battery, shortly after the yellow led switches off I place the battery in my camera and it will only shows for 75% charged (2 bars). Oddly enough the battery indicator right after switching on the camera sometimes just jumps briefly back and forth between 100% and 75% but always settles for 75%. Voltage after full charge is between 4.17 and 4.19. As my second battery is just working fine, I contacted my dealer and we I agreed to have the battery exchanged.

Bart.