dant Posted August 12, 2014 Share #1 Posted August 12, 2014 Advertisement (gone after registration) If the battery indicator shows a 70% charge left does it hurt the battery if it is recharged? I had heard some batteries have a memory and need to be fully discharged before charging. Are Leica M240 or MM batteries prone to this issue? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted August 12, 2014 Posted August 12, 2014 Hi dant, Take a look here Will it hurt a partial discharge battery to recharge it?. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
JohnJWhite Posted August 12, 2014 Share #2 Posted August 12, 2014 Not a factor with the M battery. Charge away. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted August 12, 2014 Share #3 Posted August 12, 2014 That is NiCad batteries. In the case of Li-ion batteries it is actually better for them to have partial recharges. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jai Posted August 12, 2014 Share #4 Posted August 12, 2014 The 240 has a li-ion battery hence do not worry about damaging it nor totaling cycle counts; all your partial recharges sum up to become cycles. So feel free to charge as and when you like. Unlike Ni-Cad batteries, there is no memory effect; viz. never letting a battery completely discharge would make the battery not know the real 0% - that is why NI-Cad come with recommended periodical complete discharge to erase this 'memory'. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Herr Barnack Posted August 12, 2014 Share #5 Posted August 12, 2014 Due to the somewhat ambiguous translation of the battery charging information in the M240 manual, I have talked to several people about charging the battery, to include Leica NJ's tech man and 3-4 people at different official Leica dealers. The recurring theme of what I have been told by these numerous sources is that the battery is pretty much impossible to damage by overcharging, and that there is no risk in recharging to 100% a battery that is partially charged, regardless of the amount of charge it holds. The 80% charge indicator is on the charger so that if you need a battery quickly, you can charge one to 80% and be assured of having an adequate power reserve for most shooting situations. Of course, if you will be shooting a lot of video, a 100% charged battery is always best to have in your camera. Hope this information helps... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanJW Posted August 13, 2014 Share #6 Posted August 13, 2014 While running a battery down to 0 or close is not required before recharging, there seems to be some merit to a periodic discharge fully/charge cycle. One of my two batteries recently would simply not get past 90% even after an overnight charge. I ran it down to zero (shutting off the auto shutoff in the camera) and recharged it, then did that two more times and it now charges to 100% and seems fine. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
indergaard Posted August 14, 2014 Share #7 Posted August 14, 2014 Advertisement (gone after registration) While running a battery down to 0 or close is not required before recharging, there seems to be some merit to a periodic discharge fully/charge cycle. One of my two batteries recently would simply not get past 90% even after an overnight charge. I ran it down to zero (shutting off the auto shutoff in the camera) and recharged it, then did that two more times and it now charges to 100% and seems fine. You hurt your battery more than you did it good by performing those complete discharges. You should avoid to completely discharge Lithium-Ion and Lithium-Polymer batteries. You will loose battery capacity quicker if you discharge them to 0% capacity. If you want to keep the batteries at their healthiest they should be re-charged to 100% whenever they are at about 40% capacity. This is the case with any Li-Ion or Li-Polymer battery, no matter what device they are being used in. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
algrove Posted August 14, 2014 Share #8 Posted August 14, 2014 So which is correct here with #6 versus #7? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted August 14, 2014 Share #9 Posted August 14, 2014 #7 However, if the battery needs to be recalibrated to the camera, you have no choice but #6. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tookaphotoof Posted August 14, 2014 Share #10 Posted August 14, 2014 You hurt your battery more than you did it good by performing those complete discharges.You should avoid to completely discharge Lithium-Ion and Lithium-Polymer batteries. You will loose battery capacity quicker if you discharge them to 0% capacity. If you want to keep the batteries at their healthiest they should be re-charged to 100% whenever they are at about 40% capacity. This is the case with any Li-Ion or Li-Polymer battery, no matter what device they are being used in. The manual clearly states I should run my batteries completely empty every now and then. If I remember correctly every 20-25 times. Something I, as a complete battery noob, can accept as probably true, if it wasn't for the fact Leica also seems to advice me to clean my sensor with a can of compressed air. So on the battery case, who's really right? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff S Posted August 14, 2014 Share #11 Posted August 14, 2014 ...The manual clearly states I should run my batteries completely empty every now and then. If I remember correctly every 20-25 times…. From the M240 manual… "A new battery only reaches full capacity after it has been fully charged and - by use in the camera - discharged again 2 or 3 times. This discharge procedure should be repeated every 25 cycles." This is contrary to information elsewhere regarding Lithium-ion batteries. And the subject has been discussed here before, with contradictory advice. I don't follow the manual in this case, and have never had a problem with batteries that have good life remaining, with either the M8.2 or new M. Jeff Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlashGordonPhotography Posted August 14, 2014 Share #12 Posted August 14, 2014 You cant completely discharge the battery in camera. It shuts down before the battery is completely discharged. So it is quite fine to run a camera until it wont run anymore. If you were to hook up a torch bulb to the battery you could completely run it to zero and this would probably ruin the battery completely. A periodic "full" cycle is really only to reset the controller chip in the battery which is what controls the cut off and displayed battery percentage accurately ( which is why chinese knockoffs in the M9 dont work. They dont have the controller chip). So comment 6 and 7 are both correct if discharge is done in camera. It's a complete cycle but doesn't completely flatten the battery. Gordon Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
elgenper Posted August 14, 2014 Share #13 Posted August 14, 2014 Here Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanJW Posted August 15, 2014 Share #14 Posted August 15, 2014 You cant completely discharge the battery in camera. It shuts down before the battery is completely discharged. So it is quite fine to run a camera until it wont run anymore. If you were to hook up a torch bulb to the battery you could completely run it to zero and this would probably ruin the battery completely. A periodic "full" cycle is really only to reset the controller chip in the battery which is what controls the cut off and displayed battery percentage accurately ( which is why chinese knockoffs in the M9 dont work. They dont have the controller chip). So comment 6 and 7 are both correct if discharge is done in camera. It's a complete cycle but doesn't completely flatten the battery. Gordon Thank you for the clarification. And I am glad I did not in fact discharge my battery to zero, but the discharge in camera and recharge does work to reset the controller chip so the camera shows the correct percentage of charge. One question I have is whether the battery when nearing the end of its life simply dies abruptly or more gradually will not take a full charge. It would be nice to know. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted August 15, 2014 Share #15 Posted August 15, 2014 From DMR experience: the number of shots per charge keeps declining. When it comes down to a couple of dozen per charge you get fed up and replace the battery / have it repaired. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lct Posted August 15, 2014 Share #16 Posted August 15, 2014 You cant completely discharge the battery in camera. It shuts down before the battery is completely discharged. So it is quite fine to run a camera until it wont run anymore... +1 and it is the only way to use third party batteries on the M8 without getting false meter readings. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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