"Check Battery Age"

[Steve Ricoh]

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If I remember correctly, Thorsten Overgaard hinted on the M240 Facebook group that Leica would do something about this at the next firmware update. No hint as to when this might happen, however.

[chris_tribble]

If Leica are following this, let's hope they will.  It's very different from the kinds of "battery health check" information you get on devices like laptops. This just feels like a nag which tells you nothing about the actual status of the battery and its capacity to retain a charge. What I would like is a reliable indicator that the battery now only has X% functionality - with a user set threshold.  This would actually be useful.

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[Doug Coulter01]

Yup...very annoying! I've reset it and nothing changes. Seems to still work as normal however. I go through a battery a day and it's still going strong, just has the "Check Battery Life" message. I hate these types of comparisons, but my 1Ds MkIII was bought 08 and both batteries are still work horses.

[Peter Kilmister]

If Leica are following this, let's hope they will.  It's very different from the kinds of "battery health check" information you get on devices like laptops. This just feels like a nag which tells you nothing about the actual status of the battery and its capacity to retain a charge. What I would like is a reliable indicator that the battery now only has X% functionality - with a user set threshold.  This would actually be useful.

 

A very constructive criticism. I do hope Leica take note of your suggestion.

[edwardkaraa]

While at that, I hope that they will do something about the low battery nag screen when it reaches 25%. It's very irritating.

[mirekti]

This will calibrate the battery capacity sensor. But it is not helpful in terms of prolonging the batteries life.

 

Once the battery hits 5% the system reports it is drained. Should I forcibly drain it more or this is enough?

[pico]

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Once the battery hits 5% the system reports it is drained. Should I forcibly drain it more or this is enough?

 

No, and besides I don't think you can drain it further in-camera.

[mirekti]

No, and besides I don't think you can drain it further in-camera.

 

Thanks!!!

Well, the screen goes on so the drainage continues. ...up to some point which I won't test now. :-)

[jaapv]

Don't force-drain it all the way, Li-ion cells can become inoperable if you do so.

[ocean2059]

The message also appeared on my M240 this weekend, which was purchased in 2013.  It might have time-stamp on the battery. 

Edited December 13, 2015 by ocean2059

[indergaard]

My batteries are about 3 years old.

I've always re-charged them when they're at about 40-50% (this is optimal to keep lithium based batteries healthy).

I've also always cycled between two batteries.

I've never gotten any message like this on the M240.

 

If you drain your Lithium batteries below 30-40% frequently, and especially down to 0%, then the battery will have a shorter lifespan (much shorter if you completely drain it frequently). This goes for phones, camera batteries, or any device that uses either Lithium Ion or Lithium Polymer battery technology.

 

The only batteries that needs to be drained completely is the much older NiMH and NiCd type batteries. These types of batteries are basically extinct today, except in cheaper electric and rechargeable shavers and stuff like that. These do need to be drained, otherwise they suffer from a memory effect.

Edited December 13, 2015 by Acros

[jamesbf]

Update on my end. I've had the message on my 240 since Oct 10th (when this thread was started)

 

I'm not a professional but I use my M nearly every day for extended periods of time and so far so good. I'm considering buying a backup battery in case it goes sour on me one day, but for now it seems to be okay. 

 

Thanks for all your updates guys, keep them coming

[rocheung]

I bought my M240 during May 2014, the message came last week. I used it light duty and sometimes swap with my spare one. Comes so early.

[jaapv]

ocean2059, on 13 Dec 2015 - 05:08, said:

The message also appeared on my M240 this weekend, which was purchased in 2013.  It might have time-stamp on the battery. 

Unlikely. Mine was one of the first and has been in daily use since mid-2013. None of my 4 batteries give this warning.

[Overgaard]

Unlikely. Mine was one of the first and has been in daily use since mid-2013. None of my 4 batteries give this warning.

 

The first of my batteries started doing this now. I have five and only one does so far. 

 

It's a time stamp. 

[chris_tribble]

Dear Thorsten, 

A. Happy Christmas!

B. While a time stamp might be informative I'd rather have it stamped on the battery as a "best before" bit of information rather than having it as a red warning sign that doesn't really inform me if I need to take any action.

Do you have any thoughts on the overall life of batteries? Surely it's more to do with the number of recharge cycles than simple chronology?

Best

Edited December 25, 2015 by chris_tribble

[mirekti]

Update on my case:

Camera bought in May 2013 together with extra battery. I keep rotating the batteries and could swear they have the same number of cycles. 
One shows the warring sign, the other does not. 
Tried to empty/reset the battery, but it didn't help. I also didn't notice the battery life was any worse than the other ones (at least not from my point of usage).

Edited December 31, 2015 by mirekti

[Steve Ricoh]

The first of my batteries started doing this now. I have five and only one does so far. 

 

It's a time stamp. 

 

Thorsten, if I'm not mistaken, I thought I had read a message from you, posted on the F/B M240 user group, saying Leica had intentions of resolving this 'irritating' message by implementing an M240 firmware update. Can you say anymore on this? I presume you've been in contact with Leica to be able to say this. 

My apology if I misunderstood your comment on the F/B forum.

[jto555]

When my camera went in for repair with the 'bad' battery they updated some internal software (not firmware) which I suspect may correct the issue.

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Hallo,

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[rocheung]

Thorsten, if I'm not mistaken, I thought I had read a message from you, posted on the F/B M240 user group, saying Leica had intentions of resolving this 'irritating' message by implementing an M240 firmware update. Can you say anymore on this? I presume you've been in contact with Leica to be able to say this. 

My apology if I misunderstood your comment on the F/B forum.

 

Hi, I have reported to this to Germany and local distributor. They said a firmware may released in Q1 2016 to solve this problem. My battery is just 1.5 years old, and also I swap with another one. So light duty usage.