ymc226 Posted May 12, 2020 Share #1 Posted May 12, 2020 Advertisement (gone after registration) I was using the Nitecore USB charger for my SL1 and SL2 but read that the Nitecore charger does not charge the battery fully. I read the SL2 manual regarding the Leica suppled charger stating flashing green = charging, orange = 80% and steady green = 100%. My charger reads steady orange + steady green at the same time. Is it still charging or is this light combination mean it is completely charged? There was no mention in the manual regarding the meaning of the 2 lights concurrently lit. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted May 12, 2020 Posted May 12, 2020 Hi ymc226, Take a look here SL2 battery charger question. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
michali Posted May 12, 2020 Share #2 Posted May 12, 2020 (edited) 2 hours ago, ymc226 said: I was using the Nitecore USB charger for my SL1 and SL2 but read that the Nitecore charger does not charge the battery fully. I read the SL2 manual regarding the Leica suppled charger stating flashing green = charging, orange = 80% and steady green = 100%. My charger reads steady orange + steady green at the same time. Is it still charging or is this light combination mean it is completely charged? There was no mention in the manual regarding the meaning of the 2 lights concurrently lit. Steady orange & green at the same time = the battery's fully charged. Edited May 12, 2020 by michali Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
scott kirkpatrick Posted May 12, 2020 Share #3 Posted May 12, 2020 (edited) The Nitecore is a little cruder than the Leica charger. If your battery starts out more than half discharged, it will storm along, charging at a high rate, then stop unpredictable somewhere in the last 20% range. You can see this by moving the battery to the Leica charger and seeing if the green light flashes. You can also just take the battery out of the Nitecore charger and replace it, to finish the job. Nitecore shows the battery's open-circuit voltage. You want to see 8 V or greater, but it often stops at 7.8 or 7.9. Since batteries suffer various kinds of wear when charged to the max or when discharged all the way to their minimum, obsessing over getting the maximum number of shots out of each charge may not be very wise. And battery chemistry is a dark art, so beware of myths. Let Tesla sort out the most subtle problems. Edited May 12, 2020 by scott kirkpatrick Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ymc226 Posted May 12, 2020 Author Share #4 Posted May 12, 2020 Thank you for the replies. Is there truth that if a newish battery is not charged fully for the first several cycles when initially put into service, that long term capacity may be reduced? Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff S Posted May 12, 2020 Share #5 Posted May 12, 2020 FWIW, Leica Miami no longer sells the Nitecore charger for SL due to issues. Jeff Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlashGordonPhotography Posted May 12, 2020 Share #6 Posted May 12, 2020 I have several Nitecore chargers and have not had issues with them yet. I didn't know they don't achieve full charge. Thanks for that. One of my favorite things they upgraded on the SL2 is USBC charging. When travelling I only carry a high power USB charging dock (plus my laptop charger if I take it) and throw a couple of the Nitecores in to charge batteries. I also carry a 10,000maH power brick which I use to top up my phone/watch/camera during the day. I usually rotate the batteries so I suppose I've been completing the charge for whatever battery is in the camera. That'll work fine for my needs. As long as it stops short and doesn't try to overcharge it'll be fine for battery health. I do wish someone would make a proper smart charger for camera batteries that could also do a storage charge for batteries at 60%. The 80% SOC indicator (state of charge) on the Leica charger is too high for long term storage. Lithium batteries don't like storage at very high or low SOC's. Currently I use a timer but this isn't ideal unless the battery has been fully depleted. But it's the best I've got. The Nitecore has a gauge but I'm not sitting there looking at it for an hour. Gordon Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ymc226 Posted August 7, 2020 Author Share #7 Posted August 7, 2020 Advertisement (gone after registration) On 5/12/2020 at 10:35 AM, Jeff S said: FWIW, Leica Miami no longer sells the Nitecore charger for SL due to issues. Jeff I also heard that there were issues with the Nitecore M10 charger which I also purchased. Nowadays, I am back to using the Leica supplied chargers for the SL/2 and M10. I wonder if there are any issues with the M9 Nitecore chargers. They sure are more convenient with travel as they are USB. On the other hand, I am not traveling these days. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SJH Posted August 7, 2020 Share #8 Posted August 7, 2020 Nitecore did have some issues with the original M10 dual battery charger but they produced a version 2 essentially (looked identical) and they replaced mine FOC. I find them great for travel and I’ll probably get one for my SL2 also, I suspect the M10 version 2 updates were then applied to the SL2 version. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
caissa Posted August 7, 2020 Share #9 Posted August 7, 2020 On 5/12/2020 at 6:35 PM, ymc226 said: Thank you for the replies. Is there truth that if a newish battery is not charged fully for the first several cycles when initially put into service, that long term capacity may be reduced? No, where did you get that from ? This memory effect does not happen with modern Li-Ion batteries. But it was common in older technologies. But usually new batteries have first a slightly lower capacity and reach the peak only after several times being used and recharged. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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