Battery Charging Cycle

[Nimar]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

Through a sequence of events I find myself with four m10 batteries and have been wondering about the best strategy for keeping them charged.  Basic premise is I will be cycling through them evenly but am undecided if it makes more sense to charge the first dead battery right away or alternatively only when I am a second battery deep in use. The logic behind option 2. is to reduce the time between charging and actual use, as I assume there is some natural discharge over time.
 

Option 1.

Charge the dead battery as soon as its dead and add back to rotation.

Option 2.

Have batteries A,B,C,D

Use A till spent, start using B.

Use B till spent, start using C and charge D

Use C till spent, charge A and so on.

 

After writing this down (Rubber Ducking) I think Option 1. probably makes more sense.  Anyone else do anything whacky like this?

 

 

 

[TomB_tx]

I have 2 batteries and charge as soon as it drops to the limit, and store until needed - as I'm not shooting much lately that may be a month or more. I did the same with my M9, and the M9 battery would last a few months and charge would drop very little. The M10 batteries drop to about 75% in a month or so just loose in my bag. So the M10 batteries don't hold a charge as well as the M9 did. So maybe charging just before use is a better strategy.

[Advertisement]

The Leica Q3 is available for pre-order at B&H Photo Video and Adorama

[jakontil]

5 hours ago, Nimar said:

Through a sequence of events I find myself with four m10 batteries and have been wondering about the best strategy for keeping them charged.  Basic premise is I will be cycling through them evenly but am undecided if it makes more sense to charge the first dead battery right away or alternatively only when I am a second battery deep in use. The logic behind option 2. is to reduce the time between charging and actual use, as I assume there is some natural discharge over time.
 

Option 1.

Charge the dead battery as soon as its dead and add back to rotation.

Option 2.

Have batteries A,B,C,D

Use A till spent, start using B.

Use B till spent, start using C and charge D

Use C till spent, charge A and so on.

 

After writing this down (Rubber Ducking) I think Option 1. probably makes more sense.  Anyone else do anything whacky like this?

 

 

 

Option 2 

i run 3 batteries, cycling through each as fair as possible, means when it hits 30-40% is swapped

Edited February 27, 2023 by jakontil

[dugby]

Your charging strategies probably depend more the frequency of battery usage, ie do you use the 4 batteries every day or do you use 4 batteries over multiple days(weeks?)

When the camera battery meter registers the battery to be close to zero percent,  the battery is not close to zero volts, I have measured this with a volt meter.  It still has many volts of charge, however it’s voltage is below the minimum required to drive the electronics.

I have noticed that storing fully charged batteries for some time prior to usage, they lose some charge (your Option 1).

So your “Option 2” plan on keeping a so called “flat battery” aside until just prior to “charging and immediate usage” is probably a better strategy.

 

 

Many OEM battery chargers have intelligent battery management that avoid over charging so as to protect the longevity of the battery cell life.

I also label my batteries so that I know which to use next… “ best practice “ to balance their usage.

Edited February 27, 2023 by dugby

[Nimar]

7 hours ago, dugby said:

Your charging strategies probably depend more the frequency of battery usage, ie do you use the 4 batteries every day or do you use 4 batteries over multiple days(weeks?)

When the camera battery meter registers the battery to be close to zero percent,  the battery is not close to zero volts, I have measured this with a volt meter.  It still has many volts of charge, however it’s voltage is below the minimum required to drive the electronics.

I have noticed that storing fully charged batteries for some time prior to usage, they lose some charge (your Option 1).

So your “Option 2” plan on keeping a so called “flat battery” aside until just prior to “charging and immediate usage” is probably a better strategy.

 

 

Many OEM battery chargers have intelligent battery management that avoid over charging so as to protect the longevity of the battery cell life.

I also label my batteries so that I know which to use next… “ best practice “ to balance their usage.

Probably going through a battery a week in normal use, special circumstances up to two a week. Which is why I had the delay charged idea. 
 

Just need a good system so I don’t find myself with zero charged batteries by mistake. 

[KFo]

I used to have a camera system that I kept four batteries.  I did this:

Grab a fresh battery off the charger and put in camera.  Put another battery on the charger.  I always put used batteries next to the charger so I'd know that they need charging and keep charged batteries with the camera.  They had numbers on them, not for charge management but more for knowing if a particular battery seemed underperforming.

I know this will cause titters, but I always leave a battery on the charger.