M 10 Monochrome will not turn on

[Wilkes]

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This beautiful camera has not been used in over 16 months  due to ease of Q2M.    
 

As I am drawn to the camera and hungry for facing the focusing challenge again, I want to use it.  But it will not turn on.  
 

Each of the two Leica batteries has been fully charged, confirmed by the Nitecore double charger’s indicators.   
 

I have tried different ScanDisks.  
 

any ideas ?

 

thank you 

[Keith (M)]

Isn't there a small internal battery that keeps track of time & date etc?  Maybe this has become exhausted so try plugging the camera into the mains and see if that wakes up the camera.

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[UliWer]

vor 29 Minuten schrieb Wilkes:

confirmed by the Nitecore double charger’s indicators.

Did you try to charge the battery by the original charger which comes with the camera?

[Wilkes]

Will try the instruction manual later to locate if a way to plug camera directly.   It is not obvious.  
 

thank you

[Wilkes]

I will hunt to see if I have original charger  

 

thank you

[UliWer]

vor 4 Minuten schrieb Wilkes:

to locate if a way to plug camera directly.   It is not obvious.  

Out of interest I've searched the manual - but I don't find anything about "plugging the camera to the mains". No idea how to do this. 

[Jeff S]

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Buy a new battery; charge it fully using Leica charger; and insert in camera. Small price to pay for not properly charging battery periodically when sitting idle for extended periods, as manual recommends.  Internal battery should recharge (and you’ll need to reset date, time, etc); otherwise will likely require service. 
 

Jeff

[Wilkes]

I will hunt to see if I have original charger  

 

thank you

 

Jeff,

Away from M10M location until  mid December.  Perhaps will locate original charger by then and will retry.

thank you

[ramarren]

You could just try fitting a charged battery into the camera and letting it sit a day or two before trying to turn it on. As far as I'm aware, the small "internal battery" is actually a large, slow capacitor, and if you just let the circuitry sit with a charged battery load on it, it will likely recharge. 

Digital cameras take maintenance. If you're going to let the camera sit for an extended period of time, unused, you should read up owner's manual what is recommended. In the case of the M10-M: 

 

Quote

 

CARE/STORAGE

We recommend the following if the camera will not be used for an extended period of time:

– Switching the camera off

– Remove the memory card

– Remove the battery (after approx. 2 months the set date and time will be lost)

 

This says to me that the 'internal backup battery" is actually a large, slow drain capacitor. A large, slow-drain capacitor is also a large, slow-charge capacitor ... so try what I wrote in my first paragraph and see if it works.

G

[Wilkes]

 Remarren,

your suggestion makes sense to me.   
 

i will be back at M10m’s location Dec 9th and will try leaving fully charged battery in camera for a few hours before attempting to activate.   I’ll report back. 
 

thank you, 

 

[ramarren]

Wilkes, 

I recommend giving it a full 24 hours for the internal battery (capacitor) to charge up a usable amount. I seem to recall that somewhere in the Quick Start documentation it said that the internal battery would be charging to capacity over the course of the first week or so of operation with a fully charged battery installed and to expect full battery service life between charges to be compromised for that period of time. 

G

[overexposed]

earlier this year i bought a m10 reporter, sealed, i opened it and the camera wouldnt turn on with the delivered battery.

the original charger wouldnt charge it, kept blinking.

turns out those batteries die when not regularely charged/discharged. got a new battery for free from leica. and all is well

 

[Wilkes]

Overexposed,

I will  contact Leica.

Oddly, this has happened to two Leica batteries   

 

Thank you,

 

 

 

 

[RobW0]

On 11/19/2023 at 11:38 AM, Wilkes said:

This beautiful camera has not been used in over 16 months  due to ease of Q2M.    
 

As I am drawn to the camera and hungry for facing the focusing challenge again, I want to use it.  But it will not turn on.  
 

Each of the two Leica batteries has been fully charged, confirmed by the Nitecore double charger’s indicators.   
 

I have tried different ScanDisks.  
 

any ideas ?

 

thank you 

I have had bad and inconsistent luck with the Nitecore chargers (Q2/3 and M10R). I have found that the best charger for the Leica batteries is the Leica charger. I wish the Q charger had a 12V input like the M10R charger.

[Avatar]

I had a similar problem last year. After sitting unused (with battery) out, I had trouble turning my M10M on. I'd have to switch on and off a few times before it would stay on.

Then it started working fine but the problem returned and I sent it to Leica NJ to look at.

They checked the camera and if I remember said it was either fine or fixed and returned it.

Couple of weeks later had the same problem!

Sent back again and spoke to them to make sure they understood it was sometimes an intermittent problem.

Finally got the camera back working perfectly.

Interestingly I had left an SD card in the camera and saw that someone took it out to shoot! Took a few night pictures probably outside where they are located.

Camera worked fine since repair.

Not sure what was fixed but it not battery related.

Best of luck, Leica NJ was great even if it took 2x to get it right!

 

 

Edited November 20, 2023 by Avatar