Do Leica batteries typically comes empty?

[futogfr]

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I've bought a brand new battery for Leica m10p but it came in completely dead. The dealer said it came to them Dec 2023. Is it a defect or should be ok if it takes charge? It's currently still on the charger with blinking green light.

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[Al Brown]

Sometimes batteries that have been stored for long come completely dead. It is a more accurate indicator than the word from the dealer. They could also have gotten an older stock on December 2023. Revive it and put it through its pace, it should pick up. Not a thing to worry about.

Edited February 10, 2024 by Al Brown

[BruceRH]

I recently bought a battery for my M11-P, it was completely discharged. The 2 batteries for my Olympus OM-1 were also completely discharged when new. I believe it is to prevent run away fires when shipping large quantities of batteries.

[futogfr]

I charged to a point where both led light flashed constantly, still not powering up the camera. Reading from other posts it indicates a charging error. This is my 2nd dead battery now

Edited February 10, 2024 by futogfr

[jaapv]

3 hours ago, Al Brown said:

Sometimes batteries that have been stored for long come completely dead. It is a more accurate indicator than the word from the dealer. They could also have gotten an older stock on December 2023. Revive it and put it through its pace, it should pick up. Not a thing to worry about.

They may work but the lifespan will be severely curtailed by the deep discharge. It can also cause an internal short circuit.

[tomasis7]

2 hours ago, BruceRH said:

I recently bought a battery for my M11-P, it was completely discharged. The 2 batteries for my Olympus OM-1 were also completely discharged when new. I believe it is to prevent run away fires when shipping large quantities of batteries.

30% is good. I ordered Lifepo4 for different purposes. I got it at such level from China after 2 weeks of shipping. 

If 0% at any battery, it is severely damaged due to chemistry. Most smaller devices use 18650 cells, generally more "explosive" than lifepo4, indeed. But 30% is safe anyway. 

[Al Brown]

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I discharge batteries completely on a regular basis when I run out of juice when shooting. No problems in years on all my BP-SCL-5 units.

[jaapv]

There is no need to discharge LiIon batteries regularly as opposed to NiCad as they have no memory effect. It may be needed to reset the BMU occasionally this way when they seem to have lost capacity. But the number of charge-discharge cycles is finite. 
However Leica appears to use high quality cells. I still have a couple of original M8 batteries from 2006-2007 that are quite usable. All cheap third party ones have died over the years. 

[tomasis7]

Like with electric cars, it has some capacity left even if the computer says 0%. 

I managed to destroy some 18650 without protection though it wasn't good quality ones. 

200quid is insane but I guess it is a custom order due unusual size. 

[mujk]

All batteries slowly discharge when in storage. For lithium batteries the optimal long term storage charge level is 50% (maximises battery life). This means that many manufacturers target this charge level at the time of manufacture. So it is really no big surprise that the battery shows 0% when eventually purchased. This does not necessarily mean a deep discharge. If the battery charges normally and reaches the expected capacity after a number of discharge-charge cycles everything should be OK.

[Norm3]

I recently was in Riga and they had nothing but dead, unchargeable batteries. I purchased one battery and it held no charge. I tried to charge but eventually both LEDs on the charger were blinking, indicating a problem with the battery. I have another M10 battery that came with the camera, and it charges fine in my charger, so it was not a charger issue. The Leica representative for Latvia tested his other M10 batteries and all were dead. He luckily stood behind the brand and refunded my purchase. 

I've just purchased a battery in Stockholm from an official Leica shop with what looks like the same problem. The battery held no charge when purchased - completely dead in my camera. I have now put in the charger hoping for better luck, but the battery should hold some charge after 30 minutes in the charger and last checked it did not. It appears to have exactly the same issue as the ones in Riga, but hopefully I'll be proven wrong. 

These are all official Leica shops - Leica signs all over the place, branded as Leica, run by Leica reps. They have received their batteries from Leica, so what are we to conclude? One battery could be forgiven, but three batteries all sold in sealed Leica boxes proven dead is a serious quality control problem. 

[jaapv]

It certainly is. A battery should come come 50% charged. 

[mujk]

I purchase an M10 battery last September from a local Leica retailer in Helsinki. It was partially charged and seems to be OK.