R8 Battery Indicator Flashing?

[masjah]

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My R8 batteries went flat. Usual thing, first the half-full indicator (batteries on the way out) then the half-full indicator with nothing working (batteries flat). I duly changed them. What I then got was a FLASHING half-full indicator. So I took the new ones out, put them back in again, and this time, everything was fine, full battery diidcator. I couldn't find a reference to a flashing half-full battery indicator in the manual (though maybe I didn't look hard enough). Anyone know what it means?

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[mhoersch]

Don't know what it means but had the same experience today with a newly acquired DMR and a fully charged battery. Charged the battery some more - then everything was fine.

[rick_dykstra]

It’s now 2022 and after rebuilding a DMR battery pack I’m seeing the half full battery symbol, which is flashing, straight after the first full charge.
The battery pack with its new batteries was charged for over two hours until the red charging light went out. Given the advice from mhoersch above, I’m going to discharge the battery some more, until voltage measurements suggest it’s about used up, then give it a full charge again. I’ll report back with what happens.  

[rick_dykstra]

10 hours ago, rick_dykstra said:

It’s now 2022 and after rebuilding a DMR battery pack I’m seeing the half full battery symbol, which is flashing, straight after the first full charge.
The battery pack with its new batteries was charged for over two hours until the red charging light went out. Given the advice from mhoersch above, I’m going to discharge the battery some more, until voltage measurements suggest it’s about used up, then give it a full charge again. I’ll report back with what happens.  

Ok. After putting my rebuilt battery pack (with new Sanyo UF103450P cells) through a good workout in my R8/DMR, I charged the battery with the Leica DMR battery charger. This was the second charge for the batteries, after a fairly deep first discharge. The second charge was shorter than the first, done with the new cells, which were at a low state of charge; slightly over two hours versus an hour and a half. I left the battery connected to the charger for an hour after the red charging light extinguished. Voltages of the battery contacts at the end of the second charging were 8.19V and 7.60V.

Result: the battery symbol in the display on the back of the DMR is full and not flashing. Success!

I will now rebuild my other two battery packs and get some good use out of my R8/DMR and R lenses. Should I tell my wife I don’t need that SL2 with R and M adapters after all?

[rick_dykstra]

I rebuilt my second and third R8 R9 DMR battery packs. Initial tests with these resulted in the flashing half empty battery symbol on the DMR display. I put the second battery through some work, but not nearly as much as I did with the first, then charged it to full again. The result is that the battery symbol no longer flashes, but is showing half full. I will run it down to a much deeper discharge, then recharge it and see what happens.

The problem with these rebuilt batteries is they last for ages!

I plan to follow the best practice with storing lithium batteries between uses, which is to not leave them sitting idle for more than a few days at a full state of charge (SOC). It's best to run them down to around 50% SOC or lower.

[jip]

Very nice, I still regret setting my DMR. 

I have the R8 and my lenses still but sold the DMR. I enjoyed the colours and images it gave, but it was quirky to use. Often the DMR and the R8 didn't sync the ISO properly. And then the images were over or under exposed etc.

[rick_dykstra]

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On 8/1/2022 at 10:37 AM, rick_dykstra said:

The result is that the battery symbol no longer flashes, but is showing half full. I will run it down to a much deeper discharge, then recharge it and see what happens.

After discharging the rebuilt battery pack to a deeper state of discharge and then recharging it is now being represented by a full battery symbol on the back of the DMR, with no flashing. The same procedure was required for the third rebuilt battery pack. All three are now working well. 🙂

[rick_dykstra]

12 hours ago, jip said:

Very nice, I still regret setting my DMR. 

I have the R8 and my lenses still but sold the DMR. I enjoyed the colours and images it gave, but it was quirky to use. Often the DMR and the R8 didn't sync the ISO properly. And then the images were over or under exposed etc.

Hi Jip. Yes, I’m very happy with the colours and skin tones coming from the DMR. I hardly notice the crop factor and the respective lines on the focussing screen. These are a match to the view through an M camera, which makes it all seem normal. I’ve had no problems using my DMR with two R8 bodies. It lives on a late production chrome R8, which makes for a good looking combo.

It feels funny sometimes, to be enjoying my R and M setups as much as I do, knowing what’s out there now. It looks like you’ve adopted the S system?? Wow. If my R system APO-Telyt modul lenses could fit …. . And so I’m weighing up the SL2 and SL2-S, along with wondering about the next one. Hmmmm. Is there a word for window shopping online?

[Gus-R]

Hi, 

I bought a Motordrive and the battery only charges up to 1 Red Light. I'm trying discharging the battery several times and re charging them on with the button for discharge that comes on the charger. I saw a video on youtube about the same problem that I'm having.  Last night on the fourth discharge and charge cycle it went up  to 2 red lights. But today I'm still again on one light. I'll try a couple of more times so see if there is an improvement.

How can I rebuilt the battery ?. Can I do it myself or do i need to send the battery to somewhere?. 

Thanks for the help that you can provide.

[rick_dykstra]

6 hours ago, Gus-R said:

How can I rebuilt the battery ?. Can I do it myself or do i need to send the battery to somewhere?. 

Hello Gus. 
I have rebuilt an R8 motor drive battery, using new NiMH cells. You will need to know how to do soldering. This is fairly easy to learn if you are not already experienced. You don’t need an expensive soldering iron either. A cheap 30 or 40W model will do fine.
The first thing to do is to open up the old battery pack and see how many cells you need to order. IIRC, it’s eight. If possible, buy new cells that have soldering tags already attached, as this makes the soldering work much easier. The cells need to be the same size and type, which means that if the original cells do not have bumps at the positive end, be sure to get the same type, so they fit. The bumps can add length to the battery.

I will be happy to guide you through the process if you wish. You will enjoy using the battery and motor drive that you have repaired yourself. 

Regards, Rick.

[Gus-R]

Thank you so much!

Actually today I charged it and still have one light . However i put the battery into the motordrive and test it with the camera with no film. I was able to shot more than 300 times and the sound was ok like it was doing everything  correctly. I wonder how many rolls can you shoot with the full battery and thinking on my battery . I  never will shoot 300 frames in a single day so i think even with more energy due to the rewind  the battery that I have can work. 

Next month I'll try to replace the NiMH cells and practicing a little bit of soldering.

Thank  you again for the help. I'll keep you posted of my skills soldering.