K5 Battery power problem

beanphoto · 10-21-2013, 01:55 AM

Hi, I've had my K5 several years now, and love it. Recently however, it has developed some unusual behaviour with various batteries. I have several (original and copies) and till lately no problems with any of them. Now,my K5 will not power up with 2 of my batteries (inc the original Pentax one) despite being fully charged in Pentax charger. I recently updated to the latest firmware. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Adam · 10-21-2013, 01:57 AM

Originally posted by beanphoto

Hi, I've had my K5 several years now, and love it. Recently however, it has developed some unusual behaviour with various batteries. I have several (original and copies) and till lately no problems with any of them. Now,my K5 will not power up with 2 of my batteries (inc the original Pentax one) despite being fully charged in Pentax charger. I recently updated to the latest firmware. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

How old are the batteries? AFAIK they're each rated for a total of 500 charge cycles.

beanphoto · 10-21-2013, 02:01 AM

Thanks Adam, the oldest one is the original (so, 3 years), but I don't think it's had more than 100 charges.

Stone G. · 10-21-2013, 06:42 AM

Lithium batteries - like all rechargeables - do age irreversibly over time irrespective of the number of cycles. How fast, depends on how they have been stored, (i.e.: whether charged or not, storage temperature, humidity....). Lithium batteries do not suffer from the memory problem known from certain other types. Still, they may eventually loose the capacity to deliver a sufficient current when the camera is being powered up even though they have apparently been charged to the appropriate voltage.

Since you do have some batteries working with your camera, while only two will not, I suspect that you only have a battery problem and not a camera problem. However, the capacitors in older camera bodies have been known to develop "agening diseases" too. (Just ask my *ist DL).

beanphoto · 10-21-2013, 11:53 AM

Thanks Stone G. I must agree I think it is most likely a battery problem. But I'm not as yet entirely convinced. It seems quite random wether it will accept the battery or not. Sometimed it is happy ro accept if I give the battery contacts a quick clean. Sometimes not. Plus one if tge batterues is old but one is pretty new and hardly used. Sometimes the fully charged battery can lsst several hours. Sometimes just a few minutes. All began after the last firmware update. Which also did a factory reset first time usong after the update.

**jatrax** · 10-21-2013, 12:07 PM

Originally posted by beanphoto

happy ro accept if I give the battery contacts a quick clean. Sometimes not.

Might be a clue....

Try cleaning the camera contacts and the charger contacts as well as the battery ones. And you might mark the batteries if you have not and track which ones cause problems. I had a problem that seemed random to me but when I really kept track found it was only one battery (out of 5) that was bad. I just kept getting it mixed into the lot so it seemed like I had more problems than I did. Once I found the bad one and pulled it out, all my problems went away.

10-21-2013, 01:55 AM	#1
beanphoto New Member Join Date: Oct 2013 Posts: 22	K5 Battery power problem Hi, I've had my K5 several years now, and love it. Recently however, it has developed some unusual behaviour with various batteries. I have several (original and copies) and till lately no problems with any of them. Now,my K5 will not power up with 2 of my batteries (inc the original Pentax one) despite being fully charged in Pentax charger. I recently updated to the latest firmware. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

10-21-2013, 01:57 AM	#2
Adam Administrator Site Webmaster Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Arizona Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 51,595	Originally posted by beanphoto Hi, I've had my K5 several years now, and love it. Recently however, it has developed some unusual behaviour with various batteries. I have several (original and copies) and till lately no problems with any of them. Now,my K5 will not power up with 2 of my batteries (inc the original Pentax one) despite being fully charged in Pentax charger. I recently updated to the latest firmware. Any help would be greatly appreciated. How old are the batteries? AFAIK they're each rated for a total of 500 charge cycles. Adam PentaxForums.com Webmaster (Site Usage Guide \| Site Help \| My Photography) PentaxForums.com server and development costs are user-supported. You can help cover these costs by donating or purchasing one of our Pentax eBooks. Or, buy your photo gear from our affiliates, Adorama, B&H Photo, KEH, or Topaz Labs, and get FREE Marketplace access - click here to see how! Trusted Pentax retailers:

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10-21-2013, 02:01 AM	#3
beanphoto New Member Join Date: Oct 2013 Posts: 22 Original Poster	Thanks Adam, the oldest one is the original (so, 3 years), but I don't think it's had more than 100 charges.

10-21-2013, 06:42 AM	#4
Stone G. Pentaxian Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: North Zealand, Denmark Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 1,516	Lithium batteries - like all rechargeables - do age irreversibly over time irrespective of the number of cycles. How fast, depends on how they have been stored, (i.e.: whether charged or not, storage temperature, humidity....). Lithium batteries do not suffer from the memory problem known from certain other types. Still, they may eventually loose the capacity to deliver a sufficient current when the camera is being powered up even though they have apparently been charged to the appropriate voltage. Since you do have some batteries working with your camera, while only two will not, I suspect that you only have a battery problem and not a camera problem. However, the capacitors in older camera bodies have been known to develop "agening diseases" too. (Just ask my *ist DL).

10-21-2013, 11:53 AM	#5
beanphoto New Member Join Date: Oct 2013 Posts: 22 Original Poster	Thanks Stone G. I must agree I think it is most likely a battery problem. But I'm not as yet entirely convinced. It seems quite random wether it will accept the battery or not. Sometimed it is happy ro accept if I give the battery contacts a quick clean. Sometimes not. Plus one if tge batterues is old but one is pretty new and hardly used. Sometimes the fully charged battery can lsst several hours. Sometimes just a few minutes. All began after the last firmware update. Which also did a factory reset first time usong after the update.

10-21-2013, 12:07 PM	#6
jatrax Site Supporter Join Date: May 2010 Location: Washington Cascades Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 12,991	Originally posted by beanphoto happy ro accept if I give the battery contacts a quick clean. Sometimes not. Might be a clue.... Try cleaning the camera contacts and the charger contacts as well as the battery ones. And you might mark the batteries if you have not and track which ones cause problems. I had a problem that seemed random to me but when I really kept track found it was only one battery (out of 5) that was bad. I just kept getting it mixed into the lot so it seemed like I had more problems than I did. Once I found the bad one and pulled it out, all my problems went away.