[rafoarc]

Isn't that precisely what you said it was doing before it failed entirely?

Sure. I am just wondering if this could be also the problem for the case I have now, which is that the camera does not power on at all.
Qs tend to be a little more expensive on this side of the Atlantic, but I guess that would be my last option anyway. I can not be without a Q :-)

[MegaPower]

I had the same experience a few months ago.
After leaving the Q unused for an extended period, it does not turn on.
I had 1 OEM, 1 aftermarket battery
I tried all the possibilities and it won't work.

After 2,3 days, it turn on and work as normal.
For the next couple days, sometimes it works, sometimes not. (both battery are fully charged)
This situation goes on and off for about 2-3weeks and go back to normal. Never happen again.
I now turn on the camera at least once a week.

[alliumnsk]

I had a similar problem with camera turning off immediately after being turned on. I've found it was loose SD card door sensor. I put a paper do it to make it always "closed". I decided not to use warranty repair -- it could take months.

[Zelig]

My original Pentax Q also died and for several months wouldn't turn on or give any signs of life.
I hadn't use it for several months and when I tried to turn it on it would not start. If I remember correctly, it turn on once and for some reason I've turn it off and back on again and didn't turn on anymore.

First I thought the battery was dead. I've test it with a multimeter and it looked OK.

I've bought and tried with a new battery and still nothing.

For the next three or four months I've tried to turn it on three or four times a week with no success. Not knowing what else to try I've tried to heat up the camera and the battery with a hair dryer. Separately! Yes, it sounds desperate. I don't remember what made me do it. Maybe I thought that it might be moister.

I have never let the camera get screaming hot but it was clearly warm to the touch. Also, beware that lithium batteries don't like to get to hot.
(Edit: When heating the camera I took the lens out!)

I had to do it more than once but not to many times. If I remember correctly the camera turn on on the second attempt, maybe third. I was completely surprised.

After that every time I changed battery the camera would loose the date and time settings. This made me believe that the problem relates with the internal battery that keeps these settings. Lithium batteries cut off power when their voltage gets to low. Maybe this left the internal battery with no way of charging itself. And maybe the internal battery has also something to do with the camera boot procedure or boot settings?

I've tried to change batteries as quickly as possible and I've also tried to change SD cards as someone in the forum suggests but nothing worked. I thought that I would have to live with that 'bug' but I was happy that at least the camera worked.

Fortunately, after a month or so even this issue disappeared! Maybe the internal battery slowly recovered and was able to keep some charge? Who knows?

Since then I always make sure that the Q battery is fully charged even when I'm not using it.

That's it, hope this can help you.

Vitor

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Last edited by Zelig; 04-14-2016 at 04:54 AM.

[rafoarc]

Zelig, I think I am going to try heating it up! Actually, I send it to the service, they said that the 'powering circuit' (if that is how it is called in eng) was dead. They asked 90euros to replace it. I found a like new used body for 80 and I went for that. So I still have a non working body that I can experiment with heating :-)

[wolfiegirl]

I also have a q that refuses to switch on - it has been neglected in lieu of newer toys it gives me hope that perhaps my camera is fixable as I'm on the verge of just ditching it...

[hnikesch]

The fact that is losses time settings means that the battery discharges while in the camera and lets the capacitor also discharge, that means bad batteries, Do not let the camera sit without a fully charged battery in it. When the camera does not start it could be that the battery and capacitor are dead. Try putting a charged battery in the camera and let it sit for an hour to let the capacitor charge before trying to start the camera. If that works get a new battery.