[barondla]

Battery pumping? How ridiculous... yet still I tried it and can verify here that now my q10 can keep the time and date during a battery swap whereas before it couldn't.
My qs1 that is afflicted with instant date and time forgetfulness... was not fooled by this silliness.

How is that!

First, welcome to the Q family and forum.

Second, glad the battery pumping worked for your Q10. It also worked for my original Q. Now instead of ~10 seconds I have over 5 minutes to change the battery.

Third, think you are the first person to report date & time forgetfulness on a Q-S1 body. Bummer. We were hoping the Q-S1 had improved circuitry and this was cured.

No idea why pumping the battery works. Perhaps there is more than 1 cause of date time forgetfulness? Battery pumping may "clean" a poor internal power connection? But if the battery or cap is bad better connections won't fix the problem.
Thanks,
barondla

[2old4toys]

Just this weekend I found this pumping occasionally worked for my Q-S1. A much lower success rate than observed for my Q10 but both cameras were bought used so it probably depends on how the previous owners had treated/mistreated them. I do have a range of batteries of various ages and brands that I'll cycle and try to associate patterns regards to pumping success fail and report back.

Third, think you are the first person to report date & time forgetfulness on a Q-S1 body. Bummer. We were hoping the Q-S1 had improved circuitry and this was cured.

No idea why pumping the battery works. Perhaps there is more than 1 cause of date time forgetfulness? Battery pumping may "clean" a poor internal power connection? But if the battery or cap is bad better connections won't fix the problem.
Thanks,
barondla

[Puddus]

Connect the camera to the PC via USB, remove the battery, charge it, reinsert it in the camera, unplug the USB cable.

[NYNOIR]

Connect the camera to the PC via USB, remove the battery, charge it, reinsert it in the camera, unplug the USB cable.

Most people do not carry around a PC to connect to and recharge their battery, they're kind of large.

[Puddus]

Most people do not carry around a PC to connect to and recharge their battery, they're kind of large.

Powerbank .....

[2old4toys]

Powerbank .....

Seriously... are any of the Q's able to charge via USB?

[2old4toys]

Guessing the physical pumping action works simply because the flexing metal electrical contacts are providing a little gentle cleaning via abrasion. Prep a cotton-bud/ q-tip with a drop of 75% isopropyl alcohol, eject the battery from the camera and give the 2 metal contacts in the body and then also the grubby old contacts on all your old batteries a good rub down. Do the same with your charger's contacts. Worth a try.

[2old4toys]

When I acquired the Q10 and Q-S1 (bought used just a few months ago), the internal date:time battery on both were seemingly pretty much exhausted. To avoid re-entering the date:time upon exchanging a dead battery with a freshly charged one, I had to be really fast. Something like Indiana Jones golden idol sandbag swapping fast. However, after a sustained period of repeated battery pumping therapy, contacts cleaning and setting the auto shutoff to 5min, the biggest difference I think is that the more often I actively use my Q’s, the better it helps restore the internal clock batteries.

Today, I can happily confirm that a battery swap can even be very leisurely indeed (several minutes!) on both my aged Q10 and the more recent Q-S1 without pumping and prompting an annoying clock reset.

So don’t fret, try to re-train your Q’s internal clock battery back into a good-enough condition to keep the time again like I did.

Couple of weeks ago I added a very elderly original Q to the family and on arrival it unsurprisingly had the exact same issue. I similarly managed to resuscitate that clock battery back to a reasonable semblance of health too! So I expect a lot of you can do the same, if you really want to

---------- Post added 03-12-18 at 09:52 PM ----------

Note: Use great care. The camera is a bit delicate and small. I accept no responsibility for damage.

• Install a fresh battery in your Q, just the way you always do.

• Open the battery door but let the battery remain in the camera, captured by the nylon retainer at the outside edge of the battery compartment.

• If you now press a little on the back of the battery, you'll note the battery is spring loaded and will still move inward against the contacts about another 1 - 2 mm.
At this point we want to "pump" the battery. That is, press and release pressure on the back of the installed battery just a bit vigorously about 8-10 times. Again, this is done with the battery still held in the camera by the battery clip.

Since using this technique I have never had an issue with Date and Time settings loss on either of my cameras during a battery change.

One thing though, my experience is mine only, so far. It will be interesting to see if you and others can repeat it, especially on a consistent basis.


Rick

Thanks to you Rick!

[2old4toys]

Link here a pic of what is probably the tiny internal clock battery that is soldered onto the corner of the Q’s motherboard. Looks like it would be a pain to replace yourself. (Posted as per of image-resource review.)
Pentax Q7 Review

[Bob 256]

If that's what it looks like, it could be a holder for a coin battery which slips in under the top plate. Most coin type batteries are not rechargeable which means that if this is the case here, one would need to replace the battery occasionally, especially if the main battery was removed for long periods of time, or allowed to be in a discharged state for long periods.

Current is not drawn from the backup battery unless the main battery is absent or down in voltage, so those conditions will discharge the backup battery - otherwise, it should have a long life (being used only while the main is replaced).

Can you get a bit closer view of the "battery"? It might be soldered in, in which case it would have to be unsoldered and replaced but if that's a holder, you can use a small piece of plastic to shove the battery out of it and scoot a new cell in.

I have a computer on a solar power system which I disable over winter. It has a lithium backup battery that if the computer is plugged into continuous power, will last 10 years or more, but in my case (since there is no power for 6-7 months at a time, I have to replace that backup battery every 2 years. Never fails - two years and it is dying. Might be the same in this case.

In either case, that entails opening the camera or having it serviced to get the cell replaced and depends on one's mechanical & electronic skills - not recommending self-repair unless you know what you're doing. Probably easier to live with it.

[photogem]

If that's what it looks like, it could be a holder for a coin battery which slips in under the top plate.

Sadly it is not a holder but the opposite:

If you look at the picture you see 3 points on that topplate which covers the 3V Seiko MS414!
Those 3 points are spot-welded!

Same for the Pentax K-m (K2000) and K-x.

With the later K30 and others it was made better, the MS414 is soldered with its two feet on the motherboard.
It never was a supercap but always a Lithium 3V battery (usually Seiko MS414)

More details here:
https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/151-pentax-k-30-k-50/426380-why-you-shou...ml#post5316126

[womble]

My Q-S1 suffers from this problem (it loses the time and date whenever it is turned off, or turns itself off). Does anyone know of someone who would repair this, preferably in the UK? I use my Q0S1 quite a bit (I take it when I go cycling) and would rather like it back to proper functionality.

Thanks, Kris.

[kypfer]

My Q-S1 suffers from this problem (it loses the time and date whenever it is turned off, or turns itself off). Does anyone know of someone who would repair this, preferably in the UK? I use my Q0S1 quite a bit (I take it when I go cycling) and would rather like it back to proper functionality.
Thanks, Kris.

In the first instance, John Pye, the Ricoh authorized service centre for the UK on +44 (0) 1283 384409 might be worth a call.
They've been short-staffed recently, so you may have to call a couple of times before you get an answer.

[photogem]

You can see here with the Q what work is involved, I guess the Q-S might be very similar:
Pentax Q - battery or capacitor- ? Destructive devolution of a "dead" Q10 - PentaxForums.com
That will be quite an expensive repair, particular if that tiny Seiko ML414H is used, because it is spotwelded and difficult to get off without damaging the mainboard.

A good original main battery is important and not to store your Q-S without it, that drains the C-MOS battery.
Try to pump the main battery many times, sometimes that is supposed to help with the Q-Series.
Then it is a contact problem.

Try as well this way: In the menu Auto-Power ON OFF into off, so it stays on.
Then let it stand switched on for several hours. Charge the battery and use your second battery (and repeat)
That way you might get some "juice" back into this tiny C-MOS.

[reh321]

My Q7 did the same ... but only with an old battery in it which didn't hold the charge well.
After "investing" in a new battery the settings are no longer lost when I have to recharge the battery.

My Q-7 has acted that way for a year or so. I have just ‘lived with it’, and have my smart phone available so I can quickly set the time.

In December I will have had the Q-7 for seven years, and it seems to have a new ‘trick’. On several occasions it has refused to respond to the shutter button until I perform a “hard boot” - removing the battery for 10-20 seconds - so I am researching sources of a replacement camera {most likely a Q-S1}. With my Canon Rebels, having to ‘hard boot’ the camera was eventually followed by processor failure; my theory is that the firmware is going to “Never Never Land” and only a hard boot” can jar it back to normal operation. I had two Canon Rebels which completely failed after needing the hard jar of a ‘hard boot’ for awhile. Since I have come to depend on the Q-7 for certain situations where discretion - particularly quiet - is good, I’ve decided to get a second one before the first one fails completely. EBay sellers seem to be more focused on appearance than on shutter count - and most seem to be unequipped to give the count - so I hope I don’t have to purchase a third one.