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10-22-2019, 01:50 PM   #1
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My K-3 keeps forgetting time and date

Whats going on?

10-22-2019, 02:07 PM - 1 Like   #2
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Sorry to hear this!

Alas, the most likely cause is that the tiny backup battery on the mainboard has died due to age or too much time spent with no main battery in the camera.
10-22-2019, 02:48 PM   #3
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Mine has been forgetting time & date since it was new.
10-22-2019, 03:08 PM   #4
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Mine has never forgotten Date/Time. It may be that I have never left it for any period of time without a charged battery, but who can say for sure.


Steve

10-22-2019, 03:15 PM - 1 Like   #5
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QuoteOriginally posted by boriscleto Quote
Mine has been forgetting time & date since it was new.
Well then, according to your camera's clock, the camera is less than one year old and thus should be covered under warranty!!!!
10-22-2019, 03:59 PM   #6
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QuoteOriginally posted by boriscleto Quote
Mine has been forgetting time & date since it was new.
Am I missing a joke there? If not, why didn't you exchange the defective camera?
10-22-2019, 04:06 PM   #7
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QuoteOriginally posted by DeadJohn Quote
Am I missing a joke there? If not, why didn't you exchange the defective camera?
Nope. It forgets time and date every time I take the battery out. Once in a while it won't. (If I've been using it for a while and replace the battery quickly). It wan't a big issue for me.

10-22-2019, 04:10 PM   #8
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QuoteOriginally posted by Pål Jensen Quote
Whats going on?
A tiny internal battery (capacitor) is supposed to keep the clock going for a few hours when you change batteries. Maybe that part has broken. Another less likely possibility is that the camera is never turning off, draining the main battery and the capacitor prematurely.

Start with a fully charged main battery. Set the time. Turn off the camera, wait 5 minutes, turn it on again. Did it lose the time?

Briefly remove the main battery for 15 seconds, like a typical battery swap. Did it lose the time?

Turn the camera off, wait 24 hours, turn it on again. Did the main battery discharge overnight? Did it lose the time?
10-24-2019, 04:20 AM   #9
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It has happened several times. Lastly after the camera had been unused for two weeks with full battery (still full after two weeks). But I can take the battery in and out of the camera and it will remember the date...

Last edited by Pål Jensen; 10-24-2019 at 05:11 AM.
10-25-2019, 06:00 AM   #10
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Have you tried a reset to default? Not a pleasant prospect, but it may do the trick.
01-07-2020, 01:43 PM   #11
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Now is has been unused for two months but still remember date and time. Strange....
10-15-2020, 03:04 AM   #12
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Now it has started to mess up again after working flawlessly for a year. Happened when changing battery. Wonder if it is one of the three batteries I have that makes this happen?
11-01-2020, 11:52 AM   #13
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QuoteOriginally posted by Pål Jensen Quote
Now it has started to mess up again after working flawlessly for a year. Happened when changing battery. Wonder if it is one of the three batteries I have that makes this happen?
If one of your batteries is not quite up to snuff, it might actually discharge the internal battery, sapping all the power. I think it's time to be systematic with your batteries, and commit to using each one after the other for three complete charge cycles, making sure you annotate which one are you using each time, and when--if ever--the time and date reset again.

Good luck!
11-29-2020, 05:05 PM   #14
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QuoteOriginally posted by photoptimist Quote
Sorry to hear this!

Alas, the most likely cause is that the tiny backup battery on the mainboard has died due to age or too much time spent with no main battery in the camera.
My K-3 forgets the time and date any time I change the main battery. Same issue with my Q and Q7. Constant power in the camera, but if I remove the battery for even ten seconds-piff.

More annoying, while it remembers all my custom settings, the K-3 forgets the individual fine adjustments for my lenses!
I had some severely back focused shots with my 55-300PLM today. Checked and the +8 I had saved for that lens is gone.
12-05-2020, 10:22 PM   #15
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That is a problem of the internal MS414 battery. This is a Lithium-type which goes bad when the camera sits without its D-Li90 battery for a long time unused:
It discharges beyond a certain limit which kills the battery (Li-Ions go bad for the same reason if discharged too strong).
Only chance: Disassembly + DIY or sending it in (which is expensive, the mainboard has to be removed to get to it)
The soldering here is critical, tiny contacts!
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