[Bob 256]

This morning, I went to use my K-1 camera, and it was dead-dead - nothing, so I swapped out the battery and all was well. I thought I remembered recently charging the battery that was in the camera and was surprised that it was totally dead, but didn't remember exactly so decided to just recharge the battery when I got home. When I popped it in the charger, the green light started blinking, which according to the instruction manual, is time to replace the battery.

I've only had my K-1 for about 6 months and about 5 discharges on the battery (original Pentax battery that came with the camera). I had the GPS enabled but the camera was turned off from the time of its previous use which was about two weeks back.
Any hints from out there?

If I go looking for a warranty replacement (I assume the battery is under coverage), who should I contact? I purchased the camera from B&H.

Just glad it didn't self-destruct as some lithium batteries have, in my K-1

[Adam]

This morning, I went to use my K-1 camera, and it was dead-dead - nothing, so I swapped out the battery and all was well. I thought I remembered recently charging the battery that was in the camera and was surprised that it was totally dead, but didn't remember exactly so decided to just recharge the battery when I got home. When I popped it in the charger, the green light started blinking, which according to the instruction manual, is time to replace the battery.

I've only had my K-1 for about 6 months and about 5 discharges on the battery (original Pentax battery that came with the camera). I had the GPS enabled but the camera was turned off from the time of its previous use which was about two weeks back.
Any hints from out there?

If I go looking for a warranty replacement (I assume the battery is under coverage), who should I contact? I purchased the camera from B&H.

Just glad it didn't self-destruct as some lithium batteries have, in my K-1

Could be a faulty battery, though if left uncharged for a long time, bad things can happen even too a good battery.

Was GPS track logging on by any chance?

[Bob 256]

Could be a faulty battery, though if left uncharged for a long time, bad things can happen even too a good battery.

Was GPS track logging on by any chance?

The battery was fully or partially charged when I last used it and the GPS logging was turned off. I realize that if a lithium ion is discharged below its minimum limit, it will essentially go open circuit and be very difficult to recharge (even dangerously so). Either that somehow happened or it is defective. I suspect the latter since it was in service just as it has been used in the past so there's little chance that it was discharged that badly in the camera (unless its due to a new problem that's developed and I'll keep my eye on the sub battery to see how it behaves). Could use a suggestion on getting it replaced under warranty however since a new Pentax battery is $$.

[twilhelm]

If you purchased at B&H, start with them. At the worst they will point you in the right direction.

[Bob 256]

Thanks for the input everyone.

New development

This morning I decided to measure the voltage on the dead battery and possibly try to revive it with a carefully limited trickle charge. When I measured the voltage it wasn't low - it was in microvolts which puzzled me because usually there will always be some small voltage present. At first I thought that some internal protection circuit may have opened, but I used my probes to scratch the surface of the battery contacts and then got a reading close to 6V! I decided to clean the contacts with IPA (no, not indian pale ale), and that did the trick. The charger accepted the battery and it's charging as I write.

There must have been some film that developed on the contacts while it was in the camera and that film was enough to break the contact connection (and then keep me from getting a reading). No moisture involved as I haven't had the camera or batteries in an moist location so not sure. Will keep this one in mind though so next time I will check the contacts first.

Anyway, no need for a replacement if the battery takes a charge and works in the camera again - will clean those contacts too, but will be sure to always keep a spare handy.

[tempelorg]

The same symptom just happened to me - had the Battery in the K-1 for about 4 weeks without using the K-1: The charger has its green LED blinking.

To add to this - Any battery in the K-1 keeps draining within a few weeks to empty. I have never had this happen with my K-20D, K-5 or K-3 models. I still interchange the batteries between the models, but only the K-1 drains the batteries constantly when I leave them in the camera, which is fully turned off, of course.

I find this disturbing as it risks damaging the batteries by causing a deep discharge. Does the manual explicitly warn against this (while it didn't with the older models)? Or do I have a defective K-1?

[Bob 256]

Normally the charger should have a solid green light and a blinking green can indicate a battery issue. If it's just one battery which shows this quick discharge problem, it's the battery but if it happens with another battery (preferably a newer one), it's likely a camera issue and you might be in for a repair. SOme lithium batteries have a sleep mechanism built in which prevents the battery from completely discharging (which as you noted can be fatal) but I don't know if Pentax batteries incorporate this or not. I would test the camera with a known good battery and determine if it's the battery or camera before going further.

[tjwengineering]

I have my K-1 ( now upgraded to K-1 Mkii ) for 3 years... have had no issues with the Pentax battery or two Wasabi batteries!

[i_trax]

I have a large number of batteries ( Pentax and generic ) for my 12 ( I think ) Pentax cameras.
Some are 13 years (K10D ) old.
Never had any problems, never had to clean the contacts.
The weakest performers are the Q and Q-s1 , I have 2x spare generic.
They occasionally lose settings even with battery not empty.
The same happened recently to K-3ii , not being used for over 6 months but battery was not empty.
All D-LI90's are being used at random on all compatible bodies.
Some cameras are not being used for more than 12 months.

[tempelorg]

I have my K-1 ( now upgraded to K-1 Mkii ) for 3 years... have had no issues with the Pentax battery or two Wasabi batteries!

Do you have GPS enabled in your K-1 all the time? Only if it is, some people see a slow drain on the batteries.

[Bob 256]

If the camera is fully turned off, the GPS is also and won't cause any draining of the batteries that tempelorg described. If tempelorg is seeing this across several different batteries, it's probably a camera issue and the camera needs to be looked at. I've had my camera inactive for a month at a time (with the GPS on) and the battery holds up pretty well.

[tempelorg]

I don't think this is a particular issue to just my K-1, because

a) This also happens with my O-GPS 1 when turned off, and others have had this happen with theirs, too.
b) Others have confirmed that this happens with their K-1 as well, and only if GPS is enabled.
c) And yes, it happens with any of my batteries.

It is curious, though, that not all K-1 units show this issue. Mine is a K-1 II, so I assume it's of a later production date, meaning it's not just an issue with early builds of the K-1.

Still, this is not the best thread to analyse this further. There's another one here, though that focuses on the O-GPS 1: O-GPS 1 Drains Battery When Off?: Pentax SLR Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review

Didn't find a related one on this forum, though, hence why I added myself to this thread, sorry.

[Mikesul]

Batteries drain just sitting in the bag unused. Nothing unusual.

[beachboy2]

I suspect my battery on quite new K-1ii is dodgy. Monitoring for now.

[mkgd1]

I had a similar issue with the battery in the grip of my K-3. Cleaned the contacts with deoxit D-5 and 2 weeks later all is still fine. It takes very little oxidation to upset these tiny contacts.