[reh321]

As Rondec wrote - buy a battery holder and use Eneloop AAs. I'm convinced that the lack of power from box batteries is an important cause of the endemic problems with the later bodies and their cheap fragile solenoids.

“Lack of power” and “fragile” don’t go together.
A stronger battery would actually be bad for something that is truly fragile.
I believe the studies by @photogem actually show the solenoids have too much strength

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Last edited by reh321; 08-09-2022 at 08:02 AM.

[photogem]

As Rondec wrote - buy a battery holder and use Eneloop AAs. I'm convinced that the lack of power from box batteries is an important cause of the endemic problems with the later bodies and their cheap fragile solenoids.

As I have answered here:

If that would really be the reason, then ALL Pentax DSLR's using a solenoid would be prone to this fault as well.

But this isn't the case!

NONE Pentax (and Samsung equivalents) DSLR prior the K30 (and using the white Japan solenoid for aperture-control) ever failed!

This were:
*ist-D, *istDS, *istDS2, Samsung GX1, Samsung GX2
K10D, K20D, Samsung GX10, GX20
K100D, K110D, K200D, K-m, K-x, K-r

Also since the 3-rd generation China-Solenoid used in the K-70 (the 2-nd generation was only used a short time)
we have no more failures!

So as you call it "kick" from the battery helped for a short time if ABF appeared if the AA-Adapter D-BH109 was used with Eneloops in particular.
But in almost all cases this helped just for a short time because the reason why the plunger of the solenoid stuck was not because of lack of "kick"

but because of a yet too strong holding force which was finally solved with the 3-rd generation China solenoid and possibly a different alloy used for the plunger.

It was us here in this forum who solved the problem and led the Ricoh engineers to the solution, who were groping in the dark for unknow reasons
and tried to solve the problem for quite a long time without real success.

Of course Ricoh could not retreat to the original Japan solenoid because the manufacturer, Shinmei Japan, had moved production (and all machines) from Japan to China for final and thus the only solution was to modify the existing solenoid.

If Ricoh would have trusted the findings here in the forum and taken on measurements of their own (which would have been much easier for them than for any of us) they would have had the chance to compare measurements of the Japan-DSLR-Solenoid with the China solenoid and it would have had to make "BOING" right away...i.e. a short notification to the manufacturer of the solenoid and all would have been solved.
They woke up in 2015 finally and only after a few K70 with the 2-nd generation solenoid failed as well they got it for final which I only can guess that it was in 2020.

this isn't really the case at all!
In most cases of ABF with the K30/50/500 the AA-adapter and using Eneloops or similar only helped for a short time.
As soon as the solenoid start to be stuck, that's it! Nothing can be done exept either change against the Japan DSLR solenoid
or cheap modifications (which can lead to other problems)

[reh321]

As I have answered here:

this isn't really the case at all!
In most cases of ABF with the K30/50/500 the AA-adapter done exept either change against the Japan DSLR solenoid
or cheap modifications (which can lead to other problems)

Apparently, the underlying problem was magnification of the metal parts of the solenoid.
If I understand correctly, the AA batteries actually created less force at the time {more amps but less volts} but the permanent solution was to provide less total metal structure to be magnetized, and it took a few trials to figure out how to make that to happen.
Filing did make that happen, but it left lots of surface area to be corroded, so that was a solution, but not one that would last permanently.

[gatorguy]

OK guys, are we about done with the battery discussion? It seems to be straying into a different topic that's already well covered in a different thread.
With no objections I'll close this one in a bit.

[mikesbike]

It's been a long time now since I used the K-r. But as I recall, since it came with the unique AA holder as alternate power source, my approach was to have it along, since it is very compact, in case the regular battery ran low, so I could revert to Energizer AA lithiums, available in most any drug store. I usually keep a set of these along anyway, also for the battery grip of my K-5 IIs, which comes with me as backup or for alternate use. This way, if I get careless and let all my batteries run low, at least I will have function with the K-5 IIs with battery grip until I get regular batteries charged up. So my typical current travel group is usually a KP, the K-5 IIs, and the K-1 II.

Seeing from this thread that the K-r's AA adapter is a good alternative for it, I will so advise my friends who now own it, that using the adapter with Energizer AA lithiums will be fine if their regular battery has run low and they need to use the camera right away.

Now that I think about it, the AA adapter idea was a pretty good one! I get a similar advantage by taking along my K-5 IIs with battery grip, but the adapter entails far less bulk.

[tadd davis]

I have 2 K-5s and a Ricoh GR III and I have 1 stock battery for each and the rest (2 each) are either Wasabi or Flashpoint ... I know neither is the same type of battery that you're talking about, but their chemistry is similar. If you can afford a stock, go with that... I have had no issues with the aftermarket ones, except they (the OEM ones) last longer than the aftermarket ones. I also have a couple Wasabi LION batteries for my old(er) Canon S95 with good results.

Strictly speaking there's no necessity for a charger. I've now gotten in the habit of charging in-camera the night before a hike or event. ...

I'd be interested to know exactly how you manage that. Everything I've seen says that cannot be done.

[photogem]

I'd be interested to know exactly how you manage that. Everything I've seen says that cannot be done.

The K3iii is the only one which can do so!

[gatorguy]

I'd be interested to know exactly how you manage that. Everything I've seen says that cannot be done.

The K3III does not require a separate charger since you can charge the battery in camera with a USB-C charger. Relatively quickly too. If you look at the specs you can verify.

I've developed the habit of regularly charging that way, and did last night. My standalone chargers are good for keeping all of them charged to use with the K1 as well, and those times I've used one (or two) up over the course of a weekend. Yup they are useful but not essential for the K3III.

[rogerstg]

As others, I have found that with age, the 3rd party batteries don't hold up as well. The Pentax ones seem to hang in there.

I've found the opposite to be true. 5 cameras in 15 years and two Pentax batteries have bulged while none of the aftermarket have done the same. I buy Wasabi and DSTE.

[photogem]

I've found the opposite to be true. 5 cameras in 15 years and two Pentax batteries have bulged while none of the aftermarket have done the same. I buy Wasabi and DSTE.

Bulging happens with the D-LI109 versions and ... it happens if quickcharged.
The orig. D-BC109 isn't a quick-charger but charges gentle.
It measures temperature because only the orig. D-LI109 battery has the temperature-sensor inside, a 10kOhm@20°C NTC.
So if you bring an orig. D-LI109 to bulge (they bulge much easier than the D-LI90 because they use flat cells vs. round cells in the D-LI90!)
it is because it is overheated and the temperature-sensor is not in action because the clone-chargers don't measure temperature.

I have had lets say 150 Pentax DSLR using the D-LI109 on my workbench or in my hands:
From those ONLY and EXCLUSIVLY clone batteries had been in "bulge-mode"!

They also can bulge when slow-charged... again, because they lack the NTC sensor but a dummy sensor which is nothing else than a 10k resistor making the charger believe there would be temperature sensor. Without this dummy-sensor the orig. D-BC109 charger wouldn't charge a clone-battery!


I have brought all this up in post #17.
That applies also to the Wasabi and DSLT clones! Both lack the T-sensor and their chargers have only 2 contacts, i.e. aren't
able to measure temperature with the OEM battery!


Normally when members here in the forum experience something going wrong with their Pentax items they write about it, did you?

I am not questioning your experience, just question why it happens.

The only time I recall that an orig. D-LI109 went wrong was HERE
The reason this D-LI109 went wrong wasn't due to bulging but it wasn't properly assembled.

I see you wrote a review about the Wasabi D-LI90 clone:

You are wrong:
Neither Wasabi-batteries nor Wasabi-chargers are UL certified!

[R.Miller]

As far as I can tell all the cheap knockoff chargers and batteries are NOT third-party safety certified. The only way to tell is the actual marking on the product. You want to look for these:

UL in a circle.
Backwards UR (RU), this the UL Component Recognition mark.
CSA
ETL
TUV
VDE
NOM (Mexico)

There are others but these are the main ones. Many have the "CE" mark and that one is next to worthless. It is a self-declaration scheme with no follow-up usually. The other testing agencies periodically visit the factories where the batteries are made and verify they are still making them as they were originally submitted and tested.

If I purchased a new 1500 - 2000 dollar camera there is no way I would buy a cheap battery/charger just to save 30 bucks. If it was a used cheaper camera, then maybe not such a big deal.