Second K-x in a week with battery problem

Eruditass · 11-17-2009, 08:51 AM

Try the fix in the NiMH thread that the last couple posts have said fixed their problem (and lead many to believe it is a fixable firmware problem)

stian rasmussen · 12-09-2009, 12:17 PM

just to add to the number of voices out there.

my brand new white k-x is draining energizer ultimate lithium batteries SO fast !!!

it's very frustrating

deadwolfbones · 12-09-2009, 02:24 PM

Originally posted by stian rasmussen

just to add to the number of voices out there.

my brand new white k-x is draining energizer ultimate lithium batteries SO fast !!!

it's very frustrating

Have you upgraded your firmware?

DonP · 12-09-2009, 02:56 PM

Originally posted by stian rasmussen

just to add to the number of voices out there.

my brand new white k-x is draining energizer ultimate lithium batteries SO fast !!!

it's very frustrating

A few people have purchased new K-X's that had a set or Energizer lithium batteries where at least one of the cells was marginal and they could turn on the camera but then it went red shortly after. I never used the batteries that came with my camera - only used Eneloops and had no problems from the beginning and I get several hundred shots to a charge. They are worth twice their cost in what they save in frustration.

OutOfFocus · 12-09-2009, 03:55 PM

I would use eneloops and change the camera's battery type from "Auto" to "NiMH".

Put a few cycles on the eneloops (use until depleted, then recharge).

You should get to the point where installing freshly charged eneloops will immediately get you a green indicator and you can take at least 500 shots.

When you get to that point, recharge eneloops and upgrade to firmware 1.01.

If you try multiple cycles with new eneloops and never get to that point, ask for more advice.

**barondla** · 12-10-2009, 07:36 PM

Have a red K-X and a white one (demos). Put new out of the pack Eneloops in both. Neither has ever shown anything but green battery symbol. two days into the trial did firmware updates on both. They both are working fine with the same sets of batteries. Many people have been playing with them. Love the 'loops! Have the 8 battery Maha smart charger. Haven't used it with these cameras yet.

thanks
barondla

Check out POINT & SHOOT CAMERA CONTEST #25 in compact camera forum. Enter 2nd anniversary #26. Any brand camera. Any subject. Enter now!

WerTicus · 12-10-2009, 08:28 PM

Id be willing to bet 99% of battery issues are users with crap and or rooted batteries. There may well be some cameras with shorts on internal circuitry. There was certainly a few k20d's on this forum with such issues. But until you've gone and gotten brand spanking new eneloops (and you checked the date on them before buying so you know they were not on the store shelf for 6 years), we don't know.

never tried anything but a new set of eneloops with my camera, the lithium's are still in the pack :P

no problems.

Turned it on, set the battery mode to the correct type and finished.
later updated the firmware but didn't need to for any battery issue.

Cannot see why you wouldn't buy a brand new set of batteries to go with your camera. We are talking about 15 bucks here.

I Turned off preview, turned off the top light, set auto off to 1min and batteries are lasting 2 days of shooting.

Last edited by WerTicus; 12-10-2009 at 08:34 PM.

Gregor · 12-10-2009, 11:23 PM

My Kx came yesterday. Had new Eneloops waiting. Put them in and within 10 seconds batteries drained and power went off. Put in the lithiums, upgraded firmware and all seems well now.

blu3ness · 12-10-2009, 11:27 PM

let's not revive this dead thread any further, 1.01 firmware fixes everything.. all is well.

wll · 12-11-2009, 01:43 AM

Installed Firmware 1.01

Rayovac Hybrids now power up camera and are on orange and not red.

Switched to NiZn's and they work great.

wll

madbrain · 12-12-2009, 12:19 AM

Originally posted by rawr

Just go with the NiMh's and charger they ship in the box in other markets (eg DE): eneloops with a Sanyo eneloop charger.

It's equivalent to an offical Pentax endorsement, saying: these are the NimH's that work OK with the K-x...

Actually the Sanyo charger is no good. It charges batteries in pairs, not individually. If you put a single cell, it will not even turn on. Once either of the batteries is chargerd, it will stop charging. You can never be sure that the batteries will be fully charged with the Sanyo charger. You need a better charger, like a MAHA, that charges batteries individually. I use a C9000, with eneloop batteries.

wlachan · 12-12-2009, 02:43 AM

Originally posted by madbrain

Actually the Sanyo charger is no good. It charges batteries in pairs, not individually. If you put a single cell, it will not even turn on. Once either of the batteries is chargerd, it will stop charging. You can never be sure that the batteries will be fully charged with the Sanyo charger. You need a better charger, like a MAHA, that charges batteries individually. I use a C9000, with eneloop batteries.

Sanyo have made so many chargers with different bundles, it is difficult for consumers to keep track. The general rule is, any Sanyo chargers with 2 LEDs charge in pair. Those with 1 LED could be smart chargers with 4 channels. Those with 4 LEDs are quite obvious I think.

WerTicus · 12-12-2009, 03:26 AM

the camera uses batteries in 4's so I don't see the problem... since you'd be using all of them at the same rate anyway and they would have all been bought at the same time / same packet if your smart.

kkoether · 12-12-2009, 07:33 AM

Something I noticed early on with my Eneloops. One set of Eneloops I bought came with a Sanyo charger. I had and older charger I used for my batteries for my point & shoot. It works fine for the regular NiMH batteries but if I tried to charge the Eneloops with it they don't last long at all. If I charge the same set in the Sanyo charger they last a lot longer.

I originally marked my Eneloops in their original sets of 4 and that's how I use them and charge them. I have no doubt about the quality of the LaCrosse and Maha Chargers and fully intend on getting the LaCrosse one of these days but the Sanyo charger is doing a great job of charging my Eneloops for now. One set in the camera and one set in the grip gives me close to 2000 shots in my K200D.

Moral of the story is if your using Eneloops at the very least you should use the Sanyo Eneloop charger if not one of the higher quality smart chargers.

RMabo · 12-12-2009, 08:19 AM

Manual says that when using batteries in the cold or batteries that has not been in use for long, the battery indicator may not be correct when battery type set to Auto, so the manual recommends setting battery type manually under those conditions.

It also says that alkalines should only be used when other options are not available, they are only for emergency and the camera may not perform at it's best with them.

I use Uniross 2100 and 2300 NiHms and Uniross charger without problems. Uniross 2100 are 6 years old.

I'm charging Hähnel 2350 in my Uniross charger now. They're are 5 years old I believe.
I have faith that they will work good!

12-09-2009, 12:17 PM	#17
stian rasmussen New Member Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: san francisco Posts: 3	k-x battery problems just to add to the number of voices out there. my brand new white k-x is draining energizer ultimate lithium batteries SO fast !!! it's very frustrating

12-11-2009, 01:43 AM	#25
wll Veteran Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Mission Hills, CA Posts: 773 Original Poster	Just an update .. Installed Firmware 1.01 Rayovac Hybrids now power up camera and are on orange and not red. Switched to NiZn's and they work great. wll

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11-17-2009, 08:51 AM	#16
Eruditass Veteran Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Photos: Gallery Posts: 2,207	Try the fix in the NiMH thread that the last couple posts have said fixed their problem (and lead many to believe it is a fixable firmware problem)

12-09-2009, 02:24 PM	#18
deadwolfbones Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: La Crescenta, CA Posts: 7,450	Originally posted by stian rasmussen just to add to the number of voices out there. my brand new white k-x is draining energizer ultimate lithium batteries SO fast !!! it's very frustrating Have you upgraded your firmware?

12-09-2009, 02:56 PM	#19
DonP Inactive Account Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Indiana Posts: 101	Originally posted by stian rasmussen just to add to the number of voices out there. my brand new white k-x is draining energizer ultimate lithium batteries SO fast !!! it's very frustrating A few people have purchased new K-X's that had a set or Energizer lithium batteries where at least one of the cells was marginal and they could turn on the camera but then it went red shortly after. I never used the batteries that came with my camera - only used Eneloops and had no problems from the beginning and I get several hundred shots to a charge. They are worth twice their cost in what they save in frustration.

12-09-2009, 03:55 PM	#20
OutOfFocus Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Houston, TX Photos: Gallery Posts: 140	I would use eneloops and change the camera's battery type from "Auto" to "NiMH". Put a few cycles on the eneloops (use until depleted, then recharge). You should get to the point where installing freshly charged eneloops will immediately get you a green indicator and you can take at least 500 shots. When you get to that point, recharge eneloops and upgrade to firmware 1.01. If you try multiple cycles with new eneloops and never get to that point, ask for more advice.

12-10-2009, 07:36 PM	#21
barondla Site Supporter Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: midwest, United States Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 5,714	Have a red K-X and a white one (demos). Put new out of the pack Eneloops in both. Neither has ever shown anything but green battery symbol. two days into the trial did firmware updates on both. They both are working fine with the same sets of batteries. Many people have been playing with them. Love the 'loops! Have the 8 battery Maha smart charger. Haven't used it with these cameras yet. thanks barondla Check out POINT & SHOOT CAMERA CONTEST #25 in compact camera forum. Enter 2nd anniversary #26. Any brand camera. Any subject. Enter now!

12-10-2009, 08:28 PM	#22
WerTicus Veteran Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Perth Australia Photos: Albums Posts: 1,514	Id be willing to bet 99% of battery issues are users with crap and or rooted batteries. There may well be some cameras with shorts on internal circuitry. There was certainly a few k20d's on this forum with such issues. But until you've gone and gotten brand spanking new eneloops (and you checked the date on them before buying so you know they were not on the store shelf for 6 years), we don't know. never tried anything but a new set of eneloops with my camera, the lithium's are still in the pack :P no problems. Turned it on, set the battery mode to the correct type and finished. later updated the firmware but didn't need to for any battery issue. Cannot see why you wouldn't buy a brand new set of batteries to go with your camera. We are talking about 15 bucks here. I Turned off preview, turned off the top light, set auto off to 1min and batteries are lasting 2 days of shooting. Last edited by WerTicus; 12-10-2009 at 08:34 PM.

12-10-2009, 11:23 PM	#23
Gregor Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Austin Posts: 161	My Kx came yesterday. Had new Eneloops waiting. Put them in and within 10 seconds batteries drained and power went off. Put in the lithiums, upgraded firmware and all seems well now.

12-10-2009, 11:27 PM	#24
blu3ness Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Edmonton, Alberta Posts: 117	let's not revive this dead thread any further, 1.01 firmware fixes everything.. all is well.

12-12-2009, 12:19 AM	#26
madbrain Veteran Member Join Date: May 2008 Location: San Jose, CA Posts: 1,341	Originally posted by rawr Just go with the NiMh's and charger they ship in the box in other markets (eg DE): eneloops with a Sanyo eneloop charger. It's equivalent to an offical Pentax endorsement, saying: these are the NimH's that work OK with the K-x... Actually the Sanyo charger is no good. It charges batteries in pairs, not individually. If you put a single cell, it will not even turn on. Once either of the batteries is chargerd, it will stop charging. You can never be sure that the batteries will be fully charged with the Sanyo charger. You need a better charger, like a MAHA, that charges batteries individually. I use a C9000, with eneloop batteries.

12-12-2009, 02:43 AM	#27
wlachan Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Canada Photos: Albums Posts: 2,625	Originally posted by madbrain Actually the Sanyo charger is no good. It charges batteries in pairs, not individually. If you put a single cell, it will not even turn on. Once either of the batteries is chargerd, it will stop charging. You can never be sure that the batteries will be fully charged with the Sanyo charger. You need a better charger, like a MAHA, that charges batteries individually. I use a C9000, with eneloop batteries. Sanyo have made so many chargers with different bundles, it is difficult for consumers to keep track. The general rule is, any Sanyo chargers with 2 LEDs charge in pair. Those with 1 LED could be smart chargers with 4 channels. Those with 4 LEDs are quite obvious I think.

12-12-2009, 03:26 AM	#28
WerTicus Veteran Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Perth Australia Photos: Albums Posts: 1,514	the camera uses batteries in 4's so I don't see the problem... since you'd be using all of them at the same rate anyway and they would have all been bought at the same time / same packet if your smart.

12-12-2009, 07:33 AM	#29
kkoether Pentaxian Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Huber Heights, OH, USA Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 731	Something I noticed early on with my Eneloops. One set of Eneloops I bought came with a Sanyo charger. I had and older charger I used for my batteries for my point & shoot. It works fine for the regular NiMH batteries but if I tried to charge the Eneloops with it they don't last long at all. If I charge the same set in the Sanyo charger they last a lot longer. I originally marked my Eneloops in their original sets of 4 and that's how I use them and charge them. I have no doubt about the quality of the LaCrosse and Maha Chargers and fully intend on getting the LaCrosse one of these days but the Sanyo charger is doing a great job of charging my Eneloops for now. One set in the camera and one set in the grip gives me close to 2000 shots in my K200D. Moral of the story is if your using Eneloops at the very least you should use the Sanyo Eneloop charger if not one of the higher quality smart chargers.

12-12-2009, 08:19 AM	#30
RMabo Veteran Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Sweden Posts: 845	Manual says that when using batteries in the cold or batteries that has not been in use for long, the battery indicator may not be correct when battery type set to Auto, so the manual recommends setting battery type manually under those conditions. It also says that alkalines should only be used when other options are not available, they are only for emergency and the camera may not perform at it's best with them. I use Uniross 2100 and 2300 NiHms and Uniross charger without problems. Uniross 2100 are 6 years old. I'm charging Hähnel 2350 in my Uniross charger now. They're are 5 years old I believe. I have faith that they will work good!