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11-16-2009, 12:10 AM   #136
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QuoteOriginally posted by noou Quote
hmmm, I'm not that sure that the charger would be as important as the batteries, at least not in the short term (in the long term I agree it would have effect on their lives).
as for me, I tried 4 chargers: 1 super fast charging 4 cells at a time (sony power charger, 15min for 4x2500mAh), 1 very slow charging pairs (haenel) , 1 average speed charging pairs (Uniross x-press 700), 1 average speed charging cells individually and with charge/discharge cycles (Sony BCG-34HRMF4).
In my latest tests I relied mainly on the latter.
However I didn't find any difference.
You're right, charger effects longterm mostly, but of course some chargers will cut off early (have only 1500 mAh instead of 2000 mAh) or overcharge and increase the internal resistance quite quickly - not just over the long term, but depending on the cells, can even happen after single digit recharging cycles.

Independent cell vs 2 or 4 cell charging is much more of a long-term effect - all cells are not created equal, no matter how tightly they are matched, at some point one or so of the 4 will be more or less capacity, and will overcharge or cause the others to be overcharged.

There are plenty of variables in what makes a good charger, not just charge time. Heat and a consistant accurate termination are things you can't assume from charging speed. Check out candlepowerforums.com 's battery forum.

btw, I did somewhere around 20 cycles of deep discharges (< 1.0 volts) followed by immediate recharges (keeping NiMH less than 1v can damage if not immediately charged) with an independent cell charger, then 1+ hour waits, and my 5+ year old 2650 energizers are showing green after some picture taking without even going into LV in my K-x when they previously would show red and depleted even immediately out of the charger.


Last edited by Eruditass; 11-16-2009 at 09:44 AM.
11-16-2009, 12:10 PM   #137
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QuoteOriginally posted by Eruditass Quote
btw, I did somewhere around 20 cycles of deep discharges (< 1.0 volts) followed by immediate recharges (keeping NiMH less than 1v can damage if not immediately charged) with an independent cell charger, then 1+ hour waits, and my 5+ year old 2650 energizers are showing green after some picture taking without even going into LV in my K-x when they previously would show red and depleted even immediately out of the charger.
Interesting. First time I've seen any hard evidence of NiMh actually REALLY benefiting from conditioning, as opposed to hearsay.
11-16-2009, 01:40 PM   #138
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I was pretty skeptical but I was about to throw them away. I'm not sure how well charger's do their "recycling", but i did some research on candlepowerforums for doing it.

This may have decreased the internal resistance or something but the self discharge and capacity may not be too much better. I've taken maybe 20 pictures with it still green, didn't get a chance to open the battery compartment for 10s to see how it detects it again.

And then there's how it fares in a couple days. Nevertheless, they are certainly working better than before.
11-16-2009, 03:18 PM   #139
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please have a look to this and following replies: I tested this experiment myself and my previously non-working GP 2700mAh work perfectly (so far)! Black magic? Bad firmware?
Now I would support the idea that the problem is firmware-related only.


Last edited by noou; 11-16-2009 at 03:24 PM.
11-16-2009, 03:32 PM   #140
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Great news! now everyone who is having problems try it! I'll edit the first post incase anyone reads it.
11-17-2009, 07:46 AM   #141
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Got yesterday, popped in some 'fresh out of the pack' Eneloops. No joy. Red indicator, low battery shutdown. Tried the LV trick, reinsert and wait, nothing. Tried the trick with starting it with no lens mounted, got me to orange. Another on/off got me to green.
11-17-2009, 07:56 AM   #142
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I was the one that posted about the manuall lens on dpreview. Must be a glitch in the firmware, and if the camera dont recognice that there is a lens mounted it jumps to a different place in the code.

11-17-2009, 09:26 AM   #143
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Rayovac 1600 mAh work

I tried some ancient Rayovac 1600 mAh batteries. It look a bit of effort to get any sort of charge into them, but after a bit of charging, a deep discharge, a forming charge, another deep charge, a fast charge, and a terminal clean, I was rewarded with a green battery indicator (before and after LV). After 50 shots (at anything that would fill the viewfinder) it was still green.
11-17-2009, 02:55 PM   #144
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Nice, reconditioning can work!

I just wanted to note that with the manual lens trick (you can also do this by releasing the lens and rotating slightly but make sure not to drop either!) I get much better results when it is set to AUTO instead of NiMH. This is with 2650 NiMH Energizers.

This trick also works when it refuses to even turn on, without touching the battery cover at all.
11-17-2009, 03:08 PM   #145
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@eruditass
What do you mean by "releasing the lens and rotating slightly but make sure not to drop either"? Do you mean I could just twist the lens off, without taking it completely off, then try it? Or do you mean to take the lens off then try it?

Thanks,
(My K-x is coming at the end of the week and I'm hoping that I won't be having any issue *crossing fingers*)
11-17-2009, 03:12 PM   #146
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Twist it like 1 or 2 cm. I try not to endorse it because I don't want people to drop their lenses, so you can just take it completely off and try it.
11-18-2009, 03:37 PM   #147
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I just went to Costco and bought the Eneloop bundle (8 AA, 2AAA, adapters and charger)

It says ready to use rechargeable battery, does that mean they are precharged, probably 85-95% capacity, right?

I threw in a set to the K-x, waited several minutes, but it would even turn on for a second. Tried the other four, gave me depleted message.

So the Eneloops are not pre-charged?

EDIT: The camera was set directly to lithium. I'll change it back to auto and try again. But usually you would get enough power to change that with any battery.
11-18-2009, 09:08 PM   #148
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Eneloops are pre-charged, but there seems to be a issue that Pentax will be addressing soon. Someone who works at Pentax Canada:

Re: New K-x Battery Trick: Pentax SLR Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review
11-19-2009, 02:26 AM   #149
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QuoteOriginally posted by Eruditass Quote
Eneloops are pre-charged, but there seems to be a issue that Pentax will be addressing soon. Someone who works at Pentax Canada:

Re: New K-x Battery Trick: Pentax SLR Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review
very good to know Dan is the man!
Previous comments from Pentax support (e.g., chat) have been quite disappointing, as we were only a bunch of paranoids...
11-19-2009, 08:55 AM   #150
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3467xxx (made in Vietnam) white K-x from Thailand.

2 set of battery and My charger is Maha-c9000

GP recyko+ (1 Year)
after input battery, It show red indicator, use LV. trick and it all green.
About 80 short, orenge indicator appear use LV. trick and it all green.
Try HDR, continueous shoot, Movie, all green

Change to new pack eneloops
after input battery, It show battery deplete and auto turn off.
open battery cover, and close in 10 seconds.....
It show red indicator, use LV trick and all green
after some HDR, continueous shot, movie, still green all the way.


So K-x need to detect battery (set to Auto or NiMH has no effect in "power on"). if not work ..... reinsert again.

Last edited by kraijeck; 11-19-2009 at 10:31 AM. Reason: add informaton
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