Nikon Charger MH-18a and battery mAh

I have a Nikon genuine MH-18a and an EN-EL3e battery that absolutely stopped charging. So I went ahead and bought 2 third party batteries. But the two new batteries stopped charging at some 70% or most recently 47%. I read that % from my D700 menu. The genuine EN-EL3e battery is listed at 1500mAh while the 3rd party ones at 2200mAh, both rated at 7.4V. I still have one functioning EN-EL3e with 2 functioning MH-18a, the genuine battery charges up in the charger no problem at all.

So my question is would the increased battery mAh prevents it from charging up in the original charger? Or I suspect the batteries are just simply bad. Like really bad and the mAh have nothing to prevent it from charging up if only it's normal or up to spec.

I have no knowledge of electricity. I know the higher mAh is a good thing because it stores more power and last longer in theory or when it's really up to spec.

 

Thanks.

 

Tricky to know?

 

As the D700 is reporting as a %, I guess a full EnEl3 with 1500mA is 100%.

 

If, big if, the clone battery is genuinely 2200mA, is it going to report nearly 150%?

 

Don't know myself, but I doubt it!

If the Nikon brand battery charged up OK then the third party ones are bad. When you check the battery percentage in the D700 it would not know how many mAh is left. It only check the voltage under a load and estimate the percentage of the battery.

Chargers stop, when batteries appear full (Voltage), sometimes also when they appear endangered (temperature). Since not all batteries are empty capacity doesn't matter to these chargers.

 

I don't know Nikons like yours. With other brands it is not unusual that third party batteries come without a properly reverse engineered management / interface chip, that keeps the cameras displaying the battery status properly.

 

If you want everything perfect, buy expensive original batteries from a trustworthy source.

Otherwise: Use what you can. - I mean a battery holding charge for 75 frames seems good enough to take it on a casual everyday scroll through our home towns. I most likely wouldn't shoot that much (even if I had a brand new big press- or sports DSLR), YMMV.

I can't speak about particular 3rd party brands, but the En-El3e batteries I had for my D700 were a mixture of genuine Nikon and 3rd party ones. The 3rd party ones nearly all claimed a higher capacity than the OEM batteries, but didn't deliver any more shots-per-charge. However, the 3rd party batteries nearly all lasted as long as the OEM ones.

 

I had one 3rd party battery suddenly go bad after several months use, but that was a one in 6 occurrence. All the others were fine, and still are - I dragged the D700 out of retirement recently and the old 3rd party batteries that I charged and fitted to it were still good.

 

Personally, I think you have to weigh the substantial saving over OEM batteries against maybe a shorter useable life. But if you can get 2 or 3 off-brand batteries for the same price as one OEM, then the economics definitely come down in favour of the off-brand product.

 

Having said that, there are probably some 3rd party brands that are to be avoided. And I also see that some of the 3rd party labels I've bought in the past, and been satisfied with, have disappeared from the market.

 

P. S. There's also a strong possibility that any En-El3e batteries on sale now are old stock. That battery type hasn't been current (sorry!) for many years.

Edited November 7, 2021 by rodeo_joe|1

I can't speak about particular 3rd party brands, but the En-El3e batteries I had for my D700 were a mixture of genuine Nikon and 3rd party ones. The 3rd party ones nearly all claimed a higher capacity than the OEM batteries, but didn't deliver any more shots-per-charge. However, the 3rd party batteries nearly all lasted as long as the OEM ones.

 

I had one 3rd party battery suddenly go bad after several months use, but that was a one in 6 occurrence. All the others were fine, and still are - I dragged the D700 out of retirement recently and the old 3rd party batteries that I charged and fitted to it were still good.

 

Personally, I think you have to weigh the substantial saving over OEM batteries against maybe a shorter useable life. But if you can get 2 or 3 off-brand batteries for the same price as one OEM, then the economics definitely come down in favour of the off-brand product.

 

Having said that, there are probably some 3rd party brands that are to be avoided. And I also see that some of the 3rd party labels I've bought in the past, and been satisfied with, have disappeared from the market.

 

P. S. There's also a strong possibility that any En-El3e batteries on sale now are old stock. That battery type hasn't been current (sorry!) for many years.

you said it.

I doubt I can get a brand new good ENEL3E at this point. I never ever expected a 3rd party battery be any close to the original. But this is a bit too far off when brand "new," which could be anything but ... in the beginning it says 70% then stopped charging, now at 50% it stopped charging. I have no confidence in them whatsoever. One of my genuine nikon battery suddenly died, the order one even after years of usage still says 0 meaning brand new. Actually alll of my genuine nikon batteries say so. it's crazy.

 

I can't quit my D700, it's biased probably even after I got my D4s, I think the D700 gives me better pictures, sharper with better clarity. The D4s shoots faster that's it.

Battery capacity is often over-rated.

I tested more than 20 Tenergy NiMH batteries (AA and sub-C), and NONE came near 80% of rated capacity.

I even tested at the lowest drain that my tester went down to, and still the batteries were way short.

 

Capacity is measured on a load.

The tricky bit is that you can get a higher capacity by testing on a load with a lower current drain.

And I have NEVER seen a load spec associated with the battery capacity. ie. 3000mA at 500mAH load. So you don't know how much the mfg is playing numbers games to get a higher capacity.

 

In the case of the Tenergy NiMH cells, it seems to me that someone in marketing just pulled a number out of air, so that they could sell it as a "high capacity" battery.

IOW, they either made up a number or lied.

 

If the capacity of a 3rd party battery was significantly more than the OEM battery, I would "smell a rat."

What kind of magic battery chemistry do they have that the OEM does not?

Tricky to know?

 

As the D700 is reporting as a %, I guess a full EnEl3 with 1500mA is 100%.

 

If, big if, the clone battery is genuinely 2200mA, is it going to report nearly 150%?

 

Don't know myself, but I doubt it!

 

If capacity is measured by voltage, a higher capacity battery would have the same starting voltage as a lower capacity battery.

It would just go down slower.

@Gary Naka: Shiny capacity ratings are usually generated using a 20h discharge cycle, at least in the lead acid business. So drain your 3Ah cell with 150mA.

The Nikon battery is rated at 7.4V 1500 mAh, so the charger is designed for it. My question is would the charger able to charge up the 3rd party battery rated at 2200mAh? It just takes longer? Let's assume it's up to spec, I am curious to know how things are supposed to work. Thanks!

The Nikon battery is rated at 7.4V 1500 mAh, so the charger is designed for it. My question is would the charger able to charge up the 3rd party battery rated at 2200mAh? It just takes longer? Let's assume it's up to spec, I am curious to know how things are supposed to work. Thanks!

 

It should be. However, I am NOT a battery engineer.

Example, The Nikon charger might charge at C/2 = 750mA. The 2200mAH battery at the same C/2 = 1100mA. (C/2 is a random charge rate for this example)

Presuming the charger is current limiting, so would not charge at more than the mA above.

The 2200mAH battery will just take longer to charge in the Nikon charger. Ignoring charging losses, that would be 2.9hrs vs. 2 hours.

The EN-EL3e has a third contact for a temperature sensor.

 

The Nikon charger that I have, has only two contacts.

It doesn't use the sensor, and so can't stop charging based

on temperature.

 

As well as I know it, Li-ion charging is well enough understood.

There are charger ICs that include the logic to determine when

(the appropriate number of) cells are charged. I haven't tried

to figure out the details, though.

 

Not so long ago, I built an FM radio kit using surface mount

components, including a Li-ion charger. (The battery isn't

surface mount, though.) I looked up the data sheet for

the charger, though not in enough detail to answer

this question.

 

I have a few non-Nikon EN-EL3e. As well as I know, and without

studying them in so much detail, the first charge cycle they don't

charge up all the way. By the second or third, they are doing

much better.

 

I didn't even know that the D700 gave a percentage. I only

use the indicator on the top, with about four different indications.

 

In any case, I agree with the above. The price is enough less,

that if it works anywhere close, and even 50% is close, to the

Nikon level, pricewise it is a good deal.

 

I use both and get good (enough) results with both.

What a coincidence, the battery issue you experienced has happened to me lately as well around probably the same time indeed (a month ago), exactly stopped charging and shown on my D300s 70% then 68% after another couple of charges within 24 hours, using the same nikon genuine charger 18a which should have nothing to do with battery capacity under charging but only matters of charging time (the higher capacity the longer time to get fully charged in 100%). I immediately sensed that this off-brand battery itself is defect and returned it without a second thought. Next day I still acquired a third-party battery by Kastar 2650 mAh (even higher than the 2200 one I returned, the same as yours) which I had one some time ago (brand wise) without any issue so I trusted it, turned out this Kastar one is just charged full in 100% and working properly as expected and about the same price as the 2200 one. Hope this helps for you to know what to do with yours. Edited November 13, 2021 by photomemory

What a coincidence, the battery issue you experienced has happened to me lately as well around probably the same time indeed (a month ago), exactly stopped charging and shown on my D300s 70% then 68% after another couple of charges within 24 hours, using the same nikon genuine charger 18a which should have nothing to do with battery capacity under charging but only matters of charging time (the higher capacity the longer time to get fully charged in 100%). I immediately sensed that this off-brand battery itself is defect and returned it without a second thought. Next day I still acquired a third-party battery by Kastar 2650 mAh (even higher than the 2200 one I returned, the same as yours) which I had one some time ago (brand wise) without any issue so I trusted it, turned out this Kastar one is just charged full in 100% and working properly as expected and about the same price as the 2200 one. Hope this helps for you to know what to do with yours.

my D700 is my backup now, sort of. So I will see. But it's good to know in the world of 3rd party batteries, not all of them are made bad, some are just better than others. I have just another off brand battery for my D810, which discharges mush faster but otherwise oK for all the years I use it, it came with the camera I bought used on eBay.

nearly all claimed a higher capacity than the OEM batteries, but didn't deliver any more shots-per-charge. However, the 3rd party batteries nearly all lasted as long as the OEM ones.

 

Over the years I have mostly used non OEM batteries. Mine often didn't endure quite as long as the 'real' thing, but you could buy 2 or 3 of them for the same price as one OEM. I did buy from what reviews seemed to indicate were 'better' companies.

Pay attention to the battery.

If it swells, stop using it. The danger is, if it swells too much, it could get STUCK in the camera. And if you can't get it out, it means an expensive trip to Nikon service to remove it.

In school, one class was using a battery that they had to "pry" out of the camera. I told the teacher to replace the battery, or one day it will be STUCK in the camera.

Pay attention to the battery.

If it swells, stop using it. The danger is, if it swells too much, it could get STUCK in the camera. And if you can't get it out, it means an expensive trip to Nikon service to remove it.

In school, one class was using a battery that they had to "pry" out of the camera. I told the teacher to replace the battery, or one day it will be STUCK in the camera.

I have experience with battery growing fat over the years, it was the one with the macbook pro. initially i didn't know it was the battery, the trackpad just not responsive as it sat above the bulging battery. And slowly or surely it renders the trackpad useless and the bottom getting fatter and fatter. In the end I replaced with some 3rd party battery. And it's a success, sure the battery doesn't last quite as long but what do you expect anyway... For camera batteries, I haven't experience the budge, not yet. Hope never will.

I have four different bodies using the EN-EL3E batteries, all but one with battery grips. I have OEM and off brand batteries and am seeing no problem at all. I’ve heard about problems with off brand but have never experienced this going all the way back to the D1-X and D100 both of which still see use now and then.

 

Rick H.

Li-ion charging is described here:

 

Lithium-ion battery - Wikipedia

 

The process doesn't depend on the size, but the time does.

Well, the constant current phase should depend on the size, but I suspect

a larger cell will just charge slower to the right voltage.

 

It might be, though, that in some cases larger cells are not fully charged,

and so will seem not as good. I believe from my experience, that some

take a few cycles to get up to the usual performance.

 

There are ICs that do this. Someone could open a MH-18a to see what is inside.

(I am not near home now.)