Batteries : How to save 511 batteries

[tommyleong]

I have 2 pcs of 511 batteries that simply refuse to be

charged...they are less than 12 months old

 

Thus far I have only used the CANON charger for them

but somehow now, they refuse to be charged

IE: immediately after a full charge they would show low

level in the camera

[ian_hobday]

The age of the battery is not important. It is the number of times it has been charged that counts. Typically a Lithium Ion battery can take about 500 charges.<br>

<br>

If you feel they haven't had many charges and nothing unusual has happened to them, they might be faulty.<br>

<br>

Ian<br>

--<br>

Ian Hobday<br>

Osaka, Japan<br>

<a href="http://hobday.net/photos" target="_blank">http://hobday.net/photos</a> (Opens in a new window.)

[theodore_coffey]

Try cleaning the contacts with some alcohol on a cotton swab

[jeff_nolten]

I have four 511 batteries (for two cameras). Two are Canon and two are 3rd party. I was

noticing that the 3rd party batteries were not fully charging on the Canon charger.

Recently, one of the non-Canon batteries showed empty on my 10D but immediately

showed full charge on my Canon charger. I had also purchased a 3rd party charger of the

same manufacture as the non-Canon batteries because it could be used in my car as well

as AC. When I tried the battery in that charger, it followed a normal charge process (about

two hours) and brought the battery up to full charge as indicated on the 10D.

 

I don't have the batteries in front of me so I can't give their manufacture now. They were

purchased from B&H. They are also of higher capacity than the Canon batteries. I suspect

that the Canon charger doesn't sense the charge level of these batteries correctly. I'll be

happy to provide the manufacture tonight when I'm home.

 

-Jeff

[alfred_maragh]

Hi,

Here are some reasons why rechargeable batteries go bad:

1. When you use a car charger frequently. You will notice that the batteries charge quickly and that is because of the high current being pushed. The batteries will quickly go bad.

 

2. Many recharge cycles

 

3. Leaving fully charged batteries standing unused for very long periods

[theoldmoose]

All of the above depend heavily on the exact battery chemistry used. It's not a good idea to make blanket statements like that about all rechargeable cells.

 

In particular, for LiIon chemistry, the charging circuitry/cycling is relatively immune from 'overcharging', since an IC chip built in to the battery regulates the charge current and timing. So, I wouldn't worry about the idea that a car socket will produce about 14.2 volts or so with the engine running, versus the nominal 12 volts produced by the wall-wart (probably not very well regulated, anyway, could be as much as 16 volts open circuit) that comes with the charger.

 

It's also worthwhile to note that while it may be true that LiIon batteries show a relatively low 'number of charge cycles' lifetime (someone above quoted about 500, which is fair), that for LiIon chemistry, a 'charge' is counted as a full discharge/charge cycle. So, if you only partially use a LiIon cell, say only 25% of its rated capacity, daily, and 'top it off' every evening in a charger, you will get approximately 2000 of these shallow discharge/charge cycles, rather than 500.

 

One of the achille's heels of LiIon, though, is poor life if they are left unused for long periods of time, although NiMH are really notorious for this. LiIon's are at their best when they are regularly exercised. They make an ideal storage cell for things like cell phones and PDAs that get used (and topped off) daily.

 

If LiIon's are to be stored for some period of time, it is best to store them in a partially charged state (rather than run down or fully charged). It's also best to unplug them from whatever device they might inhabit, since microamps of current draw from the device they are installed in can run them down in a surprisingly short period of time. I have a Canon DV camcorder that will run high-capacity LiIon's down in a matter of days, if the battery is left installed on the shut-off camcorder. If I remove the battery, it will keep for a couple of months, at least, without running down, so I can get some runtime off of it at a moment's notice, while I top off another battery in a charger.

 

As to 3rd party batteries, within some limits you generally get what you pay for. For sure, you pay a premium when buying Canon-branded batteries, and you can probably do OK with 3rd party batteries that cost maybe half as much. Anything cheaper, though, and you will likely run into poor construction, impurities in the chemistry (which translates to poor lifetime), and in the most severe cases, the batteries can melt, catch fire, or even explode.

 

So-called 'counterfeit' Nokia cell phone batteries have caused injuries, and created enough attention to get Nokia to put out warnings about them. The cheaply made cells tended to short out internally, and lacked the required built-in safeguards (fusing, etc) to prevent the cell from melting down internally. Needless to say, this process can produce a lot of heat and pressure. If you're lucky, you won't have one of these little bombs in your pocket when it goes off.

 

Just say 'No' to $5 Ebay special batteries... 8-)

[tommyleong]

after considering all that was said here, I am thinking that my

batteries could have been overcharged since BOTH were in charger for 2 days ( I forgotten them ) and that was the only difference to the other 2 ( i got 4 of them )

 

Chargers wise both were CANON original , so that take care of the chargers..........

 

Actually the 2 that failed were newer to the 2 that are still working

 

sigh, anycase I think I will keep an eye on the overcharging bit

Got myself 2 new ones now.

[theoldmoose]

Unless the charger is defective, you can leave LiIon batteries in a charger indefinitely, and nothing will happen to them (well, almost nothing -- it seems that if you leave them in for a reaaaally long time, like several months or more, they will gradually self-discharge, possibly to the point of failure, because some charger circuits fail to trigger in cases like that, preferring to not constantly 'top-off' cycle a battery left in the charger -- go figure).

 

I would look elsewhere as to why your two relatively new batteries failed. If they were Canon branded, and failed within the 12 month warranty period, you should get free replacements. If they were cheap knockoffs, you probably got about your money's worth. If the others last longer, consider it a bonus.