D-LI90 BATTERY LIFE

Hi all. Can anyone advise the lifespan of a genuine Pentax battery D-L190 (or is that D-LI90 ?). The one in question was supplied new with a K-3 in April 2014. Today I have gone to recharge it ahead of a weekend photoshoot and the charging unit has the green light blinking. According to the manual this means the battery is fit for the recycle bin. The K-3 has only 16000 actions to it's name so I would have expected a genuine battery to last longer than just over 3 years with such a relatively small amount of photos taken. There is a number on the battery (201311) which I assume is a serial number. Any thoughts out there please?
Anstonian

3 years used to be the stated life of Lith-Ion batteries although they often last longer.


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Presumably the battery was fully discharged?

This process works. Used it a number of times on various 'dead' batteries; link

I thought a batterie's life was determined more by the number of recharging cycles, rather than it's age.

It used to be age. Even a 3 year old unused battery could be unusable.

Batteries are also designed for a certain number of recharging cycles. The Pro Eneloops are not designed for as many of recharging cycles as the cheaper Eneloops so never use them in anything that is constantly being re-charged such as a phone.

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My K7's battery (same as K3's) still worked after 6-7 years though, and that went through quite a few charging cycles along the way

I've yet to have one die on me. The one that came with my K-5 is still fine as are some third party ones I supplemented it with. I usually rotate them and use them in Pentax's newer camera offerings given the K-5 tends to lay idle mostly now. I've quite a collection of them and all are absolutely fine.

I can't remember exactly, but I think I've had the charger light blink when recharging fully discharged batteries. Then it went to a continuous light until fully charged. Again from memory I can't think I had a problem with the battery subsequently.

One thousand recharging cycles is the figure that springs to mind.

A battery that is allowed to become absolutely empty may not recharge again, so some charge should always be left in if storing for a long time.

I use three in rotation, so they are likely to last for quite a while.

Andrew,

The number 201311 I belive is the date (month) the battery was manufactured, in this case November 2013.

I have two original Pentax D-LI90 batteries, one of which came with my K5 when purchased new in 2011. Like John I use the batteries in rotation, with one charged ready for use and one in the camera. The second battery was purchased just 18 months ago and therefore the original battery was in constant use for the first five years or so. Both batteries last about the same time between charges with a similar number of pictures taken.

Where a battery fails to charge properly or at all this is due to changes to the battery chemistry. There are several causes, the more common being age, albeit your battery isn't particularly old, the number of recharge cycles, temperature (high temperatures can be damaging), or left in a fully discharged state for a "long" period of time.

Whatever the cause, assuming the battery charger is functioning correctly, you'll need to purchase a replacement battery. Although I have experience of Pentax branded batteries only, others have good experiences of third party brands.

you some times find that you have put it in the charger and its not quite sat right in there put it in again and it will most likely charge up with no problems

i have had that sort off problem and not just on cameras

Sometimes, you have to leave the battery in the charger for a long time before the light goes out - only then is it fully charged (IIRC, and from my own experience). My K-5 battery from around when that body was released is still going strong but not sure how many recharge cycles it has had (tends to be used with those from the K-3/K-3 II bodies without any distinction).
OTOH, had quite a number of clones which have failed much earlier - as have clones of the D-Li109s for the K-30 (discarded 3 of those this summer as they had bulged and would not fit into the camera body!)
Now buying mainly clone DSTE batteries, and, whilst they don't last in use as long, they do seem to be OK for a reasonable overall life period.

I rotate Pentax originals, Maximafoto and Energisers quite indiscriminately in my K3 and K5. I don't even bother looking which is which. Some are years old and give no trouble at all. As a result, the "charging stress" on any one of them is much lower than it would be on a single battery.

+1

Thanks to all for your comments. Given the exorbitant cost of Pentax batteries I will invest in a couple of generic ones shortly. I left my "faulty" battery in the charger complete with flashing light whilst I went out for a couple of hours. When I came back the green light was solid and several hours later the battery seems to be fully charged. However a doubt now exists with this unit so I will, for sure, get a backup one.