K-x NiMH battery problem

I I regret the new topic (I start this topic on pentax Digital SLR forum link), but I'm confused with my K-x.

My first test with GP ReCyko wasen't success. ReCykos run out after few shots so I recgharge them (takes only 2h to) and tried again. Battery light was green at first, but after couple of shots indicator went orange and after a while to red (battery settings was NiMH + firmware 1.01).

Now I recharged them again with GP's charger and leave then in charger on 8 hours. Then I take ReCykos off and wait 2 h and measured the voltage, voltages was 1,4 V on all four batteries, so they should be fully charged. And that was on yesterday (12th of Dec.)

No, what should I do, put batteries back to the camera and turn power on right a way, or should I wait about 5 min (some proposal on the internet)and then turn on the camera?

Pentax K-x serial number 364...

I would try with another set of batteries, this should determine if it's the battery's or camera at fault.

ummm

One question and then a thought or two

have you always given your location as Finland ?

Now for thought

1) could your batteries be cold ? They do not like being cold and will show depleted very quickly - but if left in a warm room will go back to a green indicator . I've not tried this with my K-x but certainly this happens with the Optio P70 .

2) the K-x manual does say use NiMH batteries or AA alkaline or AA Lithium - it emphasises on page 2 that no other re-chargeables other than NiMH should be used

3) Temperature range for the camera is 0C to 40C [ page 3]

I had a K-x here a couple of weeks back and with Eneloops it was fine (no changes made...). Maybe these drop their charge too quickly? How old are they?

Tavallisesti akut saa toimii, mutta kun ne on niin vanha se on periateseesti mahdollistä että ne on 'rikki' - ja ne camerat tarvii hyvin paljon virta.

Bret

Answer to techno-terminator's question: Yes, I have given my location as Finland. The exact location is Central-Finland and Äänekoski.


And answers to other questions:
NiMH batteries were been on room temperature and they are brand new. I bought then at the end of October, but I used Litium batteries (K-x's inbox batteries) until last week.

I measured voltages now one day after charhing and voltages were:
1,375 V
1,374 V
1,377 V
1,376 V

Voltages seem to be OK, I think.

To morrow I'm going to put them into K-x. Let's see what happen now.

I always used Recykos with my K200D, no problems. They are advertised as fully charged and ready to use, but I didn't find this was the case with my camera though.... needed a proper charge first. I guess they're OK straight from the packet if you pop them in your alarm clock or remote

I have a K-X. I t also use Nimh batteries (cheap ones) lol Took my Camera to the Christmas Market, Manchester yesterday. It was minus degrees. Still got plenty of pics from my batteries. I suspect because yours are very new. They need to be charged and drained a couple of times. I usually find this is the case, Before they show their true capacity..

BW. With inbox Lithium-batteries I took about 270 pictures including short video (1 min) and I used LCD to view images.

One more commment.

On Pentax forum (US I belive) link

was

full Green lasts for about 1/3 (33%) usage (~400 shots)-
half Orange first shows when there is still about 2/3 (66%) capacity left (~800 shots left or lasts for ~600 shots) -
empty Red shows when there is about 1/6 (16.7%) capacity left (~200 shots)

And then total shots were 1200 taken with Sony Eneloops batteries.


Do you have shots counts with Lithium batteries?

I also had a set of GP Recyclos which soon ran out of power on the KX.

I now use only Sanyo Eneloop or Uniross Hybrio rechargable batteries and find the usage time quite good.

I had almost 1000 on my initial Lithiums . I'm still on my second set [ weather has kept me inside for the last few weeks ]

Now I have tested ReCykos again and they dosen't work with my K-x.

I tested these cell also with external load and voltages were (current about 330 mA): 1,272 V, 1,287 V, 1,269V and 1,267V.

I'm going to order Sony Eneloops and try with them. And for backups I try to find Lithium batteries. ReCykos I put to my flash. Let's see how Eneloops work.

Unfortunately I have to say that Pentax has done quite an unprofessional work with K-x power circuits. I have been working over 20 year on mobilephone R&D and this kind of problems are like beginners work.

In my experience, GP batteries are rubbish. Treat yourself to a full set of Sanyo Eneloop batteries. Full set = enough for the camera and another spare set.

They will retain up to 80% charge if not used for 1 year and you should get a reasonable amount of use in camera.

I made short descharge test with GP ReCyko NiMH batteries and here are results:

Battery tests with La Crosse RS-900 intelligent Charger
Discharge current 500 mA

Voltage after . . . . . . 30min . 60min . 2h30min . 3h
La Crosse . . . . . . . . 1,14V . 1,13V . 1,11V . 1,10V
Fluke 97 multimeter . 1,26V . 1,25V . 1,24V . 1,22V

La Crosse's value was fron display (when discharged with 500mA
Fluke's value was measured from battery's terminals (when discharged with 500mA)

So, In my knowledge there aren't any problems with GP ReCyko in generally, but with K-x the situation might be different.


I got new Sony Eneloop batteries on Thursday and tried them. They seems not work better than ReCyko, but then I put Eneloops to charger and after 3h I tried again. I switch on the camera and battery indicator was green, but after couple of shots the indicator went orange. Not very promising.

On weekend I'm going to do same test with Eneloops and La Crosse as I did with ReCyko to see how Eneloops work under 500mA discharge.


Does anyone know what is K-x's low battery voltage limit with NiMH (limit when the camera shuts down)?

BW.
I wrote to Pentax Support to UK and they gave short answer to my ReCyko problem:
"Please try out the following batteries: Sanyo Eneloop. They are said to be the best for the DSRL's.
With kind regards,
Pawel Jedrzejczak
Pentax Digital Camera Support Team"

that's really strange as I have a set of eneloops in a K-X here and they are fine after several hundred shots.

After Christmas I can send you a "known good" set of eneloops for testing?

Bret