no-name batteries

There have been numerous discussions about the quality of after market batteries for the K20D (and other camera's).
When I got my K20D in 2008 I bought a no-name NP400 as the second battery for my K20D.
It has worked flawlessly until this summer. I used the Pentax and no-name alternately and they have seen the same amount of use but the no-name is now almost dead. The Pentax one is still going strong.
So I will look at the price difference again and if it is still less then half of the price of the Pentax one I will get a no-name again I guess since four years is good enough for me

The important thing to look out for is the charge rate. For example, the Li-109 (for the Kr) is rated at 1050 mAh (Pentax own brand). Similar batteries may not hold the same charge, so if I were to buy an unbranded battery, I'd be looking for another 1050 mAh, or above - perhaps a 1080 mAh battery.

The pentax Li50 has a higher rating but in practice there wasn't much difference.
I never used the original Pentax charger however, I have a Hahnel Twin-V Pro which can charge two batteries at once and it works perfectly. I bought it because it has a 12V input so it can be used in the car.

1050 mAh is the capacity of the battery. The rate of charge would also depend upon the charger.

True - but the capacity is what really counts.

Which is why you can't look out for a charge rate as batteries aren't specified by one.

Smeggy - of course, I did mean capacity but at time of writing, I didn't make myself clear as my brain was fried at that point, having just finished a 14-hour shift - and I'm not even a junior doctor!!

Hey, we're back on this topic. My advice, buy from a reputable outlet in the EU. That way if it leaks or bursts (I would say explodes but that is unlikely to happen more than a few times a day) you have somewhere to seek recompense.

Gareth - if it's a Li-ion battery, I can guarantee you that leaking and bursting are the least of your worries! Chances are that the battery will spontaneously combust, and if it's still inside your camera body when this happens, you'll be looking at a shiny-new camera!

When I done my IATA/ICAO Dangerous Goods by Air refresher recently, the tutor showed us a short video of a laptop with a Li-ion battery explode, hence the warning labels on your nice new laptop's box. It'll only be a matter of time before cameras receive the same treatment, handling-wise.

From what I understand the biggest danger is short circuiting these batteries. This is what is most likely to cause them to catch fire.

That was the reported problem that Sony had a year or so back with the batteries in the Vaio laptops.

HP and Dell have also had similar battery problems over the last 10 years or so.

Back OT, I've used 'pattern'batteries in several cameras and had no problems. In fact I've a pattern battery as a spare for the K5, it's the same rating as theoriginal and,so far,is proving reliable.

As it only cost £2.98 (lucky bid!) I'll see how long it lasts.

One problem would be if the battery gets too hot inside
the camera and distorts the plastic case so that you
can't get it out.

If Li-ion batteries are safe why won't Pentax risk
supplying them part-charged.

Nikon had a recall recently due to overheating batteries.
http://www.dpreview.com/news/2012/04/25/Nikon-EN-EL15-battery-recall

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With all cheap electronic copies you have to be
very careful.. there are a lot of crooks about

It's hard to believe that someone would deliberately
fake a capacitor like this one link I suppose if your
making thousands it becomes profitable

Be careful that Li-ion might have something smaller inside it

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I'm happy to buy batteries from places like 7dayshop or Amazon Marketplace but not eBay.

Although you might have a case against eBay they act as middle-men whereas Amazon act as the retailer.

It's not the fact that batteries are third-party which is the problem but that they may not have been tested for safety. Anyone can put a kite mark on a product, but if they are sold in the EU then the retailer has the responsibility for checking that the product is OK.

I know what you mean Gareth, thebatteruy I got was from this set. The seller didn't need a spare battery.