I have just bought two brand new Panasonic Lumix CGA-S007A batteries as my old ones are no longer holding their charge after about seven years.
I checked the open circuit voltage with my Fluke and was surprised to find that both batteries read 0.00V … I have always thought that Li-Ions should be stored partly charged … I will try charging the new batteries just to make sure that they work OK before contacting the seller, but am still a bit worried about the zero reading.
I never checked the voltage on my old batteries before I initially charged them, so I don’t know if they were delivered in the same condition.
Any thoughts on this please ?
I always keep my 18650’s fully charged and ready for use, though I know it would increase their life expectancy if they were only part charged … But the “zero volts” on these new Li-Ions has me a bit worried.
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Hi Mark … That is a possibility … If so, I just hope the batteries recover OK … Once they have fully charged for a few hours I will do a test on the number of pictures with flash that they will provide … I will leave them on charge for a couple of hours after the LED on the charger tells me they are ready … I can compare the two batteries and maybe do a second charge/discharge test just to be certain … Time will tell.
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I lot of camera batteries have a built in disconnect that keeps the power off when removed from the camera. That keeps idiots from causing excitement by doing things like carrying the battery in your pockets with your keys.
I charged both batteries for just a few seconds and then took them off … The voltage came up to 3.7V … I fully charged them both and did a simple test … I switched the flash on and took 60 photos … By then the flash recycle time went up to about eight seconds … I gave the camera and the batteries a rest of about ten minutes and resumed the test … The flash recycle time was about three seconds … After ten shots, it was still about four seconds … The battery charge indicator on the camera seemed to still be on full (three bars) after all this use … I think that these batteries will be OK after a recharge as I very rarely use the flash anyway.
After a recharge/top-up, both batteries (rested) are sitting at 4.177V.
My four old (charged) batteries were also tested … Two of them only lasted for four shots and the red low battery display came up on the camera … These will be disposed of … The other two old batteries were still OK after ten shots so I will hang onto these as they should be OK for non-flash photos … Sort of spares for the spares !
Well, I am fairly happy that these two new batteries are OK, though I will be happier when I have used them for a few months.
Based on my simple battery testing and the recharged voltage of 4.177V, they do look to be working OK … Time will tell.
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I have (over the years) taken the batteries out of the camera to check the voltage … It is always possible to measure the battery voltage on these Panasonics out of the camera … All my spare batteries are insulated in plastic cases when being carried as spares … Being Li-Ions, it is nice to be able to check their state of charge with a meter … After charging, these batteries are never over 4.18V and usually settle a few millivolts less … This is probably why they last for years … The new ones are rested at 4.177V … I am charging the two older batteries now to see what their rested voltage is and how it compares with the two new ones.
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It sounds like the protection circuit was tripped. Maybe they ship that way, or maybe they had discharged to a low level. Either way, if they are performing well (60 flash shots seems OK) then they should be OK.
As for the flash recycle time, often these are temperature regulated. As the flash gets hot, the recycle time is artificially lengthened to protect it. This is likely what you experienced, rather than the battery not able to provide the power.
Hi Relic , I was thinking along the temperature line myself … A few minutes rest on the new batteries always brings the flash recycle time back to about three seconds … The rest would probably give the camera flash enough time to cool down … I guess 60 flash pictures is quite a lot for a small flash to handle in a short period of time.
I tested the remaining two old (better) batteries the same way … After charging on the Panasonic Lumix charger (rested overnight) they read 4.166V and 4.175V … After 20 flash pictures the flash recycle time went up from about three seconds to about five seconds … A five minute rest brought the flash recycle time back to about three seconds … After 20 shots , the 4.166V battery (the worst one) still read 4.151V (after resting for half an hour) … It looks as though these two old batteries will be OK as spares (just in case) , though for less than £9 I might still get another new one in a month or two (even though I probably don’t really need to).
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