Nikon D80 battery meter incorrect reading?

Question

I just bought a brand new Nikon D80 DSLR about a week ago. It came with a Nikon EN-EL3e battery and the Nikon MH-18a quick charger. I also have another (generic) battery that I purchased off eBay. I charged both batteries before they were put in the camera. I waited until the charge light stopped blinking on the charger which is supposed to mean that they are charged. And then I left them on the charger until they were cool to the touch (I read this was the best procedure). When I put them in the camera, one battery read 54% on the in-camera battery meter menu and the other battery read 52%.

I used the camera and ran both batteries down to around 10%. Then I charged both batteries again. Now the generic battery reads 74% and the Nikon battery reads 53%.

Any idea why 2 different brand new, fully charged batteries would not read 100% (or close to it)? I was thinking maybe they need to be charged a few more times to become "worn in"? Has anbody else experienced this problem?

Antoni · Accepted Answer

, im gonna give some geusses - best i can do - hope maybe one helps or lights a light for someone else to help you.

ok are both batts the same Mamp? 

try running them both down to absolute flatline, then charge them till light goes off then let them cool off the charger for an hour or so then see what readings you get

somehow try your batts in someone elses D80 or try a thrid batt in your camera

its a mystery to me hope the answer comes out so i can archieve it to the grey matter

good luck


a

Anonymous · Answer

I bought a D80 about a month ago and also bought a generic 3e battery off Ebay.  My original brand-name Nikon battery works fine.  It charged fully the first time and I've not had a probem with it.  

I did had a problem with the generic battery though as the first time I fully charged it and put it in the camera it read 5% and the low battery light was flashing.  

The ebay merchant's tech support told me to charge it repeatedly until it came up to full charge.  Apparently the battery needs to be "conditioned" by fully charging repeatedly before it would hold a full charge.  I was more than a little skeptical, but followed their advice and after about 20 charge cycles (i.e. putting the battery on the charger, waiting for the light to stop flashing, remove the battery for 5-10 minutes and then repeat) I got it to come up to a full charge.  I haven't had any probelms since.

There is some evidence on the net to support the thought that it takes a few charge / discharge cycles for a Lion battery to reach its full capacity.  I think 20 times though is a little excessive...but the generic battery was half the cost of a Nikon branded battery.  

Lithium-Ion batteries have to be treated differently than the older NIMH or Nicad AA batteries that older cameras use.  

The rule of thumb with NIMH and Nicad was to let them discharge fully before fully recharging to elimate the memory effect.  Lion batteries have no memory effect so the rule of thumb I've read is to charge early and often--i.e. don't let the battery fall below 50% charge before recharging.  You can "top them off" repeatedly with no memory effect.  In fact it is reccommended to do so because it prolongs battery life and they won't discharge as fast when not being used.

It's recommended that you not store them in a full discharged state either--70%-50% is best,

Enjoy your D80 it's a great camera.  I recommend Ken Rockwell's users guide (free on www.kenrockwell.com) or Thom Hogan's Complete guide to the D80 ~$40 on his site or you can download for free (not legally of course) with a Bit Torrent client.

Hope this helps.

George Y · Answer

I don't have a D80, but maybe this discussion on Nikonians.com (great group) might help.

http://www.nikonians.org/dcforum/DCForumID236/819.html#0

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Nikon D80 battery meter incorrect reading?

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