Battery charger for the 10D

[DaveG]

Over the last week or so my 10D has gotten a real workout. A couple of intense commercial jobs have put about 1500 frames through it since Monday. I use the BG-ED3 grip and with two batteries.

About halfway through my second 512 meg card (highest jpegs and this week at ISO 400) the battery level indicator shows half power, which is to be expected.

Here's the problem: I've gotten home with the batteries at half power. I put one into the battery charger and the charger blinks twice a couple of times, then three times for a bit, and then steady like the battery was fully charged. This takes place in about 10-15 seconds.

But if I take the battery out for a moment and stick it back into the charger, the charger will blink twice for ten minutes and then three blinks for another longer period of time and then after that I get the "steady on" LED. This is what I would expect the charging cycle to look like.

I don't understand why the charger seems to think that the battery had that greater charge at first. It's kind of scarry because without that "take the battery out and re-seat it" I could easily go to an assignment without enough juice.

Is anyone else experiencing this problem?

[iwatkins]

I see it occasionally. But I don't worry about it. I put the battery in and it does its random blinks for a while then settles down. Once I get a steady light I then leave it charging for at least another hour (as the manual recommends).

Cheers

Ian

[DAMphyne]

I think the blinking indicates the battery being prepared for the actual charging. I don't believe the battery actually gets charged until the blinking stops, thus the recomended 1 hour time after the blinking stops.

[soumya63]

DaveG wrote:
the charger blinks twice a couple of times, then three times for a bit, and then steady like the battery was fully charged. This takes place in about 10-15 seconds.

Is anyone else experiencing this problem?

As you have read in the manual, the number of blink is a visual indicator of how much charge is there in the battery. This info Lithium battery provides that information to the charger and the camera. I have not taken a battery apart, but I can see there are three terminals on the battery and I presume one of them is the signal for the battery charge status. I may be wrong; it can be a split power ground signal also. Anyway, what I can speculate from the symptom, that either the battery voltage sensor circuit in your charger is not working properly or the battery itself has developed some problem which is misleading the charger to believe it is loosing charge and very quickly it is charging up to full.

The best solution will be to test the charger with another battery.

Lastly always keep the battery 1 hour more after the led starts glowing continuously. According to manual, this will ensure you full charge.

Soumya

www.mitraphoto.com

[Vegas Poboy]

Personnaly I put the battery on before I go to bed and remove it when I awaken that way it gets a full charge @ least 5 hours.
It sucks being in a middle of a shoot & have no juice. I believe the manual states @ least 90 minutes for a full charge.

[CyberDyneSystems]

heh heh,. to keep my bases covered,. I have six batteries! :)

[iwatkins]

... Ah, but are they charged ? ;)

Cheers

Ian