Battery drain in unplugged charger?
Feb 18, 2019 11:44:21 #
LA
Loc: Little Rock, AR
I have tested this with my Sony chargers, not a quantitative test but a qualitative one, and have found that
the batteries do not discharge more than if removed from the charger.
the batteries do not discharge more than if removed from the charger.
Feb 18, 2019 13:26:38 #
Traveller_Jeff wrote:
Call the manufacturer and ask to speak to one of their technicians. They will give you a definitive answer.
What would the area code be for those countries??? Do you expect them to speak English?
Feb 18, 2019 14:32:48 #
nadelewitz wrote:
Back to my original post, people. The question is, will the battery discharge in the charger with the charger UNPLUGGED from the wall.
I would say yes, but VERY slowly.
P.S. I was an Senior Staff Engineer (EE) for a Fortune 500 company.
Feb 18, 2019 14:32:59 #
Feb 18, 2019 14:37:59 #
nadelewitz
Loc: Ithaca NY
PHRubin wrote:
I would say yes, but VERY slowly.
P.S. I was an Senior Staff Engineer (EE) for a Fortune 500 company.
P.S. I was an Senior Staff Engineer (EE) for a Fortune 500 company.
Best answer yet.
Enough said.
Feb 18, 2019 15:10:45 #
I leave my Nikon battery in the charger after I put away after charging. Never noticed any drain, even after several weeks.
Feb 18, 2019 15:19:24 #
Want some professional advice? Keep it simple and remove your batteries from the charger or disconnect them after each charging cycle. Don't mess with your batteries or they will come back to bite you!
Alright- Here's my common sense philosophy and what is based on.
Years ago, I had to worry about only a few batteries in my studio. There were some in the camera's metering systems, the exposure meters, a few in the portable strobes and that was it. I had a few chargers and lots of spare batteries. Nowadays, just about everything in the place is electronic. I mean really! The only things that not electronically driven, at my studio, are the toilets- and I understand that is coming soon too! Of course, all the location gear have batteries. If the camera batteries die, there is no mechanical overrides like in the olden days- everything shuts down- not just the meter! So...you are out on the job and you multi-thousand dollars worth cameras fail because of charging issues with some 50 dollar batteries because you forgot to disconnect something, or were too lazy to take them out of the charger? Not good!
I have to manage batteries in the cameras, 12 strobes, 12 radio slaves, exposure meters, the laptop, the backup cells in the computers, the cellphone and it's a good thing that I don't need a pacemaker- yet!
Things used to be simple. Strobes had wet cell batteries with built-in hydrometers- 3 little-colored balls that indicated the degree of discharge. We had disposable dry cells and Nicd rechargeables. We got to know the "memories" of these cells and things were simple. Nowadays, the "energy storage" industry- they don't say "batteries" anymore, have a selection of stuff that I can't even pronounce and GOD only knows their charge/discharge characteristics , that is if HE or SHE has a degree in electronic engineering.
I have enough chargers to start a power station and I have even built a few. Some of them have some neat circuitry that will automatically monitor the charging rate and switch to a trickle charge when the battery is fully charged. That's good if I forget to disconnect them, but again, I am not sure if those systems are compatible with some of the new age batteries. Nothing like packing up for a job and finding the batteries are red hot or somehow drained themselves out! I have no time to run around the place with a milliampere meter and monitor the charging rates, let alone attempting to monitor or measure minute discharging rates so I simply stick to the suggested charging times or go by those nice little LEDs on the chargers and take the batteries off charge when they are done!
There are folks on this site and who are participating in this thread that are well versed in electronics- much more than I- and have already explained that there are many different kinds of charging devices that might or might not cause drain if disconnect from the primary voltage source. I would not want to find out in the middle of a shoot or even while taking vacation shots or shooting my grandchildren's' birthday parties- it's embarrassing! How much effort does it take to disconnect the batteries from the charger and what advantage is there to leave them connected to a disconnected charger that does not even supply a trickle charge?
Carry spares! Any battery, regardless of its age, quality and/or level of maintenance can unceremoniously drop dead at the most inopportune times.
Now- let's discuss those urban legends about guys who put a
9- volt energizer in the pocket along with their pocket change and accidentally set fire to their private parts. Be safe- not sorry! Ouch!
Alright- Here's my common sense philosophy and what is based on.
Years ago, I had to worry about only a few batteries in my studio. There were some in the camera's metering systems, the exposure meters, a few in the portable strobes and that was it. I had a few chargers and lots of spare batteries. Nowadays, just about everything in the place is electronic. I mean really! The only things that not electronically driven, at my studio, are the toilets- and I understand that is coming soon too! Of course, all the location gear have batteries. If the camera batteries die, there is no mechanical overrides like in the olden days- everything shuts down- not just the meter! So...you are out on the job and you multi-thousand dollars worth cameras fail because of charging issues with some 50 dollar batteries because you forgot to disconnect something, or were too lazy to take them out of the charger? Not good!
I have to manage batteries in the cameras, 12 strobes, 12 radio slaves, exposure meters, the laptop, the backup cells in the computers, the cellphone and it's a good thing that I don't need a pacemaker- yet!
Things used to be simple. Strobes had wet cell batteries with built-in hydrometers- 3 little-colored balls that indicated the degree of discharge. We had disposable dry cells and Nicd rechargeables. We got to know the "memories" of these cells and things were simple. Nowadays, the "energy storage" industry- they don't say "batteries" anymore, have a selection of stuff that I can't even pronounce and GOD only knows their charge/discharge characteristics , that is if HE or SHE has a degree in electronic engineering.
I have enough chargers to start a power station and I have even built a few. Some of them have some neat circuitry that will automatically monitor the charging rate and switch to a trickle charge when the battery is fully charged. That's good if I forget to disconnect them, but again, I am not sure if those systems are compatible with some of the new age batteries. Nothing like packing up for a job and finding the batteries are red hot or somehow drained themselves out! I have no time to run around the place with a milliampere meter and monitor the charging rates, let alone attempting to monitor or measure minute discharging rates so I simply stick to the suggested charging times or go by those nice little LEDs on the chargers and take the batteries off charge when they are done!
There are folks on this site and who are participating in this thread that are well versed in electronics- much more than I- and have already explained that there are many different kinds of charging devices that might or might not cause drain if disconnect from the primary voltage source. I would not want to find out in the middle of a shoot or even while taking vacation shots or shooting my grandchildren's' birthday parties- it's embarrassing! How much effort does it take to disconnect the batteries from the charger and what advantage is there to leave them connected to a disconnected charger that does not even supply a trickle charge?
Carry spares! Any battery, regardless of its age, quality and/or level of maintenance can unceremoniously drop dead at the most inopportune times.
Now- let's discuss those urban legends about guys who put a
9- volt energizer in the pocket along with their pocket change and accidentally set fire to their private parts. Be safe- not sorry! Ouch!
Feb 18, 2019 15:51:47 #
nadelewitz wrote:
If you leave a camera battery in its charger after unplugging it from AC power, is there drain on the battery? Will a battery run down in storage in the charger, more than if it is out of the charger?
WHY would you leave the battery in the charger after THE CHARGER IS UNPLUGGED?
Feb 18, 2019 16:19:26 #
Manglesphoto wrote:
WHY would you leave the battery in the charger after THE CHARGER IS UNPLUGGED?
I’ll tell you why I did. I thought it was a requirement of the airlines, plus, it saves a little space and is more convenient. May be dumb reasons and I don’t think I’ll do that anymore. Besides, the airline never even asked about batteries I was carrying or how, even after thoroughly checking my camera bag. Batteries not in an approved device, ie: camera or chargers, I stored in a small baggie with tape across the contacts. YMMV
Feb 18, 2019 16:27:45 #
GrandmaG wrote:
I’ll tell you why I did. I thought it was a requirement of the airlines, plus, it saves a little space and is more convenient. May be dumb reasons and I don’t think I’ll do that anymore. Besides, the airline never even asked about batteries I was carrying or how, even after thoroughly checking my camera bag. Batteries not in an approved device, ie: camera or chargers, I stored in a small baggie with tape across the contacts. YMMV
Nix the tape on the contacts, it will leave a residue on the contacts. use the battery covers that came with the batteries.
Feb 18, 2019 17:16:21 #
Manglesphoto wrote:
Nix the tape on the contacts, it will leave a residue on the contacts. use the battery covers that came with the batteries.
OK, thanks!
Feb 18, 2019 17:49:00 #
LA
Loc: Little Rock, AR
I often do the same as the OP...leave the last-charged battery in charger. I do this mostly because I always know that that battery is charged. And as I noted earlier, my good-enough tests show that the battery stays charged effectively as long as if I remove it. Not a big deal for me but that's why I do it.
Feb 18, 2019 18:37:17 #
Feb 18, 2019 18:52:24 #
Run a simple test of your batteries and charger. Should tell you if your charger degrades power either way.
Feb 18, 2019 19:46:35 #
aphelps wrote:
No, the reason for terminal covers is to prevent short circuits from metal objects. That could result in fire or worse. Think about that before you put a battery in your pocket with change or keys. Batteries do not dicharge in an empty pocket.
I read a caution by Canon, years back, that went sorta like "If you leave the battery in the charger and remove it from the outlet, *wait a few seconds* before touching the prongs". Forget the exact wording, but it intimated that it is possible to get a backwards discharge from the charger - and that after a few seconds, it wouldn't matter.
My take, is that if it can happen for "a few seconds", it could happen any time. So, I think *YES* it does make a difference.
If you want to reply, then register here. Registration is free and your account is created instantly, so you can post right away.