hj Loc: Florida

I just bought a used camera with four batteries and the seller said each charged for six hours before shipping. (he also said they sat in a closet since 2016). When I tried them each either worked for just a few minutes or not at all, saying "charge battery". Charging them again did not help. The camera was introduced in 2013 so I bought two new batteries and camera now works perfectly.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Moral of story: Don’t buy something you won’t use. Idle batteries die early.

BebuLamar

That is why I buy corded drill and corded jig saw. The cordless units are nice but I don't use them often and it's likely that whenever I want to use them the battery is dead.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

I do the same! I have 2 corded saws, 2 corded drills, and a corded sander. My Circular hand saw and sander are 40+ years old. But I use them only a few times each year. I’d spend more on batteries than the tools cost new, if I kept them that long... IF I could find replacement batteries after a few years!

The pros get good life from battery tools, because they use them often. I get 5-7 years out of a Norelco shaver because I use it daily. I get 10+ years from a Prius for the same reason. Batteries last longer when well-used.

Just don’t discharge below 20% very often! That will shorten life, too.

BebuLamar

Oh well! I have to live with paying for camera batteries. I don't use my camera that often either. I just charged my Nikon Df battery yesterday and I remembered putting it away full charged.

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

Recharge, use and recharge the battery again a half dozen or so times.

When a battery sits unused for a long time, it can become severely discharged and take several charging sessions to bring it back to a fuller charge. If it's 10 or 11 years old, it may never be 100% again, but you might get it to 80 or 90%, depending upon how many charge/discharge cycles its been through.

So long as the battery hasn't begun to leak or "swelled", it never hurts to try anyway. I've had really good success bringing some older batteries back to life.

EDIT: Again... Do the charge/discharge/recharge/discharge cycle a half dozen times or so. If the battery doesn't start holding a longer lasting charge after that, it's probably no good and will need to be replaced.