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Calling all battery experts -- OK calling ANY battery expert -- Lithium battery puzzler

xkaes

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Mar 25, 2006
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Alright, it's 100° here, but I doubt that can explain what's going on -- unless the heat has fried my brain!

I'm having the same battery problem with different cameras, so I've ruled out the camera as the problem.

I just opened a new pack of 3v CR2 lithium batteries. I took out the old batteries in the camera (which read 3.0v on my multi-meter) -- but the low-battery indicator on the cameras do not show them as LOW, and the cameras work fine.

I put in two new batteries (which read 3.3v on my multi-meter) in the cameras, and the camera fails to turn on -- BUT the low-battery indicator on the cameras flash LOW.

Like I said, I've tried several cameras. I've tried several batteries from the new pack of batteries. The brand of batteries is exactly the same as my old ones that show 3.0v and get the cameras running.

Any explanation? These new batteries have not been sitting in the sun, etc.
 
xkaes said:
I put in two new batteries (which read 3.3v on my multi-meter) in the cameras, and the camera fails to turn on -- BUT the low-battery indicator on the cameras flash LOW.
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If you check voltage immediately afterwards, do those batteries still measure as 3.3V, or considerably less?
 
The batteries read the same after trying them in the cameras.

Would leaving them in the camera for a while make a difference? Seems like it wouldn't.

The contacts in the cameras and on the batteries are fine, and when I turn the cameras ON, all I get is a blinking LOW BATTERY icon -- on ALL the cameras, and with ALL the new batteries.
 
Gremlins.

Out of curiosity, what camera(s)?
 
connect the battery to a 100 Ohms resistor and see what the voltage is. It should be about 2.8V or so.
 
BradS said:
Gremlins.

Out of curiosity, what camera(s)?
Click to expand...

Several. Some the same, some different. They all use CR2 batteries and all work fine with other old CR2 batteries that I have -- just not with any of the new ones. The battery maker for the new batteries is the same as for the old batteries. All of the new ones read fully charged with my multi-meter.
 
Brad Deputy said:
Check the battery contacts in the camera for any corrosion or dirt, just in case.
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As I already mentioned -- "The contacts in the cameras and on the batteries are fine"

The batteries are new. If there were a problem with the contacts in the cameras (plural) they would not work with any batteries. They all work fine with the OLD batteries, but none will work with the NEW batteries. I just get a LOW BATTERY warning -- on ALL the cameras.
 
I had new packages of batteries of of different sized, not lithium, with long expiration dates, and they had grown beards within the packaging, that is they leaked within the package. I called the manufacturer to report the problem and complain. The company said that once the batteries leave the factory they have no control of the handling and storage [sounds like film, doesn't it] and that the batteries were somehow compromised. I told the manufacturer how many batteries tested bad in each package and they sent me coupons for covering partial replacement battery packages. The OP's batteries could have also been compromised. The OP should contact the manufacturer and ask how to proceed.
 
The proper way to test a battery is when it is under a load.
You can often get away with directly connecting an alkaline or some other battery types to a meter but not so with lithium batteries.

To get a correct reading on a lithium battery you have to connect a resistor across its terminals while you connect your meter. Most any value resistor will do from, say 100 to 10000 ohms.

Many times a lithium battery will read at its full voltage even though it is really dead. A resistor across its terminals will show its true voltage when it is actually in use in your camera.
 
Put a load on the batteries and then measure. Some LED lights maybe.
 
When I attach these batteries to a penlight flashlight bulb, it lights up as expected -- validating that my multi-meter is working correctly. The NEW batteries are NOT dead.
 
Other than the "low batt" indicator light, do any of the cameras work properly when these batteries are installed?
 
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Nothing else works. All that tells me is that the battery-camera connections are OK. Better than nothing -- but not by much. At least I know that the cameras work, because they work fine with other "old" batteries. There's just something about this new batch. I haven't tried all of the NEW batteries, so I'll try that next. Why NOT???
 
I just opened up another pack of CR2 batteries. They measure the same on my multi-meter in voltage -- BUT the cameras turn on FINE with them. There's just something screwy about the CR2 batteries in ONE of the battery packs I received. I don't have time to be an electrical detective. I'll toss the "bad" ones -- and check the remaining batteries.

The weird thing is, I can't simply test them with my multi-meter -- as I would normally do I've got to put them in a camera to test them. Totally weird.
 
xkaes said:
When I attach these batteries to a penlight flashlight bulb, it lights up as expected -- validating that my multi-meter is working correctly. The NEW batteries are NOT dead.
Click to expand...

Connect the bulb again and while it is connected also connect your meter to the battery. THEN see what your meter shows.
 
I recall buying a set of CR2 batteries branded "Interstate" which would not run a Canon Rebel Ti, BUT if I managed to draw a current from them, By for example poping up the Camera flash, they would start to work fine. Until They sat for a week. then the cycle repeated. I did not have the patience to try to troubleshoot further, I just stuck them in my "Dead battery Box" for recycling.
But yes, all bateries will show the rated Voltage when checked with a VOM. The old Camera stores had a Mallory or Eveready Camera batter tester. which had setiings for different sizes of Batteries. Unofrtunatly, those old testers were all made before the 3V lithium batteries were invented. Their is a ZTS battery tester that will check them acurately, but few folks are acrazy as me to spend over 100 US on a battery checker. https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1013911-REG/zts_mbt_1_mbt1_multi_battery_tester.html
 
While under load, it's 7 mA which is what it should be.
 
Perhaps the position of the connection points on the problem batteries is wrong. Or perhaps they are slightly too short.
 
If the connections between the battery and the camera were bad or off, I would not get anything on the camera -- and I do -- a blinking LOW battery icon. Plus, I have this problem with several of the batteries, not just one. Visually the NEW BAD batteries look in perfect shape -- and measure correctly electronically when tested.
 
  • BobD
  • Deleted
  • Reason: iuiuiuiu
xkaes said:
While under load, it's 7 mA which is what it should be.
Click to expand...

That is the current. All that does is verify that the battery is capable of supplying a 7 mA current, which many batteries can do even if partially exhausted - your camera likely draws more than 7 mA at times. The difference between a good and not-good battery is sometimes only a 10% voltage drop, which would also be a 10% current drop, but your measurement isn't precise enough to tell. You should put the load on the battery and then test the voltage across the battery terminals. It will be lower than the no-load voltage, the question is how much.

Many digital multimeters have a switch position that tests a battery under load. I suggest getting one.
 
I once bought a pack of "Duracell" AA batteries that acted similarly to the OP's. I purchased them from Amazon, I tried them in my Metz CT-45 and it would intermittently turn on sometimes not, and if I left it on overnight would finally be ready to use, frustrating as heck, on close inspection found they were Chinese knock offs, not "Made in USA".
 

The batteries were made in China but they were not Chinese knock off. If you call them Chinese knock off then your Iphones are Chinese knock off too. Duracell makes their batteries both in the USA and China as well as other countries. Also Duracell do not put the made in label on the packaging but only on the batteries themselves. So really it's hard to make sure that you get the made in USA or assembled in USA ones.
 
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