How long will you charge your new Nikon EN-EL3e Batteries

[ortega]

How long will you charge your new Nikon EN-EL3e Batteries

[thomas_lkt]

EN-EL3 is a Li-Ion battery so it has to be charged by a dedicated smart charger. The charging duration will be determined by the dedicated charger. There is no difference in the charge termination criteria for new or old batteries.
When the charger detects that the battery is full charged, it will automatically terminate the charging process. Leaving the battery in the charger longer will not result in a fuller charge. Just follow the status indications.

[raid]

I'll just follow the indication on the charger.... not sure if the charger trickle charges when the indicator LED is no longer blinking, but so far leaving it there or removing it immediately after charge completes doesn't really matter. Battery still performs beyond my expectation...

[Cara]

When i went to change the battery, the guy asked me to read the instruction manual while he was processing all the documents.

I then asked him about the charging time needed but he said it was indicated in the manual, which is not.
Apparently he knew nothing about that. Anyway he intercom someone and got the answer for me - about 3 hours even it's 1st time charging.
They said the EN-EL3e is different from the previous one, it is a quick charge type.

[obewan]

Read this article about charging camcorder battery.

"New batteries come in a discharged condition and must be fully charged before use.
It is recommended that you fully charge and discharge the new battery two to four times to allow it to reach its maximum rated capacity
It is generally recommend an overnight charge (approximately twelve hours). It is normal for a battery to become warm to the touch during charging and discharging.
When charging the battery for the first time, the device may indicate that charging is complete after just 10 or 15 minutes.
This is a normal with rechargeable batteries. New batteries are hard for the device to charge; they have never been fully charged and not broken in. Sometimes the device's charger will stop charging a new battery before it is fully charged. If this happens, remove the battery from the device and then reinsert it. The charge cycle should begin again. This may happen several times during the first battery charge. Don't worry; it's perfectly normal."

http://www.batterybank.com/charging.html

[Cara]

Ooo.. so the Nikon guys don't exactly know how to go about charging new batteries?

[ortega]

that is what i tought

When I first bout my D70 the sales guy told me to charge the battery overnight b4 use
as it was the first full charge and that it would take a few cycles to reach optimum capacity.

[raid]

Li-Ion batteries are quite different from NiMh batteries.... The information u got for those camcorders might be for NiMh or even NiCd batteries...

For a full and proper charge.. the charging voltage needs to be within a 1% tolerance... too high and you might damage the battery... too low and you might only get 80% charge.. that is why there are dedicated ICs (integrated circuits) just to handle battery charging... Example is an IC by analog devices.

read this (warning abit boring)... http://www.analog.com/library/analog...1-2/liion.html

And this...
http://www.batterieswholesale.com/da..._batteries.htm
Quoting: "If current is continually forced into a fully charged cell, internal corrosion can take place which will reduce cell capacity (possibly completely). For this reason, Li-Ion cells can not be trickle charged for extended time periods without cutting off the current when full charge is reached. Sustained charge currents (even a few µA) can damage the cell if allowed to run continuously."

[raid]

that is what i tought

When I first bout my D70 the sales guy told me to charge the battery overnight b4 use
as it was the first full charge and that it would take a few cycles to reach optimum capacity.

Haha... he might not be an engineer mah..

Anyway... for me.. i just brought it home.. plug it in.. took it out when it stops blinking.. and used it... no worries.. it's not something that expensive anyway.. when compared to the cam body and lens... and so far... it has been working well.. able to hold charge and all...

It's just a battery.. use it.. and dun think so much...

[Cara]

I have a silly question.
I always fully charge the batteries before bringing them out with me for shooting, although they are not flat yet. Would this shorten the lifespan of the batteries?

[gooseberry]

I have a silly question.
I always fully charge the batteries before bringing them out with me for shooting, although they are not flat yet. Would this shorten the lifespan of the batteries?

No, with the newer Li-ion and Li-polymer batteries, you should charge them more often rather than leaving them to fully discharge and then charging them. More info on taking care of various different types of rechargeable batteries can be found from this site

http://www.batteryuniversity.com/

especially part two - getting the most out of your batteries.

[Cara]

Thanks for the info and link.

[xotic]

So what is the recommended duration for charging this new battery? I still .

[ST_sg]

So what is the recommended duration for charging this new battery? I still .

charge according to your convenient time lor... My new EL3e first charge only took 1 hour, then the charger LED stop blinking liao,.. then I let it stay there for another 2 hours. Then, put it in D70, fire a few shots, review more photos on D70 LCD, playing around some menu setting, fire another few more shots with different exposure settings. After that, put it back to charger, it took another `20min finish charging.. however I leave it there from 11.30pm till this morning 8.30am

And the battery not really warm also ...

[raid]

With the current batch of EN-EL3 batteries being recalled by Nikon... better check if your battery is affected... Else overcharge... become a fire-hazard...

http://www.dpreview.com/news/0511/05...battrecall.asp

[iso100]

first time charge longer,

anyway the charger will stop charging when the battery is full,

but i'll leave it there more than 4 hours...

[Artosoft]

IMHO, slow charger (normal charger) is better than fast charger. Any comments on this?

Regards,
Arto.

[gomobile]

for me i rather finish using the charges in my new batt that i just got replaced in the service center.

Seems like there's a full charge already without me charging it for the first time.

[ortega]

a new phone battery needs to be charged 8-12 hrs before use

this is the advice that i got

is there a difference in battery technology?

[photogene]

For Lithium battery like EN-EL#, there's no need to charge 8 hrs like those salesman said. They just pass info down without logic. Lithium is not Nickel-Cadmium (NiCd) & Nickel-Metal Hydride (NiMH) where they suffer from memory effect. NiCd is the worst.

However, overcharging EN-EL# will damage the battery, causing overheat and even explode. Hence once the blinking light stops after an hr or 2, just remove the battery.