Two sets of freshly charged Energizer NiMH AA batteries (rated 2650 and 2450 mAh respectively), with my Maha charger, with a special procedure, were put into my K-x to see the battery level indication and behaviour of the camera.
Side Note: The debug mode can still be activated with the latest firmware 1.02.
1. The battery type detection was set to Auto by factory default:-
With the two sets of the Energizer, the battery "exhausted" Red indicator came up for both!
It is quite possible that the (open circuit/no load) battery voltage was a bit too high, might be at 1.35V something (not measured exactly this time). So, the total made-up voltage for four could be about 5.4V. Thus the camera believed that it was just the depleted Lithium.
2. Manually overrode the battery type to Alkaline resulted in a half-depleted Yellow indicator as below:-
3. In order to confirm that the Auto battery (type) detection was simply fooled, I further manually overrode it to the correct battery type of NiMH resolved the problem (momentarily, will explain as it follows..) and finally a Green indicator showed up (for both sets of the batteries)!
4. The test was repeated after One Day.. And the findings are:-
(i) For the first set of the batteries (2650mAh):
- Auto Battery detection worked correctly that time..
- Manually overrode it to Li (Lithium) showed the Red battery indicator;
- Manually overrode it to AL (alkaline) resulted in a Red battery indicator too, which simply hints the battery discharged a bit and the voltage dropped;
- Manually overrode it to NiMH type showed a Green indicator. So, the Auto battery type detection worked correctly this time! :-o I *must* thank God!! ;-D
(ii) For the second set of the batteries (2450mAh):
- I am not sure if the Auto Battery detection worked correctly for the first instance as a Yellow indicator showed up..
- Manually overrode it to Li (Lithium) showed the Red battery indicator;
- Manually overrode it to AL (alkaline) resulted in a Red battery indicator too, which simply hints the battery discharged more and the voltage dropped more significantly;
- Manually overrode it to NiMH type showed a Yellow indicator. So, the Auto battery type detection should work correctly but a full Green battery indicator could never be seen again! (It have only been there for one day!) >:-(
Btw, my K-r, with the latest firmware version 1.11 programmed, was also checked for the first time on the first day (but not the second). No particular irregularity was found for the quick check.
Previous Related:-
How to Resolve the K-x Battery Problem?
AA Battery Chargers Fully Compared (4 Models)
Better K-x Rechargable Solution? Is the NiZn Safe?
K-x Battery Issue and Tests (YouTube Demos)
Six Years of AA Battery Pentax DSLRs
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OGL · 704 weeks ago
Died very quick. Pentax can't ensure correct work with ANY NiMh AA batteries of ANY brand and OEM manufacturers.
It's UNREAL. Use good batteries - like SANYO ENELOOP.
RiceHigh 110p · 704 weeks ago
Sanyo has lately marketed the "X" battery. As it can be seen from the specs, the self-discharge time to 75% of the original capacity is greatly shortened from 3 years to 1 years, but the mAh rating is increased, now close to the Energizers, at around 2500mAh.
OGL · 704 weeks ago
The Energizer at your photo are the cheapest and weakest NiMH AA batteries we ever used at Russian pentax forum. I've tried to save it with low voltage special charger like BC700 - no any results.
Is it JOKE? Your experience is out of my mind.
RiceHigh 110p · 704 weeks ago
I have at least purchased and used 3 sets of Energizer (each set of four) and 3 sets of Eneloop for use in different electronic devices and as you could see, I have many different models of battery chargers and I used the best one (Maha) to charge and test. So, the conclusions I drew could be wrong, but yet quite unlikely.
Mind you that those Energizer NiMHs have different versions and buy only those MIJ ones (MIC is not as good). As for Eneloops, all of them are MIJ (and there are Asia or US versions, too, which I have both).
Michael A. · 704 weeks ago
mihai · 704 weeks ago
I believe in AUTO mode the camera measures the total output voltage.
This depends on the state of charge (or discharge) and type of battery you use. You say that you did not measure the voltage per MiMHbattery. This alone makes the test meaningless. If you have a bad charger or a bad metal hydride the voltage will drop.
The camera should be on red if you manually set it for alkaline or Li because the voltage for alk. or Li/iron sulfide is much higher and the camera thinks it is fully discharged.
Check all your batteries (one by one ) to see what voltage you get. Repeat the second day to get a sense of self discharge. If everything is OK blame the camera.
Cheers, Mihai
RiceHigh 110p · 704 weeks ago