Weak LP-e6 battery

[alexanderferdinand]

Dear Mrs!

After reading many pages in the net, manuals it seems the best to keep a LiIon cell between 40 and 80%.
The draining it totally and recharge it full seems to "calibrate" a system, so it knows, how many energy is left.

The totally charge/discharge has its origin in using NiCd cells on satellites. They had many cycles the same charge/discharge, and then they weren't able to charge more.

BTW: I once drained my LP E 6, they closed down somewhere around 22, 24%.
It seems, your camera knows your cells better.

Always good light

Alexanderferdinand, Austria

 

[comsense]

And the myths defeat the science, logic and common sense again :

 

[SwissBear]

I use my cells till they are dead or better said, the camera shuts down and doesnt release anymore. Then i grab my backup cell, hope its charged, and normally i then go on (or go crying...).
LiIon cells hold some 95% of capacity for 2 years after leaving the factory or some 500 cycles (a cycle means charging, doesnt matter whether it's 30% or full charge), after that the degradation starts. That is chemistry or physics - choose whichever you trust more
But the advantage of LiIon cells is: no memory effect, that was the case with NiMh cells.

So the conclusion for LiIon cells: use as long as the last, the built-in security against discharge kicks in way before any damage may occure, if you recharge in a few days (as mentioned before), recharge when empty, not before.

The best storage charge is 40% or 3.75V in a dry, noncondesing environment at ~0-4° Celsius (sealed, rice filled box in the fridge), but be cautious: 0% in camera means still a save (but totally unknown) level above the critical discharge, where the cell dies.
A measurement of the "empty" voltage would be interesting...

 

[RGF]

I try as far as possible to completely discharge the LP-E6 in camera (so it will no longer power the camera) before I recharge it, though I'm not sure if this really makes much difference to battery life/ recharge performance.

If anything, that's worse. Li-ion batteries are better used frequently but lightly. Frequent full discharges will actually reduce overall longevity.

Interesting. The opposite of NiMH batteries which have memories