AA battery draining c5050 + dead onboard battery

[lanwu]

Hi Olympus & c5050 users,

I have 2 c5050 cameras & both have a dead onboard battery. THis battery is not the AA batteries that need regular replacing, but is like the CMOS battery that is on a computer's motherboard to keep the time & date ticking even if the computer is unplugged from a power source. I'm not sure of all it's responsibilities, but at least, i know it is affecting the date & time as well as the settings for Program, Aperture-priority, Speed-priority modes - always resetting back to factory defaults + HQ resolution!! - (Factory defaults).

I have spoken to an Olympus service center & they say to replcace the battery would mean replacing the entire motherboard which was US$200+!! So instead, i bear w/ resetting my pic resolution in P/M/A/S modes (i prefer SHQ to HQ) & the time & date every time the AA batteries are removed (or even if the AA battery door is opened)!!

Lately, I've noticed that both my c5050's now also drains the AA batteries if they are left in the camera after a few days (i suspect...).....This is now a problem that I do not want to tolerate!!

Has anyone noticed this?

Has anyone had the onboard battery replaced or notice the camera draining the AA batteries & did you have to do the above?

 

[Dee]

I have 2 5050's and haven't had that problem unless I leave the batteries out.

 

[maractwin]

I've never heard of this problem. Are you sure that the AA batteries you are using are good, fully charged, and left in the camera for several days?

Most electronic devices use a capacitor (like a tiny rechargable battery) to power the long-term memory and clock. It automatically recharges whenever the device has regular power. If the device isn't powered often enough, this capacitor eventually runs out. But leave it powered for a few hours, and it should come back. Unless the component has actually failed.

I once had some really wierd behavior from my C5050, one of the symptoms was that the batteries would drain in just a few minutes. I eventually discovered that one of the four rechargable AAs I was using had gone bad. When I was trying to figure out this problem, my camera would lose its preference settings overnight.

-Mark

 

[herman]

Assuming it is your internal battery, you can most likely power the camera with a external power cube for the time it takes to replace the AA batteries and not lose your camera settings. I would also suggest checking the AA's as well.

 

[Footslogger]

Have a C5050 and have never experienced that problem. I have used both the AA Lithiums and AA NiMH rechargeables to power the camera and have not noticed them draining prematurely when left in the camera. Wondering if you've developed a little short somewhere in the camera's circuitry.

'Slogger

 

[Gilligan]

Although possible, it is highly unlikely that both cameras have the same problem from the built in battery.

If you are using re-chargeable AA's they may need re-conditioning or replacing. I had three sets of them die on me when I was in Bali. After that I invested in this charger that also re-conditions the bats after several uses. I was never sure if it was the bats or the cheaper charger that I had. The old charger could not re-condition bats. Purchased the new one at Thomas Distributing.

 

[Footslogger]

If you are using re-chargeable AA's they may need re-conditioning or replacing.

==============================================
Same reason I purchased the Maha charging unit that does the conditioning.

'Slogger

 

[lanwu]

How do you guys test to see if a battery is not functioning properly??

 

[justleesa]

hmmm...reconditioning? Never heard that before...what does that exactly do?


The date never holds for me ...and I recharge my batteries after every dive so can't say how long they would hold a charge or not.

 

[Gilligan]

hmmm...reconditioning? Never heard that before...what does that exactly do?

Even though the NiMH bats claim to have no "memory" they in fact do to some degree. Repeated use of them seems to cause them to fail early on while in use. I have had some fail after 4 or 5 photos.

It is best to keep your bats in sets of 4 (or however many your camera uses) so that if there is a problem you can isolate the set.

The charger I showed in my above post re-conditions the bats by completely draining them then re-charging them. It takes a good 12+ hours to accomplish that with 8 bats in the device.

That charger is also capable of a "fast" charge and a "soft" charge. The latter is the one I always use.

Of course there is always the possibility one or more bats just goes bad and won't take a charge.