D600.. EN-EL15 battery only charging to about 75-85% each time - FIX..!!

Nikonitus

Senior Member
I'd say this could apply to any other Nikon DSLR that also uses the EN-EL15 battery (I don't know about the EN-EL15a though).. This isn't the first Nikon camera and/or first I've had issues with batteries that seemingly wont charge up properly,, but hang on a second,, or should I at least say - that doesn't show up as 100% charged when placed into the camera..?? Let's make that distinction first, ok, because I don't know which is the real issue here..!!

The current camera in this discussion anyway, as you might be able to tell, is the D600 (I also have a D750 but that uses the EN-EL15a and hasn't showed this problem). For a while now, like approx 18 months to 2 years, I'd charge the batteries up (camera and grip) and neither of them showed 100% when placed back into the camera. They will always read as between 75 - 85% charged, EVERYTIME.. I kind of accepted it as normal for older batteries (had the D600 ever since they came out) and was ready to buy new ones, but then I thought the fact that they both went downhill at the exact same time (after being left in the closet for up to 6 months without using it),, to be a very strange co-incidence,, too strange to be normal. They each still had plenty of life still left in them but I charged them both anyway and this is when it all began. Both now showing approx 80+/-%.. After a couple of weeks of using them and charging up to an indicated 80% or thereabouts, I stumbled over the fix.. Just put them back into the charger and wait until the light stops blinking again.. First charge might be take up to a couple of hours, depending on how flat it is, but, the second charge I'm speaking of here, only takes about 5 mins or less. Now place back into the camera - voila - 100%...!!! This has worked every time ever since, including right here/now just before I typed this out. I've been meaning to post this for a year or so but just never got around to it..

You could possibly draw several conclusions from this,,
1. That the batteries actually charge up to 100% but the chip inside them is at fault, not giving the correct info to the camera first time.
2. That the batteries do not charge to 100% and the chip reports the correct info first time, but the second charge fools the same chip into giving now incorrect info to the camera.
3. That the batteries actually charge up to 100% but the camera's firmware is not reading the initial info correctly.
4. That the batteries do not charge to 100% and the camera's firmware is receiving the correct info the first time, but the second charge is now fooling the firmware into displaying 100% incorrectly.
5. A combination of the above.
6. Something else entirely, as yet unknown.

I suspect that the batteries actually do charge up fully because the camera seems to have plenty of life each time I use it,, usually for long sessions each time and the camera doesn't get switched off until I am finished for the day. Personally, I suspect either conclusion 1 (most likely), or conclusion 3 (a close second) to be the root cause..
Please forgive me if this sort of info has already been posted by anyone else..

Nikonitus
 

hark

Administrator
Staff member
Super Mod
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The current camera in this discussion anyway, as you might be able to tell, is the D600 (I also have a D750 but that uses the EN-EL15a and hasn't showed this problem).

I haven't encountered the problem you described, and all my batteries are EN-EL15. Not sure why you say the D750 uses an EN-EL15a battery. Mine came with the EN-EL15 which is the one listed on Nikon's web site for that body.

Glad you were able to find a solution. :)
 

Nikonitus

Senior Member
Cheers BikerBrent, that just confirmed what I thought it was and what I should have said in above post. Yes EN-EL15 & 15a are identical batteries but I don't think Nikon said that some of the earlier EL15 batteries had some chip issues which caused charging issues (maybe this is what I suffer from with mine) and also "some" had heating up issues when inside the camera. You'd know about it by now if you had either problem. The EL15a chargers also comes out with the letter "a" (MH-25a) on it too, and I believe they have a "slightly" higher charge voltage than the earlier ones to make sure the batteries did not suffer these certain charge issues. Don't quote me on this, as it is only what I heard and partially researched and found..
Whatever the issue(s), it seems to be fixed and at the end of the day I could just go out and buy a new pair of batteries EL15a's and charger if I feel a little concerned, but I don't...
Cheers...
Nikonitis
 

Fred Kingston

Senior Member
OR you could simply buy a pair of 3rd party maker's batteries and charger for 1/2 the price of a single Nikon battery with a higher mAh rating and get longer battery life, and more pictures per charge. ;)
 

Woodyg3

Senior Member
Contributor
OR you could simply buy a pair of 3rd party maker's batteries and charger for 1/2 the price of a single Nikon battery with a higher mAh rating and get longer battery life, and more pictures per charge. ;)

I'm wondering what camera model and third party batteries you are using. On my D500 Wasabi batteries last half as long as Nikon. An older third party battery I got as a part of a package with my D7100 no longer holds a charge at all.
 

Fred Kingston

Senior Member
I'm using the STK from Sterling Tek... They're $20 each on Amazon... A bit more expensive than the Wasabi (I have 1 of them too) ...and bit higher mAh than the Wasabi... The STK is 7.4v 2200 mAh 16.3 Wh... versus Nikon's 1900 mAh 14 Wh

Edited to add: D600
 
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Nikonitus

Senior Member
Guys, once bitten - twice shy...!!! I did the 3rd party battery thing with a D300 I had when they came out. I used them (them = camera and grip) straight after I bought them and at that stage they worked well for about a month, then came charge time and from minute one they gave all sorts of troubles. First they wouldn't charge, then they would, then they'd half charge in the standard charger and even when they did charge up, the camera would show differing battery life in the camera's indicator,, then,, the genuine batteries stopped charging and started playing up just like the 3rd party units. This all happened over a period of a few weeks or so. I was ready to throw the whole lot in the trash when I phoned the local camera shop and they said to bring the camera in, which I did. They saw the batteries and said "these are your problem", then put my genuine batteries in one of their chargers and left them there for quite a while - seemed to be charging ok, then he took it out and put it into my charger. I said "it will charge for about 2 or 3 minutes then stop" but they kept charging for about half and hour (I was busy looking at other cameras while this all happened), then he said "I'll bet things are back to normal now", so I took it all home and sure enough he was right..
During the time he was charging mine on the counter top, he explained about chipped batteries and 3rd party units confusing things within the charger and camera and said "Stay away from them".. That was when I first learned about the Nikon way.. I have avoided 3rd party stuff (well, at least with Nikon anyway) from that moment on, just for the assurance...
Nikonitus
 
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