# LP-E6 Battery Tester. Is there such a thing?



## unfocused (Sep 29, 2015)

I thought I would poll the forum community on this. Does anyone know of a tester that allows you to check the charge on a LP-E6 battery. I'm tired of having to put spare batteries in the camera in order to see how much of a charge they have. 

I'd like to be able to check the charge on the batteries with a simple tester, similar to what I use to check the charge on the AA batteries for the 600 RT.


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## Don Haines (Sep 29, 2015)

precision volt meter?????


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## Mt Spokane Photography (Sep 30, 2015)

The only method I have used is to put them in my charger. The charger checks the charge and tops them off if needed.

I'm not sure if a voltmeter will tell the story unless you are drawing current.

Here is one, its review rating is not that great.

http://www.amazon.com/Promaster-Universal-Lithium-Battery-Tester/dp/B003ZJ8QZY

Here is a article describing the difficulties in actually testing a battery (Technical)

http://www.batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/testing_lithium_based_batteries

I think that buying one of the Chinese Li-On testers is like buying a Ultrasonic Mosquito Repeller


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## nc0b (Sep 30, 2015)

Open circuit voltage doesn't prove much about a battery's charge level. Whatever battery was in my original Rebel D300 was really confusing to me after years of use. I should have simply thrown the battery away when it would show dead on the camera readout after a handful of shots. Instead I hooked up a load resistor to the battery and it would stay hot for 30 minutes or more. I convinced myself it was a good battery with my load test even though it didn't work in the camera. I decided to replace the camera with a 60D, but later bought a new battery for the Rebel which continued to work for a few more years. The suggestion to use your charger's blinking LEDs to check charge level is likely better than trying to find a battery tester.


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## Mt Spokane Photography (Sep 30, 2015)

nc0b said:


> Open circuit voltage doesn't prove much about a battery's charge level. Whatever battery was in my original Rebel D300 was really confusing to me after years of use. I should have simply thrown the battery away when it would show dead on the camera readout after a handful of shots. Instead I hooked up a load resistor to the battery and it would stay hot for 30 minutes or more. I convinced myself it was a good battery with my load test even though it didn't work in the camera. I decided to replace the camera with a 60D, but later bought a new battery for the Rebel which continued to work for a few more years. The suggestion to use your charger's blinking LEDs to check charge level is likely better than trying to find a battery tester.



Checking the charge level versus the remaining capacity due to ageing are indeed two separate things. 

The only way I know of to check capacity is to discharge the battery and measure its amphour output. Other methods merely tell you that the battery is charged as much as it can be charged, but that does not mean it has a full capacity, just that it has stopped charging based on the charger voltage. (Its a little more complex).


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## Viggo (Sep 30, 2015)

Can't remember if the 5d3 has it, but in the 6d you can see how far gone it is, 3 blocks shows you in the Battery info menu, another way is to see how many shots and compare to a brand new battery. Measuring these, forget it.


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## Mt Spokane Photography (Sep 30, 2015)

Viggo said:


> Can't remember if the 5d3 has it, but in the 6d you can see how far gone it is, 3 blocks shows you in the Battery info menu, another way is to see how many shots and compare to a brand new battery. Measuring these, forget it.



The blocks merely reflect the number of recharges, and do not tell you anything about the actual battery condition. Of course, the more you use it and recharge it, the less capacity it will have, but the blocks are like shutter life, just a average estimate.


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## Viggo (Sep 30, 2015)

Mt Spokane Photography said:


> Viggo said:
> 
> 
> > Can't remember if the 5d3 has it, but in the 6d you can see how far gone it is, 3 blocks shows you in the Battery info menu, another way is to see how many shots and compare to a brand new battery. Measuring these, forget it.
> ...



Absolutely, but it is indeed an indicator that has proven to be useful. But the number of shots on battery is not just an average. 

I have one battery for my 1d I get 30-40% less shots on and it lost a bar many charges ago. Those two factors are more to go by than measuring.


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## unfocused (Sep 30, 2015)

Viggo said:


> Can't remember if the 5d3 has it, but in the 6d you can see how far gone it is, 3 blocks shows you in the Battery info menu, another way is to see how many shots and compare to a brand new battery. Measuring these, forget it.



Yes, of course, you can check the charge and recharge capacity with the camera. But, I was hoping for something that would allow me to check the charge (not that concerned about recharge capacity) without putting the battery in the camera. 

When I've got a couple of spare batteries sitting on the dresser, I want to know if I remembered to charge up the batteries before grabbing them and putting them in the camera bag before heading out on a shoot. It sounds like the only way to know that is to do what I have been doing -- pull the current batteries out of the grip, put the others in, turn the camera on and see if they are charged up. It's not a big deal, but when you are dealing with a couple different bodies and maybe four extra batteries, it's kind of a pain to keep switching them out, turning the camera on, checking the battery and then doing it all over again for each battery. I was hoping someone made a simple, low cost battery tester like they do for AA batteries, but it sounds like no one does.


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## Viggo (Oct 1, 2015)

Ah, I misunderstood a bit then... What I do is charge two of my three batteries when one is flat, I leave the flat one flat until one of the other two is also, that way they're reguraly topped up and/or recalibrated. But the dual charger is a bit less hassle...


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## Valvebounce (Oct 1, 2015)

Hi Folks. 
Am I miss informed, I thought that Li ion batteries should not be left discharged as this causes them to degrade faster? 
Also I just stick my batteries on the charger, a lot less hassle than the camera and it has the flashing led for the charge levels. This works for older bodies without the battery condition menu as well. 

Cheers, Graham.


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## Mt Spokane Photography (Oct 1, 2015)

Valvebounce said:


> Hi Folks.
> Am I miss informed, I thought that Li ion batteries should not be left discharged as this causes them to degrade faster?
> Also I just stick my batteries on the charger, a lot less hassle than the camera and it has the flashing led for the charge levels. This works for older bodies without the battery condition menu as well.
> 
> Cheers, Graham.



Batteries have a built-in circuit that shuts down the battery when about 20% charge is remaining. That 20% slowly discharges over time (assuming a good battery). Leaving it discharged for over a year might be a issue, but for a few weeks, its not a problem if left for a few months.

Manufacturers give the packs a 70% charge, which means they will not fall to a unchargeable state for years.


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## drmikeinpdx (Oct 1, 2015)

[quote author=Mt Spokane Photography 
The blocks merely reflect the number of recharges, and do not tell you anything about the actual battery condition. Of course, the more you use it and recharge it, the less capacity it will have, but the blocks are like shutter life, just a average estimate.
[/quote]

Thanks Mt. Spokane! I have long wondered exactly what the camera body was measuring to give the estimate of recharge performance.


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## lion rock (Oct 1, 2015)

It is not a good idea to store Li-ion battery in a discharged state. The battery may be completely unable to be recharged.
My experience was from a Li-ion battery from a portable drill which the drill shut down when the battery got discharged enough. Normally, I would recharge it, but I had completed the job so I put the battery away to be recharged at a later date.
Well, after a few months, I tried to recharged the battery, it will not accept any charge at all. It is now totally unusable.

Always store a lithium battery charged. I read that lithium batteries should be stored charged, fully or partially. Unlike nickel-cadmium batteries, which should be stored near full discharged.
-r


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## brad-man (Oct 1, 2015)

unfocused said:


> Viggo said:
> 
> 
> > Can't remember if the 5d3 has it, but in the 6d you can see how far gone it is, 3 blocks shows you in the Battery info menu, another way is to see how many shots and compare to a brand new battery. Measuring these, forget it.
> ...



I don't know if this technique will be of use to you, but I keep charged batteries in those orange plastic protection things that they come with until I load them into the camera. I don't put the protectors back on until the battery has been recharged. It works for me.


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## unfocused (Oct 1, 2015)

brad-man said:


> I don't know if this technique will be of use to you, but I keep charged batteries in those orange plastic protection things that they come with until I load them into the camera. I don't put the protectors back on until the battery has been recharged. It works for me.



Yeah, that's what I've started trying to do. Probably the best approach, but requires more discipline than my usual unfocused nature. The problem with photography is that the merger of technology and creativity means that the right and left brains are constantly at war with one another and my right brain usually kicks my left brain's butt.


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## No Mayo (Oct 2, 2015)

I keep the plastic covers on my batteries when they are not in the cameras. I use a 1dx and a 1d4 and simply turn the securing screw 90 degrees so that it is not flush with the battery after use, and then turn it flush after charging. If I were to use any LP-E6 batteries I would use this method…
http://www.learn.usa.canon.com/resources/blogs/2013/20130702_chan_lpe6batterymanagement_blog.shtml
Flipping the way you attach the cover reveals either a bright blue battery shape or a black/gray battery shape. I hope this helps.


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## hafomatic (Oct 5, 2015)

Thanks *No Mayo*, this is usefull trick


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## Click (Oct 5, 2015)

Thanks for sharing, No Mayo.


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## FEBS (Oct 5, 2015)

No Mayo said:


> I keep the plastic covers on my batteries when they are not in the cameras. I use a 1dx and a 1d4 and simply turn the securing screw 90 degrees so that it is not flush with the battery after use, and then turn it flush after charging. If I were to use any LP-E6 batteries I would use this method…
> http://www.learn.usa.canon.com/resources/blogs/2013/20130702_chan_lpe6batterymanagement_blog.shtml
> Flipping the way you attach the cover reveals either a bright blue battery shape or a black/gray battery shape. I hope this helps.



I use the same method for the LP-E6 battery as described.

However, most is solved the last year by having 2 places in my backpack. One for the loaded, the other for the unloaded batteries (LP-6E, 1Dx, AA, AAA). So when arriving I home, no need to think, just empty the unload part the backpack and place them all on the chargers.


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