M7 battery life with a twist.

I should try the very same trick on my Wetzlar M6...it might brings the meter backl to life...it seems to be stuck at iso 50 all the time :-(

Giulio
 
Years ago the people at Nikon Pro Service encouraged me to clean the contacts of new batteries before inserting them in the camera. I clean contacts with 600 grit crocus cloth. Most hardware or auto parts stores carry the cloth. It's similar to very fine sand paper at 600 grit. The adhesive in the cloth won't allow the cutting particles to leave the cloth easily like sand paper. I think the cloth is a cotton base.

I clean camera contacts with Alcohol on a cotton tip.
https://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/110212/contact-cleaner-vs-alcohol

My battery life was extended noticeably after following the NPS suggestion.

I've used Deoxit on electronics equipment. Especially switch contacts that get a cleaning movement when operated. Deoxit leaves a film on the contact surface. I prefer Alcohol for non moving contacts.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denatured_alcohol


x
 
Huss said:
. I decided to take the batteries out and clean the contacts inside the camera.
First I used a pencil eraser, then spent the next 10 minutes blowing and picking out the remnants. Then I used a Q-tip (cotton swab) dipped in isopropyl alcohol. Then I put the batteries back in.

That fixed it. It was dirty contacts all this time. I even put the old 'expired' batteries back in, and still works perfectly.
Click to expand...

Robert Lai said:
Deoxit is your friend. I use it on all contacts. The screw threads of the cap on some cameras are responsible for electrical conduction also, so don't forget to clean that.
Click to expand...

Cleaning the contacts with an eraser will eventually scrub the gold plating away, resulting in worse oxidation/corrosion problems. :eek: Deoxit is a better idea. Also good to know about is ProGold, made especially for gold plated contacts. Easy to find online.
 
Rob-F said:
Cleaning the contacts with an eraser will eventually scrub the gold plating away, resulting in worse oxidation/corrosion problems. :eek: Deoxit is a better idea. Also good to know about is ProGold, made especially for gold plated contacts. Easy to find online.
Click to expand...

I can see that happening eventually, but one time is ok.
I think the problem with the M7 is that the position/angle of the battery chamber results in dirt possibly being able to accumulate over time as the -ve terminal is hidden from easy view. Most cameras have a very easily accessible battery chamber for cleaning.
But a Q-tip with isopropyl alcohol takes care of that in seconds, and will be something I do going forward when I change batteries in all my gear.
 
Use deoxit and progold, save the emery cloth for battery leaks. Cr2 (not the 1/3) store the same in my flashlights, maybe yours had a weird parasitic drain- same with my cr123s(same chem)
 
I think progold is now called DeoxIT Gold.
I've been using Deoxit Fader, as I often have contacts and switches that slide or make intermittent contact. It adds some lubrication as well as oxidation protection.
 
Dumb question, people have mentioned that the contacts in the camera are gold plated. But they are silver in colour....
 
sepiareverb said:
You've got one of the Russian fakes. No wonder the blinking light is such trouble. :D
Click to expand...

That must be the case komrad!

Butt seriously, no-one has a reply to this? I have checked every single camera that i have, new and old, film and digital, from all sorts of mfg. And none are gold in colour. So whom came up with this idea, that battery contacts are gold plated? I did a google search and gold ones do exist for specific purposes, but they are not in camera battery terminals and are gold in colour...
 
In the UK, the equivalent of Deoxit is Servisol Super 10. It used to be a pain to get it, as only the commercial arm of Farnell used to stock it but now everybody and their uncle, including Amazon have stock. On the subject of M7 battery life, due to major illness over the last three years, which has left me fairly physically disabled, I have become more of a camera collector than a photographer. I also have a LOT of Leica film cameras to choose from (20+), so they do not get that much exercise individually. I picked up my M7 this morning, not having touched it for over three years and the batteries left in over this period (2 x 1/3DN) were just fine. I also have the motor M mounted but I think that, unlike my R body cameras, the Motor batteries (2 x CR123A) do not feed the M7 body electrics.

Word of warning, do not be tempted to use rechargeable RCR123A lithium ion batteries in the Motor M. These can have a voltage as high as 4.2V when newly charged and have very low internal resistance, so that the voltage does not sag on motor current draw unlike the regular Lithium-Manganese non-rechargeable batteries. This will over-drive the motor, which at worst, like on my M7, can shear the very small diameter motor drive input shaft in the camera. This also acts as the axle for the main intermediate gear in the wind on train. The whole camera will lock up solid in this case. Leica will now not sell these shafts (or any other spare parts) to third party repairers and it is a £1,000+ repair at Wetzlar. I had to write a begging letter to the MD at Leica to get them to release a spare shaft to Alan Starkie to repair my M7 and they said that this was an exception in view of my 60+ years of Leica loyalty and that their gesture would not be repeated. Alan also found that the previous work (at Solms) had not been well done, with misaligned shutter blind rollers and release solenoids. This would have put extra load on the winding mechanism (it was always stiff to wind with the lever wind but now much smoother), thereby contributing to the shaft failure.

Wilson
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top