topic Re: NP-FM500H infolithium battery life span question in Alpha & NEX interchangeable lens cameras

NP-FM500H infolithium battery life span question

mischof67 — Tue, 29 Oct 2013 19:51:10 GMT

I can understand that any battery will have a life span and that life will ultimately be governed by the way they have been charged/discharged, but do these infolithium batteries have an approximate life span in years; irrespective of how they are used?

For example, if one is bought and not used for a while, will it become defective after a period of time or will it remain 'on hold' until charged for use. If so, about how long?

No problems, I'm just wondering.

Also is it possible to determine when one of these batteries was made? (I hear there are lots of fakes around.)

I wonder how long a battery could have been sat on a shelf before being bought. At £70 a shot, these are not cheap and I wonder what is a reasonable life. A battery on one of my cars lasted 9 years before failing, though that didn't tell me the time of day etc!

Re: NP-FM500H infolithium battery life span question

Bieomax — Wed, 30 Oct 2013 09:52:02 GMT

some info here

http://www.bealecorner.com/trv900/battery/lithium.html

same technology as whats in the camera's batteries

Re: NP-FM500H infolithium battery life span question

mischof67 — Wed, 30 Oct 2013 18:22:43 GMT

Thanks for that article Bieomax, so if the batteries are used frequently they perform better up to the expected lifespan of 1000 charges.

I wonder how we can establish how long a battery has sat on the shelf before we first use it. I have read on another forum that there is a manufacturer date code on the batteries, but the code didn't match that on one of mine. What was mentioned on that other forum did not ring true to the markings on the battery I looked at and tried to establish how old it was.

I have genuine Sony vertical grips/battery extenders for all my bodies, with the A99 being capable of holding 3 batteries, I have quite a few batteries ready for use, I guess they will all have to be used in rotation.

Does anyone know what the letters/numbers mean that are stamped in the middle of the underside of the battery about 10mm from the none contact end.

Re: NP-FM500H infolithium battery life span question

mischof67 — Thu, 07 Nov 2013 19:55:19 GMT

What a shame Sony does not respond to comments on this web site. I have been doing some further research on the topic of Lithium Ion batteries, (sad I know, but it could save a lot of money in the long run). An excellent point of reference on how to treat the camera batteries is:-

http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/everyday-tech/lithium-ion-battery3.htm

I have no connection, (forgive the pun), with that site.

In short, it would be very helpful to know the manufacturing date of the battery, though I doubt the seller would want the customer to know that there may be only a year or so life left in the battery!

Re: NP-FM500H infolithium battery life span question

Bieomax — Fri, 08 Nov 2013 13:16:26 GMT

you not the only one that looks up random stuff like this

Re: NP-FM500H infolithium battery life span question

mischof67 — Wed, 13 Nov 2013 22:56:45 GMT

A friend of mine has a facility on the menu of her Nikon which tells her how old the battery is which is being used, how good is that! Fancy, micro a processor is fitted in the Sony battery, but so far we cannot establish how to tell how old a Sony battery is. Once again, Sony remains silent.

Re: NP-FM500H infolithium battery life span question

mischof67 — Tue, 19 Nov 2013 20:24:00 GMT

So I have decided to ask Sony Support. Here, in full, is the question I asked, followed by their reply!

I would like to know how to identify the date of manufacture of the Sony Lithium Ion camera batteries I have which are not holding their charge. I have a number of these batteries which I failed to mark so I don’t know which are the newest. Some could be well past their best before date and therefore deserve to be disposed of. On the other hand they may be faulty. At £70 a time I need to be able to identify what is reasonably coming to the end of it’s life.

"Thank you for contacting Sony support regarding the date of manufacture of your NP-FM500H.

In regards to your query, the year of manufacture is 2007.

I hope that this information has been helpful. Should you have any further questions, please feel free to reply to this email."

I have replied!

Re: NP-FM500H infolithium battery life span question

Bieomax — Wed, 20 Nov 2013 08:46:39 GMT

so all of sonys NP-FM500H batteries were made in 2007? seems odd, but then if a batteries life span is measured in charging & discharging cycles in stead of how long they've been made due to the chemicals in them keeping ok indefinately, it'd be a good plan on sony's behalf - batteries produced at '07 prices sold at todays prices.

Re: NP-FM500H infolithium battery life span question

mischof67 — Wed, 20 Nov 2013 14:20:03 GMT

I agree Bieomax, a truly cunning plan! Re life span being determined by charging/discharging cycles sadly the information I have read on the 'net is that a lithium ion battery has a life span of about 5 years from when it was first made and it is false economy to have one sitting on a shelf doing nothing. Perhaps this could be why Sony may be reluctant in allowing it's customers to know when the batteries were made and therefore how old they are, unlike some other manufacturers. I hope I am wrong with this thought, but to date......

Re: NP-FM500H infolithium battery life span question

mischof67 — Thu, 21 Nov 2013 16:06:04 GMT

Well Bieomax and all interested users of the NP-FM500H battery, the latest response from Sony Support after I asked them how they obtained the year of manufacture of my affected batteries, without having given them any other information, is as follows:-

In regards to your query, we have obtained the year of manufacture by using the model number provided NP-FM500H.

I hope that this information has been helpful. Should you have any further questions, please feel free to reply to this email.

I have replied asked them to clarify that EVERY NP-FM500H battery was made in 2007. I await a response!

Re: NP-FM500H infolithium battery life span question

mischof67 — Fri, 22 Nov 2013 16:33:02 GMT

Sony 'Support', LAUGHABLE! I'm sure they would make great politicians, say anything but answer the question put to them.

Re: NP-FM500H infolithium battery life span question

mischof67 — Mon, 25 Nov 2013 18:12:04 GMT

The service from Sony support has been diabolical, I have now asked to escalate my enquiry to a manager following this latest response. I have also asked the operative what the numbers and letters mean on the batteries I hold. I truly believe they do not want customers to be able to identify a date of manufacture or best before date. At £70 a battery, I honestly believe this information should be made availale to the customer. Here is the latest response from 'Sony Support'.

In regards to your query, unfortunately we will not be able to provide the manufacture of your batteries, we can only confirm the year of manufacture of the first production line which is 2007.

I am sorry I cannot be of greater assistance on this occasion; however I hope that my e-mail has gone some way to clarifying this matter.

Re: NP-FM500H infolithium battery life span question

mischof67 — Wed, 04 Dec 2013 12:43:53 GMT

After receiving an e mail from Sony Support to state they were escalating my enquiry for a manger to respond to, I have still not heard anything, only a message to say that if I reply to their lastest e mail I will go to the bottom of the enquiry queue!

So today I have rung them on their 0844 number. Imagine my surprise when a member of their staff advised me the batteries were made on 13/3/12! This was without giving any details other than the battery model number. I questioned how they came about this date and the adviser stated she would ring me back later today.

Honestly, this is a joke. I have 8 of these batteries and three appear to be defective. I have spent a fortune on Sony equipment, lenses, bodies, flash units, chargers, vertical grips, etc, etc and this is the service they give. I am fuming. How I now wish I had bought a different brand all those years ago!

Re: NP-FM500H infolithium battery life span question

ClarissaW — Wed, 04 Dec 2013 12:54:41 GMT

Hello mischof67

Sorry to hear that this has been happening. Could you share your case number with us please? Perhaps we'll be able to find out more for you.

Kind Regards,

Clarissa

Re: NP-FM500H infolithium battery life span question

mischof67 — Wed, 04 Dec 2013 23:06:01 GMT

With pleasure Clarissa! Case number 9543316 was superceded by case 9646238 today. Please listen to the recording of today's conversation.

Re: NP-FM500H infolithium battery life span question

mischof67 — Fri, 06 Dec 2013 18:48:05 GMT

WELL, it looks like I may be starting to make progress!

Today I had a message left and been given the production date of two out of 4 batteries that I gave code details to staff. They want clarification of another serial number which is on two batteries I have that are defective.

Because I have two production dates I can mark those two batteries and use them in date order. With luck I will get the production dates of my remaining batteries so I can get the best use out of these expensive items.

I have no idea how the code works and I very much doubt Sony will give me that information.

It seems as though I was right all along and the small letters/number codes on the underside of each battery does relate to that specific batteries date of manufacture.

What I have asked for is what Sony believes is the expected lifespan for these batteries, because it appears that one age just over 2 years is defective and one aged over 4 years is working fine.

What a shame it is taking so long and that 'Support Staff' have been so obstructive and unhelpful.

Re: NP-FM500H infolithium battery life span question

Bieomax — Thu, 12 Dec 2013 09:32:41 GMT

i suspect the code will be just a generated number for that batch of batteries, which the code will be logged in a database somewhere and have a production date against it.

I suspect sony is like alot of other big companies where systems change over the years and staff turn over losses alot of knowledge about older systems, the utility industry here is the same, so its pot luck if you get someone who has abit of experiance and is willing to dig about and find out whats what.

anyhow i'll stop rambling on, glad your finding out your dates.

Mark.

Re: NP-FM500H infolithium battery life span question

mischof67 — Thu, 12 Dec 2013 18:23:44 GMT

It may be the case Mark, sadly the information from Sony seems to have ground to a halt. Someone has tried to call when I was out, they have my e mail address but seem reluctant to use it.

A friend has a different brand of camera, she says has the facility to check the age of the battery being used from the camera menu. Surely Sony could provide that facility in their 'Info lithium' batteries?

What is sad is having been fobbed off on two separate occasions by Sony Support.

Re: NP-FM500H infolithium battery life span question

mischof67 — Sun, 22 Dec 2013 19:02:28 GMT

Well I got there in the end. I first asked Sony Support on 18/11/13 and I finally got the production dates for all of my batteries on 20/12/13. Sadly two attempts were made by a member of staff to fob me off, but perseverance triumphed in the end.

The combination of numbers and letters on the underside of the batteries can give you the production date of a battery and identify any fake you may have unknowingly bought only if you give these numbers to Sony Support who will then pass the enquiry to a level 2 operative.

I recall having bought two 'Sony' batteries from a major on line store some time ago. Because I had not marked these batteries I could not differentiate them from ones I had bought from a Sony Centre or that came with my various Sony camera bodies. It turns out that it must have been these two that were very good fakes plus a genuine old battery that has failed.

I have now marked my batteries and will do the same to any I buy in the future, retaining the receipts for them.

The major on line retailer did give me a refund some time ago, stating they believed they had sold some fake items, but it was not possible for me to identify which batteries were the ones I had purchased from them. Thankfully my camera bodies did not suffer any damage by using a fake. If you think you may have a fake, I suggest you contact Sony. I started to make enquiries when three batteries failed in rapid sucession.

I have thanked Sony for eventually giving me an honest answer to my enquiry.

I have no idea on how to interpret the combination of letters/numbers, they may refer to a production batch number.

Re: NP-FM500H infolithium battery life span question

mariuswm — Sun, 22 Dec 2013 20:17:36 GMT

I just have to say that I wish Sony would make better battery available for the A7 camera.

With some new battery technology, fitting into the existing slot.