A battery is a life source for any electrical device. One, in particular, is digital cameras. Low battery is a nightmare for any photographer. Every photographer wants to prevent that from ever happening while shooting.
That leads them to wonder, “what if I could overcharge it so that I can use the camera for a long time.” However, we understand the necessity of the matter. However, the camera batteries weren’t built for such purposes.
Overcharging a battery refers to holding an extra charge into the battery to extend its capacity. It sounds tempting. However, it’s not suitable for your battery in the long run.
Continue to read the following segments to gain further information about overcharging a camera battery.
Table of Contents
Can You Overcharge A Camera Battery?
If you have been using a digital camera for a long time, you must have faced a red symbol on the battery indicating a low battery. That always makes you wonder if you could make the battery life longer by overcharging, right?
But for a camera battery, it’s physically impossible. Because it wasn’t manufactured for such a purpose. As you know, camera batteries are small in size. They don’t contain the capacitor to hold the extra charge from the overcharging process.
Is It Okay To Keep The Battery Charging Overnight?
Leaving the battery on charging overnight is common practice among many individuals. Because it’s bothersome to wait for a battery to be fully charged. If your battery is based on lithium-ion, it’s safe to leave it charging overnight.
Because lithium-ion batteries stop receiving current after it’s done charging. However, it’s much easier to charge with a Nikon camera because you can charge a Nikon camera without a charger.
With a USB connector, you can use your mobile or computer as a power bank for your camera. The drawback is it’ll drain the charge from your device. But it’s a great way to charge up your camera without any electrical supply.
Is It Bad To Overcharge A Battery?
As mentioned earlier, battery technologies hold a certain amount of charge inside. Overcharging pushes that boundary. Though it’s not a cause for concern a few times, however, we don’t recommend you do that at a continuous rate.
Because continuous overcharge damages the battery capacity, thus, reducing the battery life. In such cases, you won’t get the necessary support from the battery. And it’ll keep low after a short while, even if you’ve given it a full charge.
How Long It’ll Take to Complete The Battery Charge?
So that you know, the charging duration of a camera battery depends on its capacity and camera models. But mainly on the generated amps. Because it’ll take longer if your household circuit can’t provide good amps of power to the capacitor.
The capacitor should match the battery amps. Suppose you have 6amp batteries. The estimated time is mostly 8 hours. And the battery draining depends on its usage. If you leave it unused, it will last about two months. It’ll last 6 hours with regular use, and in heavy use, it can last about 2 to 3 hours.
Consequences Of Overcharging A Camera Battery
So that you know, there are several consequences of overcharging the camera batteries.
Battery conditions can be related to our human bodies. When you get hungry, we eat. But not more than we can. If someone forcefully feeds us, there will be some consequences.
Same with batteries too. So let’s go through those consequences together, shall we?
- If you overcharge your battery continuously, it reduces the battery’s capacity to hold a charge, rendering them useless.
- In some cases, if you leave your battery in continuous charging season, at some point, it can even explode since lithium-ion is combustible at extreme temperatures.
- Most batteries are made from lithium-ion. Should, in extreme heat, lithium-ion produce a toxic gas harmful to your health.
Tips To Preserve A Camera Battery Life
Now you know the consequences of getting your batteries overcharged. You can, however, preserve your battery life more than its intended period. Our research shows most batteries’ life span is about 3-5 years at best.
With some considerations, you can increase its lifespan. We have listed down several concerns for you. It should help you improve the battery life.
Let’s get started.
- Don’t let your battery charge go down below 20%. When your battery charge percentage is below 30%, plug it in with the charger. It helps to maintain a healthy charging cycle.
- It would help if you always tried to keep the charge 95 to 100 percent. Please don’t go overboard and keep it in charge. As mentioned, it reduces battery health.
- Always use the charger given with the camera because it was intended for your camera battery and its capacity. Avoid using separate camera charger cables.
- Heat isn’t good for the battery. So try to place the battery in a cold environment while charging.
- Avoid the circuits that fluctuate between high and low voltage. It hinders the chagrin capacitors.
Conclusion
As we mentioned, batteries are like our belly. They can only consume as much as they are designed for. Overcharging hinders the battery life and can cause severe damage to your health and property, as seen in the above discussion.
However, if you like to use the camera for a long time, you can easily add extended batteries with an adapter. The more battery you add, the more time you’ll have for shooting with the camera.
