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Nikon Mh-26a charger

battery chargers

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9 replies to this topic

#1
SilverPhoto1

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So when I got my Nikon D5 I bought a Nikon MH-26a to charge its batteries, I have had zero issues with it.  Well I have been trying to buy a Nikon D6 which uses EN-El18c batteries, the batteries that I have been using on the D5 are 18b.. 

 

The charger charges the 18b with no issues at all.. Well I bought a couple of 18c batteries to have for the D6, they will work on the D5 too, well when I try to charge them on the MH-26a the top light and calibrate light just flash and it will not charge them... 

 

Ideas? 



#2
Merco_61

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The MH-26a is the correct charger for the EN-EL18c batteries according to this page.

Why not calibrate the new batteries? They are probably not balanced if they have been in storage for a while. To initiate calibration, just press the cal button for the current battery chamber for a bit over one second.



#3
SilverPhoto1

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The MH-26a is the correct charger for the EN-EL18c batteries according to this page.

Why not calibrate the new batteries? They are probably not balanced if they have been in storage for a while. To initiate calibration, just press the cal button for the current battery chamber for a bit over one second.

Well I found all that info, but the problem is you cannot press the calibrate and have it come on. You can hold it down and nothing.. The lights near the top blink as well as the calibrate and or charging level just blink rapidly...



#4
Merco_61

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Do you have a multimeter so you can test the voltage of the battery?

If I remember correctly, it is the outermost slots that will give the 10.8 V nominal voltage of the full battery. Both the chamber and calibration lamps blinking in sequence might mean there's something wrong with the battery, usually either a deep-discharged battery or a dead cell. If it is a third-party battery, there might be something screwy with the battery monitoring circuit.


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#5
SilverPhoto1

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Do you have a multimeter so you can test the voltage of the battery?

If I remember correctly, it is the outermost slots that will give the 10.8 V nominal voltage of the full battery. Both the chamber and calibration lamps blinking in sequence might mean there's something wrong with the battery, usually either a deep-discharged battery or a dead cell. If it is a third-party battery, there might be something screwy with the battery monitoring circuit.

I will check, but these are newly purchased Nikon EL18c batteries, I got them from B&H. 



#6
SilverPhoto1

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One thing I did notice, the 18b batteries were made in China, the 18c batteries are made in Japan...



#7
SilverPhoto1

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Ok this is nothing but bizarre...  I got a new MH-26a charger with the D6, it charged the 18c battery that came with the D6 no problem. So I put one of the 18c batteries that was not charging on my older MH26a that came with my D5, it is charging now in the new one... Crazy! 


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#8
RobbO959

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I had a fairly similar problem to this. I bought a very low shutter count D6 ex-demo with battery [18c] & charger [Mh-26a]

There was charge in the battery so all was well but at first charge all was OK - at second charge the charger went into the  alternating cycle of the charge [top] & then calibrate light flashing.  No matter what I did I could not get it to stop this flashing, even when I turned off the charger & re started the charge cycle.  Occasionally it started the charge cycle for a very few seconds before returning to the alternate flash cycle of charge & calibrate lights.  The camera screen indicated that there was charge in the battery [2/3 to 3/4 full] and the battery life scale showed that only 1unit of the battery life has been used.  With this info I assumed that the battery was "good".

 

I wasn't certain that I'd tried to calibrate the battery correctly, so I did as recommended and ensured that I pressed the calibrate button for a short while - no change!  However I have eventually found a solution / work-around. With the charger turned on and battery out of the chamber, I pressed and held the calibrate button whilst pushing the battery into the chamber.  The charge cycle began & completed.  I will see if this has cured the problem long term or if I'll have to use this routine again.


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#9
phildeman

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.....However I have eventually found a solution / work-around. With the charger turned on and battery out of the chamber, I pressed and held the calibrate button whilst pushing the battery into the chamber.  The charge cycle began & completed.  I will see if this has cured the problem long term or if I'll have to use this routine again.

 

I will try that.  Hopefully this will resolve my issue.

 

I got the MH-26a charger with the D5. The en-el18c battery came with the camera.  I never had issues charging the battery til now.  My original battery wasn't charging, so I got a new en-el18c from B&H.  It started charging at 50%, then switched to calibration mode.   My original battery finally started to charge on the MH-26a.  But I fear I will be having issues.  Nikon no longer sells the MH26a.  They are pushing th new MH-21aKA at $459 USD.  All it is, is the MH-26a with an adaptor for a different battery.   That is a huge chunk of money, not knowing if it is the battery or the charger.



#10
phildeman

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.....However I have eventually found a solution / work-around. With the charger turned on and battery out of the chamber, I pressed and held the calibrate button whilst pushing the battery into the chamber.  The charge cycle began & completed.  I will see if this has cured the problem long term or if I'll have to use this routine again.

 

Thanks for the suggestion of pressing and holding the calibrate button, while pushing the battery into the charger.  It start charging the new en-el18c as should have.