M8 charger oddities

[Stephen G]

Having trouble with my M8 charger.

When I plug it in, the green light comes on.. stays on for about 1 second.
Then orange light blinks, and both lights go out.

If I hold it steady by hand, applying pressure into the outlet, the lights sometimes stay on.
It's as if there is a loose connection within the charger.
Issue only started after returning for trip to Europe, in which I changed which prongs were in the adapter, and now switched back to US standard.
Wonder if something is loose in that assembly now..

A solution I just found actually-
Plug directly into wall, on bottom outlet, upside down..
The leverage of the now top-heavy adapter trying to fall keeps pressure on the assembly and the lights stay on...
Odd.

Has anyone experienced such?
Not looking forward to buying a $160 charger... Probably will end up due for a new battery soon too.

 

[Wallo]

Not looking forward to buying a $160 charger...

If your original charger doesn't survive you can try the Digi-Charger Vario by Ansmann. There's also a newer model called Vario Pro available. I use this universal charger for travel and often at home, too.

 

[ww@lt]

If your original charger doesn't survive you can try the Digi-Charger Vario by Ansmann. There's also a newer model called Vario Pro available. I use this universal charger for travel and often at home, too.

How do you charge the Leica Battery in the Ansmann?
Mine is working only with batteries which have the electric contacts at the outer edge not in the middle like the M8/M9 ones....

 

[Ben Z]

The Ansmann Digi-Charger Vario has 2 sliding contacts that can be moved to line up with the slots in the battery. On the M8/M9 battery, if you hold the battery so the contact block is facing you with the openings facing the ceiling, the charging contacts are the one on the far left (next to the small bevel) and the one second from the right. The left one is (-) and the right one is (+) but it doesn't matter which way you orient it in the Ansmann because it automatically senses and adjusts the polarity. Hope this helps.

 

[Stephen G]

Well wish I tried this sooner..
Seems the issue is in the removeable US prongs themselves.

The charger worked fine before my Italy trip in May, and started acting oddly when I returned to US in June.
Swapping back in the Euro plugs, and plugging them into an adapter works perfectly.. if quite ugly.

Will contact Leica to see if they can send me new US prongs for the adapter.
Any email address I should send direct, or whatever I find on leica-camera.com ?

 

[Stephen G]

Leica replaced the piece by mail, free of charge, in under a week.
Adapter works perfectly once again.

Thanks Leica NJ!