Stuck M8 Battery....Help!!

[D&A]

Hi All,


I have lately been putting a lot of use on my M8 and have never had a probelm with removing the batteries up till now. Only recently have I found that my two M8 batteries (yes they are Leica original M8 batteries) seem to get stuck in the camera and I have to pop them out with something like a pen tip. The white plastic clip that you push back to allow the battery to pop out is working just fine and clear's the battery perfectly, and the spring inside seems to be strong and very resistant. Again, this seems to be happening to both of my batteries. One thing I did notice is that the way the contacts are designed in the battery and camera they seem to slide into each other and I am wondering if this is the issue (i.e. whether they stick together when they slide into each other??).

Has anyone else had any problems with their batteries getting stuck in their M8 or have any ideas as to what the problem might be?

Thanks for the help.


Dave

 

[chunin]

The best to diagnose the problem is you since you have the camera and battery. It is just a matter of obsevation. Just take a careful look and everything should be obvious. Look a little bit more if you don't see it at first.

 

[D&A]

Hi,

I'm a bit unsure of what you are suggesting. Of course I've made every observation I can think of but I don't see where or how the battery is binding. When the battery is inserted approx 95% of the way into the camera battery, it can still pop out fine. It's when I go the last 5% into the body and it clicks into place is when it bins and remains stuck in the body. It's as though whatever clicks it into place is not letting go of the battery when the white sliding release lever is pushed in fully (and clearing the battery so the spring can release the battery. So if anyone else has experienced this issue, I would love to hear how one light resolve it. Thanks again!

Dave

 

[chunin]

The best that I can suggest is that when you get the battery out and if there is something that is causing it being stuck there should be signs of friction in the battery where it comes in contact with the camera body. If it gets stuck in such a way as you describe, there must obvious signs of wear or pressure on the battery. Then just check the counter part on the camera body. I mean it is just two bodies getting stuck so it must be an observable phenomenon.

 

[D&A]

Hi,

Nope, I fully examined both batteries and the battery compartment of the camera and absolutely no friction, marks or untold signs that anything is unusal. You mentioned both cameras...there is only one M8 involved both it happens with two different Leica (OEM) batteries. Even the batteries have plenty of wiggle room so the only place the binding can take place is via the contacts themselves since it happns only at the last bit of insertion of each battery when they clicks into place. The contacts look absolutely perfect on both batteries and inside the camera. I gues the last test would be to take both my batteries and try them in another LEica body and see if they bind or not. That would definitively tell me where the issue lies. Thanks.

Dave

 

[chunin]

Unless it is something supernatunal happening to your camera the cause should be either your batteries being slightly deformed in a corner due to fall damage or somehow the contacts int he camera got bent. But you have mentioned already that both items seems to be just fine. Or who knows maybe there is a piece of double sided tape inside the battery chamber of the camera.

 

[D&A]

New Info!

New Info!

Hi,

Well it's obvious it's either the batteies or the body...nothing supernatural or dropped, damaged etc. (responding to the post directly above.

I do have some new info! Well I just tried my M8 batteries in a different M8 and they ejected fine, so the issue appears to be my M8 body. All contacts look clean, straight and perfect, so it's hard to know exactly where the problem lies but I now presume it has to do with the bodies contacts...or at least one of them. It's always possible one of the contacts in the body is canted a degree or two but to the naked eye, nothing looks untold and the batteries click into place without a hitch.

I'll still wait and see if anyone else experienced this problem before sending back to Leica to see what their solution was. Thanks!

Dave

 

[summilux]

you are not alone, when i was buying the M8 in shop, my first unit has exactly the same problem, mind you, it is a new unit, and the battery just got stuck in the compartment for no reason whatsoever, luckily there was another new one. i don't know the reason, neither did the shop owner, who would return the unit to leica.

leica quality...


😡

 

[Jim Watts]

You could try asking Mark Norton in the M8 LUF: http://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-forum/leica-m8-forum/ as he has totally stripped down an M8 a few months back and posted his findings there. So he may know what is likely to cause the sticking.