Internal clock battery for Nikon DSLRs

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PatoPhoto
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p.1 #1 · Internal clock battery for Nikon DSLRs

I saw this article about how your camera can act strange if the internal clock battery starts to die

http://www.petapixel.com/2012/08/23/dslr-acting-strange-try-changing-the-internal-clock-battery/

I searched my D7000 PDF manual, Google, YouTube, and this forum but couldn't find a DIY guide as where/how to get to the battery and what kind of cell it is.

Has anyone else had experience in doing this or seen a link on how to do this?

On a Canon is can be seen here:

This image is copyrighted by the owner

Aug 27, 2012 at 10:26 PM

boshek
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p.1 #2 · Internal clock battery for Nikon DSLRs

According to Thom Hogan: the internal clock battery has an charge life of three months. Keeping the camera powered for two days charges the battery. When the battery depletes a CLOCK symbol appears on the top LCD and two other symptoms appear: the Interval shooting method doesnt work and the image files no longer have a date and time stamp. ps that is for the D700.

on the d7000 the image files WONT have a date and time stamp

Edited on Aug 28, 2012 at 02:33 AM · View previous versions

Aug 27, 2012 at 11:51 PM

Idle0095
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p.1 #3 · Internal clock battery for Nikon DSLRs

Hmm weird.

Aug 27, 2012 at 11:52 PM

NathanHamler
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p.1 #4 · Internal clock battery for Nikon DSLRs

boshek wrote:
on the d7000 the image files dont have a date and time stamp

I sure hope you slap whoever sold you that....EVERY digital camera stamps date and time of capture...

Aug 28, 2012 at 12:25 AM

boshek
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p.1 #5 · Internal clock battery for Nikon DSLRs

NathanHamler wrote:
boshek wrote:
on the d7000 the image files dont have a date and time stamp

I sure hope you slap whoever sold you that....EVERY digital camera stamps date and time of capture...

I think if the internal battery dies than it doesnt stamp the image, correct?

Aug 28, 2012 at 02:32 AM

NathanHamler
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p.1 #6 · Internal clock battery for Nikon DSLRs

It would just stamp the wrong time when you power it back on, and the "clock" starts running off the main battery...the "clock battery" only keeps the clock running when the camera has no main battery in it...

Aug 28, 2012 at 03:01 AM

hans98ko
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p.1 #7 · Internal clock battery for Nikon DSLRs

In the old days we use a button cell as the backup battery to keep the clock running as well as to maintain the volatile memory.
Some of the button cell can be replace by the user as like the one shown in your picture for Canon cameras, but some are soldered to the mother board and must be replace by service technician.
The weak point about these button cells are they leak over time and damage the mother board.

But around the late 1900s and early 2000 the industry started to use a large capacitor at that time known as "Super Cap" as a charge storage device to maintain charges for a month or even longer, and uses FLASH as non-volatile memory.

Since Nikon does not indicate that the internal backup battery must be replace over time, I am assuming that they are using a large capacitor as a backup.

Aug 28, 2012 at 03:27 AM

PatoPhoto
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p.1 #8 · Internal clock battery for Nikon DSLRs

Thanks for that information, I guess that's one less maintenance item to worry about.

Aug 28, 2012 at 04:48 AM

James R
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p.1 #9 · Internal clock battery for Nikon DSLRs

The clock battery should recharge if you put a fully charge EN-EL 15 battery in the camera and leave it for 2 days. BTW, are you sure the En-EL15 battery is working properly?

Aug 28, 2012 at 04:58 AM

MalbikEndar
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p.1 #10 · Internal clock battery for Nikon DSLRs

> According to Thom Hogan: the internal clock battery has an charge life of three months.

Sounds like a backup battery to me.

> I am assuming that they are using a large capacitor as a backup.

That seems to be very unlikely to me if the three month figure is correct.

Assuming it is a rechargeable battery- rechargeable button cells do exist (bought a few once). Like all batteries they do have a limited and to a degree unpredictable lifetime.

Aug 28, 2012 at 12:06 PM

hans98ko
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p.1 #11 · Internal clock battery for Nikon DSLRs

I am not sure what is the actual charge life for Nikon's DSLR, but base on what I knew, a Super Cap can be the size of two LR43 stack up on top of each other and with a voltage of about 1.2 -1.25V (can't recall the discharge capacity at this moment but I think is very close to the button cells), and the clock oscillator only requires below a volt (~0.7-0.9V) and a drive current of just a few uA. So base on the charge holding capabilty of the Super Cap with very little internal discharge something similar to what the Sanyo eneloop cells are doing, they can hold their charge for quite sometime.
Remember we don't have to support the volatile memory anymore.

Aug 28, 2012 at 01:34 PM

Keith B.
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p.1 #12 · Internal clock battery for Nikon DSLRs

My D3's have a button cell which Nikon says needs to replaced about every four years. I guess the D3 is now from "the old days."

Aug 30, 2012 at 04:52 PM

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