Game Camera Battery issues? Maybe this will help.

[BiggieSmalls]

My contribution, hopefully to those wondering..

So I see a lot of post about cameras and then battery life issues, especially the lithium batteries that we pay so much for and get so they last longer. I just wanted to throw out a little info.

Most cameras usually run on 12 volts/8 1.5v batteries or 9v/6 1.5v batteries, when one battery dies it takes the whole camera out.

1) Lithium batteries will show full charge and then die, they don't degrade like a regular alkaline do, so the camera might show 100 or 95% one day then be dead the next. When that happens, normally only one of the batteries has died, not all of them.

2) Alkaline batteries will slowly degrade, but occasionally one will crap out and kill the whole camera.

So since I was tired of the whole "never mix new and old battery" idea, I bought a small battery tester for $13 on Amazon and it paid for itself in 2 cameras.

https://www.amazon.com/Dlyfull-Universal-Battery-Display-Batteries/dp/B07DPLD6KB/ref=sr_1_16?dchild=1&keywords=battery+tester&qid=1602528229&sr=8-16

My lithium batteries, I normally only change one to two batteries per season, my alkaline I check each time the card is pulled and I change them out as they reach 75% per battery.

I've also found that the solar panel with the intergraded rechargeable lithium batteries inside of it are killer, we are on 2 years, not just seasons, of continuous work and haven't changed any batteries yet. Less "stuff" to hang or hide around your camera.

https://www.amazon.com/Bigfoot-Camera-Solar-Charger-12v/dp/B07FLPFPLS/ref=sr_1_13?crid=2HWNKK3OKIXON&dchild=1&keywords=solar+battery+game+camera&qid=1602531551&sprefix=solar+battery+game+%2Caps%2C171&sr=8-13

Hope that helps anyone else out.

[brokeno]

Thanks for the info. I've used Amazon batteries but the ones I ordered this year ( yellow ) really don't last long at all. I think going to try dollar store batteries next.

[ccbrown50]

Thanks for the info!

[toledo]

Thanks. Just ordered a tester for my camera/feeder bag.

Are you finding that 8 new lithium batteries out of the same pack don't all go out at the same time?

[Huntingfool]

good post - problem is we run 18-20 cameras. To buy lithium plus the cost for the charger on each camera we are talking into a thousand dollars or more. I never knew if one alkaline battery crapped out then it stops the whole show - good info

[BiggieSmalls]

Thanks. Just ordered a tester for my camera/feeder bag.

Are you finding that 8 new lithium batteries out of the same pack don't all go out at the same time?

That's correct..

[BiggieSmalls]

good post - problem is we run 18-20 cameras. To buy lithium plus the cost for the charger on each camera we are talking into a thousand dollars or more. I never knew if one alkaline battery crapped out then it stops the whole show - good info

I've found that putting regular alkaline batteries in a camera, then get a the solar unit, you can easily go over a year (we are at 14 months on one so far) and the alkaline did not degrade but 2% as they are not being used by the camera, they are just a back-up in case the solar craps out. These are taking 50-100 pics a day.

We had one camera that at 4 months was showing 50, then 40, then 30% on the battery life while it was hooked up to the solar and for the life of me I couldn't figure out what the deal was. I opened it up and 1 battery was not making full contact with the spring. I popped it in right and the battery life went to 100% and has been there ever since, that was 4 months ago. Photo quality never suffered, like it does as batteries die, I think the camera just has to show some sort of battery life to keep working and it doesn't matter where the power is coming from.

So that being said, I'm pretty sure you could buy regular Duracells, Energizers or even Amazon or Dollar General batteries and then solar units and only check the batteries when the life percentage shows its having issues.

Like I said, we are at 14 months on the one camera and haven't touched it once.. It still shows 98%, it started at 99%..

[Milkfisher]

Good info here!