Ok so I lost one of my batteries. After tearing the house apart without luck I decided to retrace my steps since I last definitely had it. Checked the car, no luck. Checked the woods around the house, no luck. Checked around the garden, result!

So I lost the battery when out taking pictures of the snow. It has been in the snow for 5 days or so, thawed/frozen several times, rained on, and exposed to direct albeit weak sunlight. The protective cover was on and upwards, meaning the terminals were somewhat protected from standing water, the terminals are not corroded in anyway.

After leaving it to dry in the house for several days I decided to risk putting it on the charger. It charged for 5-10 seconds and then suggested it was fully charged, not that much of a surprise as the very last thing before I lost it was to charge it.

So everything appears to be in my favour, but do I risk it in the camera? It is not a Nikon original.

My instincts say yes, do it. But if many people are against then I may reconsider.

If the battery is dry, the very worst that will happen is it won't hold a charge. I doubt it'll explode or anything spectacular.

I say go for it.

(Usual disclaimers...)

+1
I also say take better care of your equipment. (8+)

Mark

Have you got access to a multimeter or know someone who has, then you could quickly check to see if the voltage is what it should be and none of the cells inside have been damaged.

*Electronics Engineer hat on*

Without access to an oscilloscope and simulated load you cannot test it effectively.


No, the worst that will happen is that it spikes and destroys the camera.

There are very many ways in which that battery could do lasting damage to your camera without doing anything spectacular. Take it for recycling and get another - it's just not worth it.

There you go then. A costly mistake hopefully avoided.

Mark

See? What do I know?

Take the man's advice, and ignore mine. I'd have tried the battery in my camera and there would now be gnashing of teeth and wailing in the HK household.

Good info Jim

I would have been in the 'stick it in the camera and give it a go' camp

Fortunately, I have a battery grip and there has only been a few occasions where I've needed to change batteries

Al

I was useful.....

Yay!

Thanks for the warning. I use Nikon and would have tried the battery; I won't do that if I ever have a similar situation.

Try the battery in a cheaper camera/item?

I haven't checked but would have thought the battery fitted only in what I would consider the too expensive to test range. Also my initial reaction would have been to try it, just like many of the responses on here, but rusty's singular comment has persuaded me otherwise.

It just isn't worth the risk, especially when my warranty is Singapore based.