I have a nikon d40 camera and it uses a rechargeable battery...
my question is...
if i charge it in colombia (the electric outlets are different and so is the voltage level, i know that you can buy an adapter to make it fit, this adapter is not a converter though, in other words the adapter doesnt change the voltage level) will it ruin or give less energy to my battery on future charges.... Because i know there are so many rules to these rechargeable batteries, like you should use most of the life up before you charge it again and remove it from the camera when not in use, etc...
thank you to anyone able to answer my question! You've gotten a lot of partial answers and some flat out bad ones.
The battery inside the camera produces DC or direct current. The wall produces AC, alternating current. You power adapter for the recharger takes in AC and converts it to DC for the camera's battery.
*** The charger should have some print on it saying what voltage it accepts. Make sure that whatever is used in Columbia is within this range. If the charger says "100-120v" and Columbia uses 220, you need a TRANSFORMER
A power adapter is a little plug that converts your plug into whatever is used in the other country. a transformer converts their voltage into something else. If your charger is 100-120, you would need a step-down transformer, one that converts Columbia's 220v down to the 110v your charger can handle.
*** Note that a transformer only changes the voltage, not the cycles. I never worry about the cycles on something like computers or cameras though, it's only really important when you have large motors or heating elements.
If your charger says "100-240v" or something close, then don't worry about it. Buy the $3 power adapter and enjoy yourself. no dont worry i charge all my things when i go to colombia and nothing gets damaged, and what part of colombia are you going to? no Take a look at the fine print on the charger and you may find that it says something like 100-240 volts, 50-60 cycles. This is pretty standard these days. In that case you just need a plug adapter that will cost a couple of dollars. The point of your AC Adapter is to only give you the level of energy required. Which is why if equipment came with an AC Adapter you should switch it with another unless it have the same voltage outputs. No matter how much energy is behind the wall the adapter will only allow the regulated amount of energy to enter. All modern digital cameras only charge what they need and won't charge anymore than that. So it shouldn't over heat, explode etc. And any properly functioning outlet no matter where in the world won't give enough juice to fry a digital camera. It would need to have a lot of power hitting it at once for it to fry.
You shouldn't have a problem. If the charging unit will run, then it will charge the battery.
It's only the charger that is connected to the mains...so as long as it finds the supply enough to operate it will simply transform the voltage down to what is required for the battery.
Whether it starts with 240v or 220v doesn't really matter.....it will still output the correct voltage.
The only issue you have to consider is are the frequencies the same?.....Frequency is far more of a limiting factor than voltage.
I also have a D40 and it has a Lithium Ion battery....these do not suffer from "memory charge" like Ni-cads and such like.....so charging them more frequently or not always discharging them before you do is not the problem it used to be. don't know for sure
try howstuffworks.com Get your charger and look for a data label. It shows information about the charger but the information that should concern you the most is the allowed voltage range. Your charger should say "AC 100- 240v" and "50-60 hz". If the voltage in Columbia is within this range then it is safe to use the charger. I have a d50 and a d70 and I took it to the old country where the voltage is higher than here in Canada (110v vs 220v) and the charger worked fine. Just enjoy your trip and your camera. | 