Casio EX-Z75 Faulty Battery

I purchased a Casio EX-Z75 digital camera about a year ago and for the most part it’s been working perfectly and it’s a very good camera. However, I didn’t use it for about 2 months or so and it seems the rechargeable lithium ion battery is dead (it’s a NP-20 battery). When I try to recharge it, the red light on the charger just keeps blinking. After 2 sessions of charging for several hours, I gave up. I searched online and found out a lot of people also had this problem with this camera’s battery.

Call Casio for a Replacement Battery

Well, all you need to do is call up Casio customer service at 1-800-435-7732, explain the situation to them, and they’ll send out a new battery free of charge. They’ll ask you for information like your name and address, the model of the camera, where you bought the camera, and the serial number (it’s on the box and on the bottom of the camera). I think the most important thing is the serial no. because that’s the only way they can verify you own this model camera. They can’t exactly just give anyone who calls a free battery.

Common Issue With Rechargeable Lithium Ion Batteries

They’re aware that this is a common issue. Apparently lithium ion batteries naturally lose their charge when not in use. So if you’re not using the camera for an extended period of time, you’ll need to take out the battery once in a while and recharge it. I didn’t think the battery would just die out like this and be completely unusable. My laptop battery is the same – it completely loses its charge when I don’t use it for a while but I’m always able to recharge it. The battery doesn’t just die out like the camera battery.

Great Customer Service from Casio

Casio’s customer service is US-based and very friendly. Hold time was extremely short too. A recording said that estimated hold time was 48 seconds and I was immediately connected. At first I was expecting it to say 48 minutes! I was pleasantly surprised when it said “seconds” instead. I also got the new battery very fast – I called on Monday and got the battery today. They said it would take 2-3 days to process and ship out so it’s nice to get it earlier than expected. Casio shipped it UPS 2nd Day Air which is also very considerate of them (it came from NJ though so that’s probably why it was so fast). All in all, a very painless and pleasant experience with Casio customer service. Although it would be even better if they used batteries that don’t have this issue.

They sent the exact same battery so I hope I don’t run into this issue again. I guess the lesson is if you’re not using the camera, at least take out the battery and recharge it every few weeks.

UPDATE: If Your Camera is Out of Warranty

According to many people who have commented, if your camera is out of warranty (usually 1 year), Casio will not replace your battery. My own camera was still within warranty so your experience with Casio may not be as pleasant.

A suggestion might be go to your credit card company (if you used a credit card to purchase the camera). Many credit cards extend or double the manufacturer warranty and may compensate you for needed repairs or replacements. You’ll need to check with your credit card company to see if they offer this.

Nov 2009 Update

So my battery died AGAIN. This time around I didn’t go to Casio because it was well out of warranty. I picked up a cheap replacement on Amazon.com (search for NP-20 battery). The fact that this happened a second time is pretty annoying. The Casio EX-Z75 is great, and I know it’s the battery that’s problematic and not the camera, but if the battery dies, you have a non-functional camera and I feel that’s a legitimate knock on Casio. If you’re looking into digital cameras I would suggest not buying cameras that use the NP-20 battery like the Casio EX-Z75.

Of course, if you use your camera on a regular basis, you likely will never run into this problem. But if you don’t use your camera for long periods (2-3 months) the Np-20 battery will die.


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25 responses to “Casio EX-Z75 Faulty Battery”

  1. Ethical??

    Thanks for this advise.

    I have a NP-20 battery, it is not charging up. The charger’s red light blinks.

    Called Casio 1-800-435-7732, and they said it is a known problem of its lithium batteries.
    They are very nice, took some info and immediately offered to send a new battery to me free of charge.

    Although Casio Customer Support been nice and offered to send a new battery ……. seems like this is a KNOWN problem to them, and as per this forum and many other forums claimed ……. WHY don’t Casio just issue a RECALL to its NP-20 lithium batteries???

    OK … i get it ….. if u call…. u get your replacement for FREE ….. if u don’t …….. CASIO will save – let say $3 cost per battery …… CASIO probably sold millions of this each year ……. if 50% of their customer DID NOT call …… CAsio will save $1.5 million plus each year ……..

    IS IT A GOOD BUSINESS Ethic??????

  2. Yea I also have a NP-20 battery (actually I’ve updated the post with that info now).

    I think it just comes down to a matter of cost. It’s reasonable to believe they purchased or manufactured these batteries in HUGE bulk quantities. In the aggregate, it probably costs them less to just send out new batteries when customers have problems than to simply get rid of the whole batch and purchase or make new batteries.

    It’s unfortunate for consumers but I guess the best solution is that if you don’t use the camera for extended periods of time, to just take out the battery and charge it so it doesn’t go completely dead. Or if it does go dead, call Casio for another one. Yes it’s kind of a hassle and only Casio is to blame.

  3. Nicky H

    I purchased my for my daughter the casio EX-Z77 last year DEC. 14, 2008 the battery was doing the exact thing your talking about here. Blinking and not charging. I called casio five minutes ago 09-15-08 using the 800 # listed here. I got through in seconds, they took my info down and a new battery is in the mail. Thanks for the tip.

  4. Jill

    I had the same problem and called to have my battery replaced. They would not replace it for me since it had been over a year.

  5. Dean Lovell

    I went and purchased a new battery and experienced the same fault. Went back to the shop and they told me to ring Casio. Have 2 new batteries on their way. I hope this solves the problem and is not just a temporary fix i.e the same thing happens again with the 2 new batteries as I doubt Casio will keep replacing for free. I was told by the customer service guy that the 2 batteries I have were part of a faulty batch.

  6. Diane

    This site just saved me over $30. I took your advise and called Casio. They did just what you said they would.

    Thanks for posting the info.

  7. Rene Kaveria

    I just called CASIO at 800-435-7732 and they told me it was a battery issue and I need to just purchase a new battery. Since I have already purchased 3 I told him no, CASIO needs to replace this one. Tyler, the representative from CASIO, then told me it was a sales issue and I would need to call 800-706-2534. So much for oustanding customer service. We have purchased 3 cameras from CASIO and all 3 have had to have their batteries replaced. I have a one year old that I really wanted to take some pictures of today… I have not used my camera in about 3 weeks and the battery is dead. I am not a satisfied right now with CASIO or its known to be defective NP-20 Lithium Ion battery.

  8. Chandra

    I had the sampe problem with my one year old Camera and I called the above 800 number few mins back and they promptly accepted my request and promised to send me a new battery free of charge.

    Thanks for this info and the customer support is great.

  9. kya

    Thanks for the information on the faulty batteries. I have the same problem with the red blinking light on the charger. I was going to purchase a new battery until I found this website. Hope Casio will replace my battery as well.

  10. Izzy

    Two of you have said that your battery refuses to charge and you have a blinking red light? (Ethical?? and Kya) I have the opposite response – I have two cameras with NP-20 a EX-Z77 and an EX-Z75 both batteries normally flash when charging correctly and now have a solid red light, and refuse to charge. I read a tip stating that if you wire the battery up to a regular 9v battery it will place enough charge in the battery for the charger to recognize and charge the battery again, so I did so with one that was out of warranty and it did work – however the next time the battery loses charge it once again will not charge so it is only a temporary remedy and also a lot of effort. So I have contacted Casio and am awaiting a response, hopefully they will replace the one that is in warranty and if I’m lucky the one that isn’t too!

  11. Mars

    Had this problem for a while.
    When I called casio, they didn’t offer a free replacement at all, but simply said that this is known about lithium batteries, and that I had to buy anther one.
    I was told that I shouldn’t have kept the battery in the camera when not used.
    At least I know now that it is the battery and that it’s a NP20 which I need to replace (costs about 20 dollar).
    I wonder why they even make “rechargeable” batteries that stop working once you leave them in the camera.
    Can’t they have a better more durable alternative? Even penlights are better I think.
    Free??? I don’t think so! And how often do you need to buy a new NP20 battery?
    Absurd this feature of the battery, and a complete rip-off!
    I certainly won’t buy a camera which uses a NP20 battery ever again!

  12. STeven

    it needs jump start like cars. use 9-volt battery to jumpstart np20 battery it works !!!!!

  13. Ezekiel

    I just called Casio and explained my situation, and they did agree to send me a free replacement battery (in about 3 business days?). Thanks for this site!

    But agreed. It’s a shame to even have to deal with this for any camera..

  14. Robert

    I called casio and it is the worst customer service I had till now…they say it is the problem with the battery and asking me to purchase a new one..

  15. Brad

    just got off the phone and they basically said its a problem and to solve it I need to buy new battery. I see you can buy one made buy duracel wonder if any one has tried this.

    Just jump it with a 9 volt and it is charging like its suppose to.

    For you wonder how to do this I took a paper clip cut two pieces same length and lined up the + and – and just touch them together.

  16. siulon

    I just called the 1-800 number and was told that because my camera (EX-Z75) is out of warranty, I just need to get a new battery and they would not offer to replace it. I’ve had this camera since 12/07, however, I don’t use it very much and only charged this battery no more than 5 times and now it’s completely dead. The warranty is only a year so if you don’t use your camera often enough, you’re pretty much assured to having to buy a new battery no matter what. In speaking to their Cust Service, I told them that this not show Casio in a postive light by providing customers with a defective battery, they just told me to buy a new battery. Needless to say, I will NOT be purchasing Casio products in the future. If you don’t use your camera often enough, Casio should put in their manual something to the effect of taking the battery out of the camera, but I didn’t see anything like that in the manual. It’s just Casio’s way of getting more money out of their customers. Thumbs down on Casio products for me!

  17. TP

    I found an instructional video on youtube which details exactly how to jumpstart the battery and it worked fine with mine!

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTrPN83_7bM

  18. Mogg

    I called Casio 1-800 # this morning concerning the blinking red light. I spoke to Jeff and shared with Jeff my battery problems, while my cordless home phone was beeeping due to battery run low also. Jeff stated all I need before this battery goes out, (LOL) is where you purchased it, the serial number,and finally my address. He apologized and said we’ll mail out two today. Great service from Casio and Jeff. If you didn’t get this type of service try to call back you may get Jeff or someone like him. Good luck.

  19. Ashley

    Called Casio today and got a Jeff on the phone. He was very informative pretty much told me the same thing I’ve been reading. Offered to send me a battery at no charge. I’m sure my camera was OOW. But grateful for a free battery!

  20. Amanda

    I had two problems because of this NP-20 battery. I have a EXZ75 camera and I didnt use it for a long time. So when I got it the battery was blinking while it tried to be charged. BESIDES that, the camera asks for setting up language and date and time every time I turn it on. In the Casio website they just mention that it happens when the camera stays more the 24 hours without battery. But then we have a problem, because if you leave the battery inside the camera you loose the battery, if you leave the camera without any battery it gets this software problem. And I tried to format the internal memory as they suggest with no success. BESIDES all that, I live in Brazil and I cannot call 1-800. It is a not serious company, it is just a local silly company which I hope that it will SOON break down, if it carries on having no ethics at all. I will NEVER buy Casio products again. And I hope you also think twice, even if the Jeff guy was nice to you, the company should have been nicer and made a recall first.

  21. Jeff

    My NP-20 battery lasted for over 2 years, then developed the problem described above. For all the people who did the right thing and called Casio during the warranty period, they got a free replacement, so, the company fixed the issue…what good would a recall do? Does anyone think that a recall means they come to your home and replace the battery in your camera for you? Do you think they go door-to-door and ask if you have a Casio camera?

    Nobody here mentioned getting their hands on a confidential internal memo titled “How we put the screws to those people who bought our cameras”…

    They might know that a more than average amount of people called in with a problem on the NP-20 battery but who here knows how many were sold vs. had a problem? I don’t, I also didn’t read it in anyone’s comments.

    Kudos to Casio for offering a free advanced replacement mailed to your homes without the need to have the original battery first!

    Also, thanks to those who posted the 9V conditioning info for people, that’s what commercial battery conditioners do, feed a little more voltage into the battery to “wake” the cells up for charging.

    Ethics…the people who mentioned ethics have no idea what that is…

  22. S MacDougall

    Casio’s Customer Service is Crap.

    Ethics, Jeff? Continuing to sell a product you know to be defective is unethical. The batteries are very expensive, they don’t last and Casio only stands behind them if you 1) figure out they ought to, and 2) can PROVE you bought it within the year. Otherwise you are out of luck. I have 3 bad NP 20’s and no receipt for the last one. Casio is doing nothing for me.

  23. TryThis

    SOLUTION!

    The problem really seems to be with the charger rather than the battery. It senses a dead battery and won’t charge it. Another solution is a USB charger for the NP-20 battery. I just got one and it will charge an otherwise “dead” battery. Also, you can leave a “dead” battery on it for a few minutes and then put it on your regular charger and it will charge on that as well. One thing I did notice about it is that it only has two prongs (positive and negative). It’s missing the one that goes to “T”. Hence why it doesn’t detect battery state before charging.

    If you’d rather plug it into the wall, just get a USB wall adapter. I used the one that came with my iPod. Works like a charm!

    Best of luck to all of you.

  24. Cadelman

    Called Casio about the battery today. They said they could do nothing because it was more than a year. They did say that they did extend it from 2007 to 2009 on the warranty of the battery. They did not issue a recall so everyone could get a new battery.

    I took a 9-volt battery and hooked two parts of paper clips to the end. I then hooked the ends of the paper clips to (-) and (+) terminals of the battery and to my surprise, the battery is now charging on the charger.

  25. e lewthwaite

    i have ex[erienced this also.
    went to charge my battery and red light flashing constantly.
    it has never been easy to charge my one and as it is out of warranty will buy another battery and hopefully this will work.
    wont be buying this make again though

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