Re: [Leica] Battery for M6 (long, and maybe useless!)

[TTAbrahams@aol.com]

>Subj:   Re: [Leica] Battery for M6 (long, and maybe useless!)
>Date:  1/16/00 10:38:14 AM Pacific Standard Time
>From:  tdschofield@email.msn.com (Tom Schofield)
>Hi Tom,
>Thanks for the suggestion.  I just checked and the two points seem to be
>below the level of hte black plastic rear of the compartment.  I have found
>that if I forget to put it on OFF it will be dead the next time I take it
>out of the case, esp. if a "softie" is used.  (Not yours - a little gizmo I
>picked up that has a bubble level built into it.)  I am getting better at
>remembering and this last time I probably got 2-3 months.  I seem to get
>better life with the silver batteries than the Li.
>I opened the battery compartment and measured the contacts with my ohm
>meter.  When it is set to OFF, there is indeed infinite resistance
>regardless whether the shutter release button is pressed.  When it is set
>anywhere other than OFF, even without pressing the release button, there is
>about 13 meg-ohms resistance, so it drains when not in OFF regardless
>whether the release is pressed, though obviously faster if the release is
>pressed and the LEDs glow.  Does this battery check circuit check even if it
>is OFF? I also would like to ask you about a thread sometime back where 
there >was mention of a silver chrome battery door.  Do you know if this is 
available
>and from where?
>Tom Schofield

Tom, there was a silver colored battery 'lid' made in Germany. I think it was 
Juergen Uhl of  Foto Hobby in Frankfurt who had them made. The main benefit 
was that it had a coin-slot machined in to it. I haven't seen them for sale 
here, although you can always try Leica USA and see if they have any. They do 
have a coin-slot version in black. 
Tom A