Batter problems

[DaveG]

I think that I might be having a problem with power consumption with my 10D.

Yesterday, after not using the 10D & the BG-ED3 for a couple of days I took it out to show a friend. The camera was completely dead, which I wrote off as just leaving the thing turned on. So I charged up the batteries (both Canon) until they were full. Today I tried the camera again and it was dead again!

This time I'm sure that I had the camera turned off. I do have the "sleep" mode changed to 15 minutes rather than the default two minutes, but I don't think that that would affect it.

Anyway can anyone think about anything that might be inadvertantly enabled on the 10D that would be casueing this power draw?

[Belmondo]

Are you using CF cards or a micro drive? I've heard stories about micro drives not spooling down when the camera's turned off. That will deplete a battery fairly rapidly.

Tom

[DaveG]

belmondo wrote:
Are you using CF cards or a micro drive? I've heard stories about micro drives not spooling down when the camera's turned off. That will deplete a battery fairly rapidly.

Tom

I'm using a 512 Meg 40X Lexar CF card. It was in place.

I thought that maybe it was reading the card for some reason but the red "read" light was off. I also have the camera configured to NOT take pictures with the CF card removed. This causes the LCD screen to come on to indicate "NO CF CARD" but I'm sure that the CF card was in and the LCD was off.

Once the batteries are charged again, I'm going to take the BG-ED3 off and install one battery in the camera just to see if I can isolate the problem.

I can't believe that both of these batteries have failed after just six months of use, so I'm thinking that the camera is drawing power for some reason even with the camera turned off.

[Belmondo]

DaveG wrote:Once the batteries are charged again, I'm going to take the BG-ED3 off and install one battery in the camera just to see if I can isolate the problem.

That's a good plan. You should be able to tell pretty quickly if the problem is with your batteries, the BG-ED3, or the camera. We'll keep our fingers crossed for you.

Tom

[robertwgross]

belmondo wrote:
Are you using CF cards or a micro drive? I've heard stories about micro drives not spooling down when the camera's turned off. That will deplete a battery fairly rapidly.
Tom

I believe the term is spinning down, not spooling down. Threads spin, disks spin.

---Bob Gross---

[defordphoto]

robertwgross wrote:
belmondo wrote:
Are you using CF cards or a micro drive? I've heard stories about micro drives not spooling down when the camera's turned off. That will deplete a battery fairly rapidly.
Tom

I believe the term is spinning down, not spooling down. Threads spin, disks spin.

---Bob Gross---


Hmmm...Thought sure you'd go for the batter thing and mention this is not a cooking forum. Just about the time you think you've got someone figured out they throw ya for a loop. :)

[CyberDyneSystems]

robertwgross wrote:
belmondo wrote:
Are you using CF cards or a micro drive? I've heard stories about micro drives not spooling down when the camera's turned off. That will deplete a battery fairly rapidly.
Tom

I believe the term is spinning down, not spooling down. Threads spin, disks spin.

---Bob Gross---


Really? Threads "spin" too? lol :)

[Belmondo]

robertwgross wrote:I believe the term is spinning down, not spooling down. Threads spin, disks spin.

---Bob Gross---


Of course you are right, Bob. Once again I have disgraced myself by using a term imporperly. I am putting myself into voluntary exile for a few days to reflect on my inappropriateness. I will repeat over and over, "Spool up, spin down. Spool up, spin down, spool up, spin....." You get the idea. When I have it straight, I will rejoin the board.

Tom

[robertwgross]

belmondo wrote:
Once again I have disgraced myself by using a term imporperly.

Tom, for those of us with English as a first language, we should try to make it easier for those with more limited English skills. Even when it is a "fat fingers problem", we make it difficult for some to read and understand our true meaning. There is no terrible disgrace in misspelling. We'll just have to hire a copy editor to rewrite your next column for Outdoor Photographer magazine.

---Bob Gross---

[Belmondo]

Bob:
Maybe I like doing things imporperly.

You are right about the 'fat finger problem.' Not that many years ago, I was actually a better-than-average typist, but automatic spell-checking has ruined me forever. Occasionally I'll compose my longer missives in Word, then paste them into a message. My more spontaneous offerings are usually pretty full of editing opportunities for people with that penchant.

Now go pull the wings off some moths.

Tom

[robertwgross]

Another reason for trying to construct our messages carefully is that search engines have trouble with misspellings. Some very good ones can handle it, but most cannot equate "aperture" with "aperature".

Do a search on "Cannon" and you won't find out anything about cameras. However, "Canon" works fine.

So, we can help our fellow photographers more if we use a little care. We are all entitled to a human error, but ONLY ONE!

---Bob Gross---

[defordphoto]

Actually, you can find the new CANNON S40 here: http://www.kelkoo.co.uk/b/a/ssq_124901_2600_2700.html

And it seems that some sites have added the keyword CANNON into their repertoire to help with spell-challenged camera buffs. :)

That being said, it is like fingernails on a chalkboard to see the terms Cannon, Canon (or Cannon) D10, etc., fat-finger syndrome or not.

Of course with this thread title we could be discussing baseball too rather than shooting it. :)

[defordphoto]

So Dave, now that your thread has been totally hijacked, did you ever figure out the battery consumption problem?

[Belmondo]

RFMSports wrote:
Actually, you can find the new CANNON S40 here: http://www.kelkoo.co.uk/b/a/ssq_124901_2600_2700.html

Alarmingly, a Google search shows 5,250 hits with the exact phrase, "Cannon camera." Many of them are commercial sites, so we're not the only ones lacking.

And Jim is right; we did get sidetracked and really didn't get an answer to Dave's discharge condition. I was thinking it might be worthwhile to reset all the settings on the camera to default and see if the problem persists. If so, then there's probably a problem in the body someplace.

.......unless, does this happen when the lens is removed? I seem to recall a discussion once about an IS lens that was draining a battery. That sounds pretty improbable to me, though, because IS only works when the shutter release is partially depressed.

One other thing I'd try is to remove the batteries and see if one (or both) discharges on its own over a period of time. Finally, I'd put a known 'good' battery into the body without the BG-ED3, and see if it holds up. If not, then the power draw is possibly in the grip.

These are all wild guesses, but it's the best I can do.

Tom

[DaveG]

RFMSports wrote:
So Dave, now that your thread has been totally hijacked, did you ever figure out the battery consumption problem?

I've charged both batteries to full and put them, one at a time into the 10D, and I got a "full battery" indication. So I left one in the camera (with the on/off switch definitely off) and the other is sitting on the bench. I'll keep an eye on the battery level on the "in camera" battery and if it shows a power reduction I'll swap the batteries. If the second battery shows no level reduction then the camera must be draining the power.

I hope it's the batteries but I doubt it. If this experiment works the way that I think it will my first phone call tomorrow is to Canon Canada to see if I missed some obvious cause for this problem, and if not then off it goes for repair.

I a'm sory abote the tipo. Imagin 1 leter - WHY - cosing so much hufen and pufen.

[defordphoto]

Well let us know. I've heard of several people having these problems in Canon cameras but never have heard what caused it.

As for the typo, well, we love having fun here and that's just one way. BTW: You can change that typo by editing the first message in the thread and then add a 'y' to 'batter' and then all will be well. :)

[tlveik]

I'm an electrical guy, (who also has trouble with spelling) so if the camera were in my hands, I'd hook up an ammeter and measure power consumption directly under various conditions. The big advantage is you get instant feedback rather than waiting for a battery to discharge.

Tom Veik

[taltosgr]

...hi, I have also detected some battery problems after upgrading my firmware to 2.0.0. Since then my battery dropps very quickly... it actually seems only to be empty inside the camera - when I put it back into the charger it almost immediately (10-15 min) seems to be full again. Has anybody seen anything like that?

[perfectpixel]

Hi,
FWIW I had a similar experience yesterday:
Freshly charged battery in the 10D, snap a few pics. Camera went dead showing no battery power.
Turned camera on/off. No help.
removed and replaced same battery everything seemed fine. Continued to shoot for the rest of the day!

(PS can we remove all the irrelevant intervening posts from this thread? It's hard enough to find the information you need and misspellings are easier to get around than the junk postings, just my 2c)

cheers!

[robertwgross]

unstuck wrote:
Freshly charged battery in the 10D, snap a few pics. Camera went dead showing no battery power.
Turned camera on/off. No help.
removed and replaced same battery everything seemed fine. Continued to shoot for the rest of the day!


Doesn't that sound like an intermittent battery contact? It could be something loose on the battery pack, or it could be something loose on the camera. It could be the slightest speck of dirt or oxidation on either.

---Bob Gross---

[perfectpixel]

robertwgross wrote:


Doesn't that sound like an intermittent battery contact? It could be something loose on the battery pack, or it could be something loose on the camera. It could be the slightest speck of dirt or oxidation on either.

---Bob Gross---


I hope not the body! This is my second 10D. The first one never did this in the 2 months I had it. My first thought is "bad battery". It does seem to charge awfully fast.
I'll be keeping an eye on it.
That BestBuy warranty might end up coming in handy :)

[DaveG]

Well the 10D is off to Canon Canada and I should have it back by the weekend. I'll let everyone know what happens.

[defordphoto]

DaveG wrote:
Well the 10D is off to Canon Canada and I should have it back by the weekend. I'll let everyone know what happens.

Cool yeah. Let us know what happens.