Canon S110 battery life

[jbrock]

I have a question about the battery life on the Canon S110. I have had one of these for several years and, even though I have purchased other cameras since, I am still quite fond of it.

The problem is that the battery life has gone to hell. A fresh battery is now good for 10 pictures max. With flash, maybe 4. Thinking that the batteries had gone bad from age and use, I threw them out (had 2). Bought two new ones and got the same results.

My mother and sister both have one of these cameras as well. My mother's seems to hang in there, but my sister's is like mine. So, I tried my mother's charger and my new battery. No dice.

Could it be the memory card needing formating (or replacing)? Maybe new firmware on the camera?

I hate to throw it out since have taken, literally, thousands of pictures with it, but 1-2 minutes of use before the low battery indicator makes the camera useless.

[jbrock]

Got me thinking about this camera again, so I got it out to play with it. I charged a battery until the light was green and put it in. It would let me take 1 picture only before shutting down with "replace battery pack" on the screen.

I had read that the CF card can be to blame, but I don't think so. Even with the card removed, the battery icon comes on immediately.

I also tried updating the firmware with no change.

So, it is probably the camera. Bummer, since it would probably cost more to fix than it is worth.

[Jon]

Well, the green light comes on at less than 100% charge; almost everyone recommends leaving your battery in for at least an hour after the light comes on. Chargers generally have an "overcharge" protector, so you don't need to worry about an overcharge.

[mot]

how long you charge the battery?

[jbrock]

The last test, I left one of the batteries in the charger overnight. The camera ran for less than one minute.

[NYC2SOCAL]

Trying to remember what type of battery it is.. I've had the S10, but I think it's probably similar.. I've noticed that over time, the cameras just start to "read" the battery levels incorrectly. Just as a test.. There should be 3 electrical contacts on the battery, a +, a - and one that feeds the battery data to the camera. Take a piece of electrical tape and cover the one that is NOT + or -. Take some pictures. See if that helps. NOTE: DO NOT CHARGE THE BATTERY WITH THIS TAPE ON. The third contact also notifies the charger when to stop charging. If you cover the contact when charging, there is a possibility that it will explode when overcharged.

[jbrock]

I have wondered what that third terminal was for, although I had heard the idea that it was some sort of voltage data thing. Which made no sense to me. A overcharge protection for the battery charger makes sense, but the camera would only need the two terminals to get the voltage.

At any case, the battery compartment of my camera only has two connections, for the outside slots on the battery. The charger has three.

Just for grins, I ordered a new charger from Amazon. There are roughly 10,000 after-market chargers on the market, so I ordered one that would also charge the battery for my SD750 and my wife's SD630. It also has a car adapter. That way I could justify it.

[NYC2SOCAL]

Interesting.. I just realized your S110 is the same line as the S230 I have.. My S230 has 3 contacts in the battery compartment. I've been covering the middle terminal with yellow electrical tape, and the problem has been solved.. Note that the camera will take pictures until the very end (so you might lose the last picture before it has a chance to write to the card).

[jbrock]

Hmm, maybe it does have three and I just have not looked hard enough. I will look harder in there and see.

[jbrock]

One thing I do find odd, assuming that covering the middle terminal would work, is that the camera actually shuts off shortly after the battery icon starts flashing (which happens about 30 seconds after inserting the battery). I wonder why they would do that? Perhaps to prevent the camera from trying to take a picture when it thinks there may not be enough battery power left to finish.

[NYC2SOCAL]

Right.. My understanding is that it uses the 3rd terminal to determine the battery level so that it can "gracefully" shutdown (save the pic, retract the lens). Once I started using the tape trick, Instead of taking the usual 5 pics before shutting down, it would last what it normally did . Once again, the only problem that I have encountered is that when the battery loses juice, there's no warning. The screen just turns off (mid write or not) - Also the lens does not retract. You need to insert a charged battery to retract the lens. (hence I have 2 batteries and one strip of tape). When the dead battery comes out, I transfer the tape to the charged battery and insert it in the camera.. Remember, do not charge the battery with the tape on.

[Jon]

If you try this, it would be a good idea to periodically recharge your batteries before they run flt; Li Ion btteries, unlike NiCd or NiMH, are weakened by running them flat.

[jbrock]

well it is not going to matter to my camera one way or the other. There is no third, middle terminal in the camera. Just to be sure, I taped the middle terminal on the battery and it made no difference to the camera. Still shuts off after 30 seconds or so. Also, there is a third contact point on the charger, but the charger, apparently, does not work if the battery middle terminal is taped. At least the light is not on. I guess I could give it an hour or so anyway and see what happens.

[NYC2SOCAL]

right, you should not try to charge it with the tape on. remove the tape for charging.. the tape only goes on the battery when inserted in the camera.

[jbrock]

Well, as I said, it will make no difference to my camera if there is tape on that middle terminal or not. There is nothing in the camera that connects there.