Sterlingtek battery not fitting? Try this...

Thanks to Canonphotog for this tip.

Saw this problem come up more than once on the forum so I was bored and drew a quick picture (yeah yeah I guess I made it more detailed than necessary) on how to fix this problem if for whatever reason you don't have time to mail the battery back to sterlingtek.

Just file down this edge lightly and it should now fit the battery grip just fine. I filed it down JUST a tad and it now fits super smooth and works fine. I just haven't had the time to send it back and I needed the battery for an event last weekend.

So, incase you get one of these bad batch of batteries and don't feel like going through the hassle of a return then try this simple 2 minute job.

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Keep in mind that filing it down voids that return policy/warranty if it does in fact fail on you.

It's such a SMALL almost unnoticeable modification I bet they wouldn't notice. This is kind of an exaggerated diagram so it's easier to see.

I can't notice my filing at all so I doubt they would.

The battery goes in...just a tad bit rough and doesn't release easily. The very small bit of material filed down lets it go in smooth.

Ok. The mod COULD void it. They're cheap enough though that if you do need the mod in a pinch like you did, it wouldn't be the end of the world. I wouldn't do it to a $50 Canon OEM though...ouch. lol.

cdi-ink.com wrote in post #2252226
Keep in mind that filing it down voids that return policy/warranty if it does in fact fail on you.

i'd just buy another if it failed on me, it's not really worth the shipping to send the dud back when you can get a new one for 12 bucks.

deadpass wrote in post #2252870
i'd just buy another if it failed on me, it's not really worth the shipping to send the dud back when you can get a new one for 12 bucks.

I'd rather spend the $2 to send it back. I'd still be $10 to the good. If it cost $12 to send back I could see your point. If I get a dud of anything from somewhere and it doesn't cost more to return than to replace outright, I'll return it. At least then they'd get a signal that at least one of their products was bad. Enough returns and they find a new source, or go out of business. No returns and false assumptions of 100% satisfaction don't work for me.

I just compared my BP-511s - 1 from Canon, 2 from My Digital Place, and 4 from Sterlingtek (ok, ok, I know that's alot of batteries but I like the insurance.) Anyway the first three batteries came with the edge beveled like Jackal's picture showed but the Sterlingtek batteries are missing the bevel.

Seems to me that Sterlingtek may have missed a minor piece of the design.

Still confused? See this threadfor additional pics and information.

I got one of the bad batch battery yesterday and I called them today. Gabi at the customer service said that they did have a bad batch she tells me that they don't know which ones are the bad ones (perhaps they don't keep track of the batteries by batches).
So it appears that they are just sending them out and letting the customer find out it they got a bad one or not.

She said she'd send one to me from the good batch today (makes me wonder how she knows which is good or bad) and since they don't allow prepaid return shipping for defective material that they sent out, I'd have to pay to return the battery and they will refund my account the shipping cost once I e-mail them a return confirmation number, which means I have to pay for delivery confirmation.

Very questionable business tactic in my view.

Here's an update, I got a replacement stating to ship from the 2nd batch. So it must be the first batch that is bad. Anyway, the only differences are that the defective battery is made in Hong Kong and the second batch, which works fine, is made in China. The second batch battery aslo has a tougher plastic feel to it.

So if you get one made in Hong Kong, I'd either file the plastic down or return it. Some cameras have enough space in the grip to use your fingers to pull the battery out, some like the 30D have no space so you have to pry it out with a slim object if the battery gets stuck.

update!

just got a pair of 2000mah batteries from sterlingtek...

they already fixed the battery and you don't have to file down anything!

i ordered another 2 from a different retailer to compare it with this...

Just got 4 BP511's made in Hong Kong. No problem with fit. Must be a new batch.

Got two sterlingtek Bp511A's recently and they fit my 30D no probs!

OK, so I'm receiving my new 30D today! Horray! anyways, interested in getting some extra batteries and it seems SterlingTek is the place? My question is..what's the diff between BP511 and BP511A??? why so confusing...TIA!

I am guessing its just some revision change or something but on the website it says both work work with the 30D

the 511A ones are 1800ma vs 2000ma on the 511

btw here is a $5 code if you spend 25.99

edit the code is SAVM5