Canon A640 overheating and catching fire

lostdoggy wrote in post #2643455
I don't see the validity of this OP. A640 uses 2 AA battery. Let say each battery has 3000mAH capacity. Total voltage of 2.6V. I don't believe that there is enough to amperage to generate enough heat to cause the damage that the OP is saying.

OP only have 2 post and did not post any pictures. I'm curious!!!

Yeah, I'd kinda like to see a picture of that charcoal camera myself!

Jon wrote in post #2643489
A640 uses 4xAA. And the rate of discharge is what causes a heat problem, not the total capacity. I have a lock de-icer that runs on 2xAAA cells. And it gets hot.

Yes I agree that there are devices that will use just one AA battery to generate enough heat to lite a cig, but that is by design. In order for that to happen a thin metal wire is used, but the problem is that i the power is apply to it longer then a few second will melt the thin wire. The deicer is no different in this application, but again it is by design.

Robukincan wrote in post #2643500
If you think manufacturers (be they battery, camera, or otherwise) don't owe a duty of care to their customers to not burn or otherwise cause injury (assuming no neglience from the customer), then that's cool .... we all have our own opinions, be they popular or un

I'd generally class a lemon as something that was a dud, just didn't work or failed to work properly right out the box ... not something that had the potential to burn/cause injury or damage etc.

I'd be extremely unhappy if no apology was provided, call back and start by talking to a manager (at Canon)! [and i think if I was the manager and found no apology had been issued I'd be falling over myself trying to make that customer happy...] I don't think this chap's issue should be trivialized in any way.

Hope this all works out for you!!

Some-one with sense, agree entirely...Rick

The batteries are 4 months old and never caused me any problem with my previous A-Series Canon all I did was transfer the batteries from my old camera to my new one also they were not cheapo ebay batteries but a leading brand batteries.

Pictures added I needed to get a camera to take them!!!

I'm no crime scene investigator but that looks like faulty batteries to me.

That has all the look of a battery problem...I'm sure that all parties involved will want to have a very close look at that and I suspect you will be compensated for your troubles.

I think I would call Judge Judy on this one!

Batteries will only overheat if they discharge excessively, and the device they're in has to draw the excessive current. I blame the camera.

If there was a battery fault independent of the camera,

• it would likely have affected only one of the batteries. The photos suggest (but don't confirm) otherwise.
  
• no camera would have been needed. The battery or batteries should have started overheating in the charger and have been too hot to install into the camera.
  
• the batteries would likely have had problems already - they had already been in service (presumably without trouble) in another camera.

What brand and type of batteries were used? It would be interesting to do an internet search to see if they have a problem with overheating.

There's one thing for sure. Until this is solved, I will not sleep a wink!

eccles wrote in post #2647426
Batteries will only overheat if they discharge excessively, and the device they're in has to draw the excessive current. I blame the camera.

jrobert wrote in post #2648472
If there was a battery fault independent of the camera,

• it would likely have affected only one of the batteries. The photos suggest (but don't confirm) otherwise.
  
• no camera would have been needed. The battery or batteries should have started overheating in the charger and have been too hot to install into the camera.
  
• the batteries would likely have had problems already - they had already been in service (presumably without trouble) in another camera.

I, too, suspect the camera.

-jeff-

I'm with you both (not that you needed a fan club ). But I do agree that the draw has to be the issue...

http://www.usa.canon.c​om …390&keycode=211​1&id=28799

SuperBet wrote in post #2649459
http://www.usa.canon.c​om …390&keycode=211​1&id=28799

Although the linked page title is

Safety Notice: PowerShot A530 / A540 Overheats

it is obvious that the spring causing the problem is in the same wrong position in the picture of the A640 posted by Hot Shot: