Canon NP-E3 Battery

I have a Canon NP-E3 batter that is no longer holding a full charge. After fully charging the unit, it goes dead within 60 seconds of shooting images. Any particular reason for this and how do I fix this problem? Also, where can I buy a new unit if I need to upgrade?

The most you can easily do yourself is try a refresh on it with the Canon charger if you haven't already. If that doesn't help then I guess it's time to hit B&H for a new one if you want OEM.

I'm not sure what you mean by refresh. Also can I send the battery to Canon for repair?

There's a refresh button on the charger. It's pretty self explanatory. You hook the battery to the charger and press the button. It drains the battery completely and then recharges it from scratch to hopefully cure the "memory effect" that can plaque NiMH batteries. It's worth a go.

If that doesn't work, I recommend generic batteries from mydigitaldiscount.com. It's a somewhat hit-or-miss situation on getting a really great one, but they're dirt cheap compared to OEMs. The one I have left in service holds a really nice charge - I've used it for all-day weddings on a 1D II and the first bar hasn't dropped after a thousand shots or so and quite a bit of reviewing and deleting.

What are you charging it with?

I'm charging it with the OEM charger for the 1D and 1Ds cameras. I pressed the refresh button and a yellow light illuminates. Will the refresh yellow light remain until the battery is drained completely? Will the refresh yellow light disappear after battery is fully drained?

When the charger thinks the battery is fully drained it will immediately start the charge cycle. You may have to run the refresh/charge cycle on it three times to ensure that it is discharging to the best of its ability and charging as best it can. After that If the battery still provides minimum usage it's time to get a new battery.

Mind you, you only need to do the whole refresh thing once a month for best battery performance.

Photoman65 wrote in post #5918650
I'm charging it with the OEM charger for the 1D and 1Ds cameras. I pressed the refresh button and a yellow light illuminates. Will the refresh yellow light remain until the battery is drained completely? Will the refresh yellow light disappear after battery is fully drained?

If the battery is full, it'll take about 8 hours to drain and then it'll automatically switch to charge mode. Do it before bed and when you wake up in the morning it should be charged up again, assuming it's already partially or mostly depleted.

Cdifoto, Everyone,

thanks for the suggestions. I will give this a try and share the results with everyone. The battery pack is fairly new with no scratches or wear and tear. The pack that works well is older with scratches and wear and tear.

Hey everyone,

I tried the refresh method and it worked like a charm. The battery pack is holding its charge longer now.