1DM3 Battery Malfunction?

Wonder if this has happened to anyone else before, regarding calibrating the battery LP-E4.

When I put the battery in it says, to recalibrate it on my next charge... so I did. After calibration I insert the battery and the message pops up again! I recalibrate my other batteries and the message goes away, but for this one battery it stays... ideas?

M Powered wrote in post #7732559
Wonder if this has happened to anyone else before, regarding calibrating the battery LP-E4.

When I put the battery in it says, to recalibrate it on my next charge... so I did. After calibration I insert the battery and the message pops up again! I recalibrate my other batteries and the message goes away, but for this one battery it stays... ideas?

how long did the recalibration take?

ed rader

ed rader wrote in post #7732601
how long did the recalibration take?

ed rader

About 12 hours..

M Powered wrote in post #7732711
About 12 hours..

that sounds about right. i've just recalibrated all my batteries and one still says it needs to be recalibrated and it has a 100% charge.

i've seen a couple of threads on this subject lately, maybe on DPR. i'm not worried about it either way .

ed rader

Same boat here, but no problems so far. Did go out and get a second new battery though.

anyone else experience this?

the 1D3 battery has a 3S LIC 18650 cell battery pack. if you're getting a recalibrate message it's likely that of te 3 cells, one or more are out of balance. i.e when charging and discharging are done they don't quite reach full charge at the same time, and cell balancing is needed. that's what the message is for.

the typial full charge voltage of a lithium cell is 4.2V, and cutoff is sometimes 4.25V and then the voltage drops back to 4.2 fairly quickly. so it could be that maybe cell 1 has reached 4.2V when cell 2 and 3 are still at 4.13V for example. the diference is small but it's enough to require calibration. if you have a faulty or damaged cell, then maybe two of the cells will get to 4.25 while the third lags behind badly. i'd say if you can't tell, bring the battery back (if it's still under warranty) to canon and just ask for a replacement.

How old is the battery? if it's done about 30-50 cycles it may take a few cycles to balance the cells. it's quite normal to take a few cycles to really balance and calibrate, but if say you cycle it 5-10 times and it still gives this message you pretty much can conclude that one of the cells in the battery pack is not working right.

i'd put the battery in your camera and drain it real quick, like set it to manual sensor cleaning mode or Using IS a lot. then cycle it till you're sure that battery pack has a damaged cell.

Dunnomuch wrote in post #7739269
the 1D3 battery has a 3S LIC 18650 cell battery pack. if you're getting a recalibrate message it's likely that of te 3 cells, one or more are out of balance. i.e when charging and discharging are done they don't quite reach full charge at the same time, and cell balancing is needed. that's what the message is for.

the typial full charge voltage of a lithium cell is 4.2V, and cutoff is sometimes 4.25V and then the voltage drops back to 4.2 fairly quickly. so it could be that maybe cell 1 has reached 4.2V when cell 2 and 3 are still at 4.13V for example. the diference is small but it's enough to require calibration. if you have a faulty or damaged cell, then maybe two of the cells will get to 4.25 while the third lags behind badly. i'd say if you can't tell, bring the battery back (if it's still under warranty) to canon and just ask for a replacement.

How old is the battery? if it's done about 30-50 cycles it may take a few cycles to balance the cells. it's quite normal to take a few cycles to really balance and calibrate, but if say you cycle it 5-10 times and it still gives this message you pretty much can conclude that one of the cells in the battery pack is not working right.

i'd put the battery in your camera and drain it real quick, like set it to manual sensor cleaning mode or Using IS a lot. then cycle it till you're sure that battery pack has a damaged cell.

THanks for the info.

I'll try your suggestions.

The battery is over a year old and I certainly don't have the receipt. Am I screwed?

M Powered wrote in post #7739855
Am I screwed?

Yes I would say so.

A battery warranty is usually just 6 mths to a year, however i'm not sure what canon's warranty policy is like and it being a smart battery you could certainly ask the canon service centre if they would give you a warranty replacement. if they don't just mention your fear of the battery exploding during charging and burning your house down or something and that should be enough to change their minds. good luck.

the battery should last a good 200 cycles at least and it should mean 2-3 yrs worth of service. what you have is clearly abnormal if you haven't abused the battery.

I haven't had that problem yet. how long have you had the battery? I try to switch back and fourth between my two.

Sometimes I get the refresh notice, but only twice in two years did my charger actually allow me to calibration charge my battery.

With the Canon charger one can only calibrate when the red light shows for the first few seconds as one inserts the battery. The red light [on mine] does not always show, despite the message from the camera. The camera is seemingly distinguishing between my newer and older battery.

But, I've no problems to report either.

i wouldnt worry about it unless u have problem like mine.
https://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthre​ad.php?t=677803

djjoonie wrote in post #7740646
i wouldnt worry about it unless u have problem like mine.

And yours was caused by a bad battery?

GerBee wrote in post #7740708
And yours was caused by a bad battery?

im guessing it was compression error since the created file size were over 25-35mb and i was shooting jpeg. well im still waiting for the new one so lets hope i dont have this problem again...

Camera compression issue on a 1Ds Mark III is not a battery issue on a 1D Mark III. What am I missing?
BTW - Dunnomuch, Thank You for your answer.