Battery died, but I just completely charged it!

I was going to shoot a friend's band last night, so I charged my 10D battery up (now that I think about it, it charged up really fast, I guess it wasn't worn down that much). I got to the concert and took 4 (FOUR) pictures and the battery was completely gone. Camera shut itself off, and I could not turn it back on again. Even after removing the battery and rubbing the contacts a bit, I was only able to turn the camera on for a minute.

I have only put about 3500 shots through the camera, so it's not as if the battery is nearing the end of its life. I've only had the camera since July 2003.

I tried charging the battery up again, and it was "fully charged" in about 20 seconds... I tried taking it out and putting it back on the charger, and it took about 5 minutes this time before it was done, but when put back in the camera, it is still nearly dead.

So I'm thinking that something is wrong with the battery (or charger), which it making it think that it is completely charged when it is actually dead. Or it could be that the battery is fully charged but somehow the camera thinks it's dead.

and it is only a guess, is that you have reached the end of the battery's life. You're coming up on two years,; can you guestimate how many charge cycles you've put it through?

Well it would be hard to try and remember how many times I've charged it, but I usually tend to keep it topped off. If I go out for a day's shooting I may use only half of the battery, but I will top it off anyway. Like I said I've only shot about 3500 pictures. In fact, I have hardly even touched the camera in the past 4 months, I wonder if that could be a problem with the battery life?

Karl R. Josker said:

and it is only a guess, is that you have reached the end of the
battery's life. You're coming up on two years,; can you guestimate
how many charge cycles you've put it through?

Click to expand...

And I'm wondering why there is not a second battery. You can buy good replacements for $10-$12. I have five batteries. 3 Canon, purchased when I got the camera, and two generic from information on this list.

It probably has reached the end of it's life, and I've read and heard numerous times that the best way to extend the life of any rechargeable battery is let it run completely down before chaging back up to full for at least 3-4 discharge/recharge cycles when the battery is new. After " curing " the battery this way it's probably o.k. to just top it off in the future.
--
Eric

I went through this in the beginning of the year. I thought the camera was nearing its' death since I was getting the same symptoms with three different batteries. Not to mention 2 different chargers.

Made a post on another forum and got some links to battery info that confirmed Li-Ion batteries have a life of about 18 months regardless is they are used often or charged regularly. In other words, they start decaying the moment they are made.

I was convinced and had the letter all typed up, ready to send the camera to Canon. As a last resort, I asked one of the guys at work to bring in one of his good, charged batteries. I tried that and easily ran off 250 shots. Case closed.

I ordered three more new batteries (3rd party) and it has been working perfectly ever since.

KevinM
--
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Check out my airshow galleries. They are works in progress.

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Thanks for the answers. The battery obviously needs replacing now

No affiliation at all.

Rich

This link here has a good treatise on Lithium Ion Batteries

http://www.batteryuniversity.com/parttwo-34.htm

Several factors at play here read the following info

http://www.batteryuniversity.com/parttwo-34.htm

Read some stuff on these forums about that site and they seem to sell really good batteries, so now I have 2 coming in the mail

After reading that battery university page that said if I don't do a complete discharge about once every 30 charges, the battery's guage may lose track of how full it actually is, I decided to do a test. I hooked up a couple of fans to the battery to drain it, as I figured that'd be the easiest way. Now I am charging it back up, and it is seeming to take the normal time to charge. I don't think the battery is at the end of it's life afterall, it's just that I pretty much have never let it run all the way down, and it has lost it's calibration.

Every now and again I'll leave my camera in a slideshow to drain the battery fully.

I had the same issue as you - drained them and they seem to be back again - I've ordered extras now anyway.

The charged light on the charger by the way is not charged - only about 80% - you should take another hour+ to fully charge the battery.

JDemshar said:

After reading that battery university page that said if I don't do
a complete discharge about once every 30 charges, the battery's
guage may lose track of how full it actually is, I decided to do a
test. I hooked up a couple of fans to the battery to drain it, as I
figured that'd be the easiest way. Now I am charging it back up,
and it is seeming to take the normal time to charge. I don't think
the battery is at the end of it's life afterall, it's just that I
pretty much have never let it run all the way down, and it has lost
it's calibration.

Click to expand...

--
http://public.fotki.com/wibble/public_display/

If you top the battery off, it wears down just as much as when it gets charged from an empty state.

So, it is prudent to have 2 or 3 batteries, and to replace the battery whenever the camera indicates empty.

Moreover, Li-Ion batteries age even if they are not used. Under normal usage, the battery will die after about 3 years.

Bye,

Detlev

--
It said, 'Insert disk #3,' but only two will fit!
Some hints for flash: http://www.rackow-fotodesign.de/Lee/index.htm
My homepage: http://www.rackow-fotodesign.de/index.htm

It is recommended NOT to fully discharge Lithium Ion batteries but to recharge once partially discharged.

"Avoid frequent full discharges because this puts additional strain on the battery. Several partial discharges with frequent recharges are better for lithium-ion than one deep one. Recharging a partially charged lithium-ion does not cause harm because there is no memory. (In this respect, lithium-ion differs from nickel-based batteries.) Short battery life in a laptop is mainly cause by heat rather than charge / discharge patterns."

"Batteries with fuel gauge (laptops) should be calibrated by applying a deliberate full discharge once every 30 charges. Running the pack down in the equipment does this. If ignored, the fuel gauge will become increasingly less accurate and in some cases cut off the device prematurely."

http://www.batteryuniversity.com/parttwo-34.htm

Detlev Rackow said:

If you top the battery off, it wears down just as much as when it
gets charged from an empty state.

So, it is prudent to have 2 or 3 batteries, and to replace the
battery whenever the camera indicates empty.

Moreover, Li-Ion batteries age even if they are not used. Under
normal usage, the battery will die after about 3 years.

Bye,

Detlev

--
It said, 'Insert disk #3,' but only two will fit!
Some hints for flash: http://www.rackow-fotodesign.de/Lee/index.htm
My homepage: http://www.rackow-fotodesign.de/index.htm

Click to expand...

--
http://public.fotki.com/wibble/public_display/

I discharged the battery as far as it would go with the fans I hooked up to it, then charged it up like normal. I've taken several pictures with the camera using a lot of flash to try and wear down the battery, and it's seeming to last a long time.

The important messages previously posted are...they die...and always have a backup...or 2.

I've used Canon and no names interchangeably without problems on 4 Canons over the last 3+ years. The Canons have a slightly lower rating at 1200 and 1390 mh...and the no names are 1500 mAh. I see little difference if any in output of the 511A (1390) and the no name 1500's. Possibly a few more shots from the no names, but not based on test results. There are too many variables, AF vs. MF, LCD display length, number of popup flash shots, distances, etc.

These are inexpensive batteries that cost less than the price of a roll of film and prints...and they last a couple of years.

They run a very expensive piece of equipment with lenses that can be several times as expensive as the camera body.

Those batteries will run your camera for about 2 years for less than it costs to run a car for 2 hours (at least in California).

Give the issue some perspective. It's a $12 battery, after all...unless you but a Canon at retail for $70...
--
Joe Sesto

--
Juli
http://www.pbase.com/julivalley/galleries
Canon 2oD, Canon Gee3, and Canon S7o.

I keep trying to find an artist's eye in the B & H catalog