Canon G7 x Battery problems!

[Big Acey]

Hi guys,

I have a g7x and have had to get a charger for it as i am overseas and left the original canon charger at home.

I bought the Unipal Extra and have charged the Original Canon battery but now when i put it back in the camera it says "battery communication error, does this battery display the canon logo?"

If i say yes it says "Battery may be counterfeit please call customer support, then turns the camera off.

If i say no it then it says "canon doesn't garuntee performance" then camera seems to operate as per normal BUT the battery indicator does not show. This is a real problem.

Has anyone had anything similar?

Any ideas would be much appreciated as i have just started a 6 week europe trip and this is not the best start.

Thank you

Ace

 

[gossamer88]

Woah! So you're saying charging an original Canon battery with a 3rd party charger renders the Canon batter like a 3rd party battery?! That is crazy!

Do you have your USB cable? You can charge inside the camera I believe. I can with my G9 X, albeit slowly.

 

[damian5000]

Woah! So you're saying charging an original Canon battery with a 3rd party charger renders the Canon batter like a 3rd party battery?! That is crazy!

Do you have your USB cable? You can charge inside the camera I believe. I can with my G9 X, albeit slowly.

If it's g7x2... Is it?

That's a bizarre issue OP... Maybe charging with the original charger will revert it to normal again? I don't think there's much that could be done in the way of troubleshooting except continue to use and charge as normal and see if the issue persists when returning to the original charger. I guess this may have something to do with voltage, eg the 3rd party charger over charging, the camera then reading overvolted battery... But just a guess...

 

[damian5000]

I'd also like to add, this is a shity move by Canon. Warning someone they might not have a genuine Canon battery? Okay. Understandable.... Taking away features (battery meter) because of it? Deplorable. And we also see how it backfired here with OP. Left without battery meter even on genuine, because of Canon's overzealous detection method (whatever nethod they used, whether it be my guess of voltage or otherwise).

 

[rpm40]

Sony does/did this as well, and probably other brands too. It may be possible that it is set up to match a battery charge % with a certain voltage, and the 3rd party charged the battery more or less than the Canon charger would, throwing off the ratios, and rather than displaying an error or an incorrect reading the manufacturer decided to default to not displaying anything?

This question got me into a strangely interesting search of how batteries charge and how devices show battery readings, like

https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1qrdc9/eli5how_do_digital_devices_know_how_much_energy

 

[Enders Shadow]

I took a quick look at that charger. I wouldn't trust it with my camera batteries. Safe to say it damaged your batteries. The batteries are chipped and it appears that circuitry was blown out. Possibly you didn't adjust the contacts correctly and they touched the wrong terminals. Or, it applied excessive voltage or current.

 

[damian5000]

Sony does/did this as well, and probably other brands too. It may be possible that it is set up to match a battery charge % with a certain voltage, and the 3rd party charged the battery more or less than the Canon charger would, throwing off the ratios, and rather than displaying an error or an incorrect reading the manufacturer decided to default to not displaying anything?

This question got me into a strangely interesting search of how batteries charge and how devices show battery readings, like

https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1qrdc9/eli5how_do_digital_devices_know_how_much_energy

Yes. This is what I said two posts above.

 

[rpm40]

Sony does/did this as well, and probably other brands too. It may be possible that it is set up to match a battery charge % with a certain voltage, and the 3rd party charged the battery more or less than the Canon charger would, throwing off the ratios, and rather than displaying an error or an incorrect reading the manufacturer decided to default to not displaying anything?

This question got me into a strangely interesting search of how batteries charge and how devices show battery readings, like

https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1qrdc9/eli5how_do_digital_devices_know_how_much_energy

Yes. This is what I said two posts above.

I agree with you that the issue was caused by improper voltage (or amperage) from the charger, but I don't think the battery display will start working again after he goes back to a Canon charger. I agree with Enders Shadow, I believe these batteries are chipped like the Sony ones and others have been for years, and the chip might have been damaged by the generic charger. I have seen the problem many times, universal chargers/ac adapters are like Goldilocks- if they are too weak, they don't charge, if they are too strong, they damage things.

I don't love that manufacturers include such a chip in the first place to push users to buy their batteries, but I don't know if the chip's main purpose is to discourage 3rd party batteries, or if it really is necessary to display battery information the way it is designed or intended to protect your camera. As far as artificially limiting/taking away features to penalize the user for using a 3rd party charger, I don't think that's what is happening here. I bet if the volts and amps on the charger were close enough to the Canon model, the camera wouldn't know the difference.

 

[Donthuis]

Officially the chip is there to read the right level of charge, both when charging and with in-camera decharging. But its second function is to prevent easy copying of battery types by other manufacturers. Rights on this chip can be sold by Sony, Canon and others to those battery manufacturers willing to pay license fees for such a chip. So this way competition is limited and high margins for the major camera builders protected. :-(

But just as with chips in ink cartridges for printers, there will always be a fight between small copiers who do not want to pay license fees and the larger companies :-|

My experience this summer with these mondpalast ones is that the Canon charger removed this detection of a non-Canon chip after a new charging cycle. So not taking the charger with you is the major source of problems, using copied batteries comes second

Therefore I doubt actual charging parameters are the ones to blame, probably this chip in a battery has to pass a certain verification cycle or simple "reset" to a defined state by the Canon charger for it to function or it will block usage in the camera. My "bet" at least

I don't love that manufacturers include such a chip in the first place to push users to buy their batteries, but I don't know if the chip's main purpose is to discourage 3rd party batteries, or if it really is necessary to display battery information the way it is designed or intended to protect your camera. As far as artificially limiting/taking away features to penalize the user for using a 3rd party charger, I don't think that's what is happening here. I bet if the volts and amps on the charger were close enough to the Canon model, the camera wouldn't know the difference.

--
Longterm photographer from way back in the 50's via analog SLR's, the Canon Epoca, different 35mm & APS compacts and three generations of video equipment. After using the Fuji F30, changed to high end Canon compacts both with (F)HD-video included ( IXUS 300HS & G7X).

 

[m_a_schuster]

Officially the chip is there to read the right level of charge, both when charging and with in-camera decharging. But its second function is to prevent easy copying of battery types by other manufacturers. Rights on this chip can be sold by Sony, Canon and others to those battery manufacturers willing to pay license fees for such a chip. So this way competition is limited and high margins for the major camera builders protected. :-(

But just as with chips in ink cartridges for printers, there will always be a fight between small copiers who do not want to pay license fees and the larger companies :-|

My experience this summer with these mondpalast ones is that the Canon charger removed this detection of a non-Canon chip after a new charging cycle. So not taking the charger with you is the major source of problems, using copied batteries comes second

Therefore I doubt actual charging parameters are the ones to blame, probably this chip in a battery has to pass a certain verification cycle or simple "reset" to a defined state by the Canon charger for it to function or it will block usage in the camera. My "bet" at least

I don't love that manufacturers include such a chip in the first place to push users to buy their batteries, but I don't know if the chip's main purpose is to discourage 3rd party batteries, or if it really is necessary to display battery information the way it is designed or intended to protect your camera. As far as artificially limiting/taking away features to penalize the user for using a 3rd party charger, I don't think that's what is happening here. I bet if the volts and amps on the charger were close enough to the Canon model, the camera wouldn't know the difference.

 

[Big Acey]

Thanks everyone for the answers.

Although annoying its not the end of the world and i can use my genuine charger when i return from holidays. In the meantime its dealing with no battery indicator.

But at least the camera works fine.

Thanks again

Ace

 

[FD]

I have a 3rd party battery but always charged in the original Canon charger.
Never problems..

Weird that a 3rd party charger gives problems with an original battery.

 

[Donthuis]

I have a 3rd party battery but always charged in the original Canon charger.
Never problems..

Weird that a 3rd party charger gives problems with an original battery.

 

[Choo Choo]

I have a 3rd party battery but always charged in the original Canon charger.
Never problems..

Weird that a 3rd party charger gives problems with an original battery.

 

[KeepCalm]

he camera works fine except for the fact that I get the the 'battery error message' and no battery level indicator .

Sorry to hear about your problems.

Canon battery indicators in my experience have very little idea what charge is left in the camera. I find it almost comic the thought that Canon may consider making their virtually useless battery indicator completely useless as a punishment if they suspect you are not forking out for their over-priced accessories.

 

[cab321]

With my G7x I've been using Wasabi Power charger+batteries from day 1 without any problem. My Canon charger makes a high-pitched whine so I don't use it. If Canon disabled my camera due to counterfeit batteries, it will be the last Canon I'll ever buy.

I still prefer my Canon A640 with standard AA batteries, they last longer than the proprietary crap.

 

[KeepCalm]

With my G7x I've been using Wasabi Power charger+batteries from day 1 without any problem. My Canon charger makes a high-pitched whine so I don't use it. If Canon disabled my camera due to counterfeit batteries, it will be the last Canon I'll ever buy.

I still prefer my Canon A640 with standard AA batteries, they last longer than the proprietary crap.

A G1X III with AA batteries in the hand grip would be great. I would buy it just for that.

 

[cab321]

With my G7x I've been using Wasabi Power charger+batteries from day 1 without any problem. My Canon charger makes a high-pitched whine so I don't use it. If Canon disabled my camera due to counterfeit batteries, it will be the last Canon I'll ever buy.

I still prefer my Canon A640 with standard AA batteries, they last longer than the proprietary crap.

A G1X III with AA batteries in the hand grip would be great. I would buy it just for that.

I'd buy it too. The G7x is my first & last camera with crappy-expensive proprietary batteries.

 

[Isola Verde]

Bookmarked

 

[KeepCalm]

Hi guys,

I have a g7x and have had to get a charger for it as i am overseas and left the original canon charger at home.

I bought the Unipal Extra and have charged the Original Canon battery but now when i put it back in the camera it says "battery communication error, does this battery display the canon logo?"

If i say yes it says "Battery may be counterfeit please call customer support, then turns the camera off.

Translation: 'battery may be affordable please call customer support' then turns the camera off.

If i say no it then it says "canon doesn't garuntee performance" then camera seems to operate as per normal BUT the battery indicator does not show. This is a real problem.

Has anyone had anything similar?

Any ideas would be much appreciated as i have just started a 6 week europe trip and this is not the best start.

Thank you

Ace