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Battery contacts

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Offline hiker_jon

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Battery contacts
« on: 22 / January / 2009, 10:20:25 »
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Hi,
My A720is would often forget the time and settings.  I fixed this by bending the contacts to make a better connection in the little CR1220 battery compartment.  After I did this, no more clock reset.

My A570is would run out of power very quickly.  I fixed this by bending the AA battery contacts.

Anyone else have this sort of problem?  Does Canon have a battery contact problem?

Jon
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Offline fudgey

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Re: Battery contacts
« Reply #1 on: 22 / January / 2009, 13:41:54 »
I haven't experienced that with my a570, but your climate could be more hostile. Btw, almost always wipe the ends of my batteries with a cloth (well, one I'm wearing tbh) before I install a fresh pair as a precaution.
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Offline reyalp

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Re: Battery contacts
« Reply #2 on: 22 / January / 2009, 16:41:34 »
There was also a recall for battery compartment springs http://www.adorama.com/catalog.tpl?op=NewsDesk_Internal&article_num=122806-1

edit:
never had any problems like that with my a540.
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Offline wontolla

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Re: Battery contacts
« Reply #3 on: 22 / January / 2009, 17:03:39 »
Perhaps this winter is the one to blame. Batteries tend to discharge more quickly in cold weather.

If you run out of power fast, I don't think it's the contacts. The circuit is either open or close, no middle grounds.

In my experience, quick discharge because of the cold is noticeable starting at -5 degrees celsius.

Try keeping the camera inside your jacket (close to body heat) to avoid this.
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Offline fudgey

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Re: Battery contacts
« Reply #4 on: 22 / January / 2009, 17:31:07 »
Quote from: wontolla on 22 / January / 2009, 17:03:39
Perhaps this winter is the one to blame. Batteries tend to discharge more quickly in cold weather.

To be more precise, batteries don't self-discharge faster in cold (quite the opposite), but their internal resistance rises causing lower cell voltage when the camera operates, causing higher current drain by the camera. The result is lower efficiency and thus shorter battery life. The camera could safely discharge cold NiMH cells to a slightly lower voltage than warm batteries (and they may already do so), but that probably doesn't help much because the peak currents drawn are rather high.

Quote from: wontolla on 22 / January / 2009, 17:03:39
If you run out of power fast, I don't think it's the contacts. The circuit is either open or close, no middle grounds.

In my experience, quick discharge because of the cold is noticeable starting at -5 degrees celsius.

Generally NiMH cells should work fairly well above 0 C, below that not so much; your -5 C limit sounds right.

But there certainly are middle grounds, especially with dual AA cell cameras and their very low 2.0--2.6 V input voltage range from two NiMH cells. Try adding 0.5 ohm resistance from an external power supply and the camera may emergency shut down when you operate its zoom.

Grease, dirt and oxidation in battery contacts may very well be a reason for poor performance. There's a very good reason the battery lid has to be slid when closing it instead of just pressing it against the springs: metal to metal friction cleans up the contacts. Problem is this doesn't happen with the opposite springs deep inside the camera, at least not to the same extent.

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Offline an0n

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Re: Battery contacts
« Reply #5 on: 23 / January / 2009, 06:56:19 »
Quote from: hiker_jon on 22 / January / 2009, 10:20:25
Hi,
My A720is would often forget the time and settings.  I fixed this by bending the contacts to make a better connection in the little CR1220 battery compartment.  After I did this, no more clock reset.

Anyone else have this sort of problem?  Does Canon have a battery contact problem?

Jon
Yes that was/is a problem with many A720IS cameras, mine included, fixed the same as you did,(only for date /time).
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A720IS.
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