# 5D Mark-III power issues



## StudentOfLight (Aug 18, 2015)

I recently encountered an issue with my 5D-III refusing to power on. I swapped batteries and still not able to power on. I was shooting wildlife outdoors (stills) and thought that perhaps the camera could have overheated. In the past I had noticed sometimes my batteries died overnight in the camera. I assumed that this overnight draining was just a case of ageing batteries unable to maintain charge. 

Anyway a couple of days later I encountered the same problem again, although this time I hadn't been using my camera. It was fresh out the bag and I had my 6D with me as well. I removed everything (lens, memory-card, battery) and turned off waited and turned on again and still nothing. I swapped batteries and the 5D-III still wouldn't power on. The 6D was able to function with the 5D's battery so I knew the battery was fine. Anyway, I took it into CPS yesterday and it appears some parts need to be replaced. (see attached)

Anyway, my body is still under warranty so I don't think there will be any cost involved. I'm just curious if anyone else has encountered a problem like this with the 5D-III or any other Canon body.


----------



## StudentOfLight (Aug 26, 2015)

I got my 5D-III back yesterday after having it serviced at CPS and today the power issue happened again. I noticed that someone mentioned in a different post that the button sized battery might need to be replaced. After some digging in the manual I found out where this was located and how to get it open and checked the CR1616 battery. It was measuring as 3.1V so no problem there. 

I reinserted the battery and reset the date and time on the camera. It appeared to work fine for a couple of minutes then it randomly died. I turned it off and after a minute or so the red light flashed. I could then turn it on again and it started up but promptly died again. After a minute or so the red light flashed again and I waited a bit longer. 

I turned it on again. I checked auto power off settings and it was set to disabled. Formatted the memory card. I changed from C3 to Manual mode and checked power settings also made sure it auto power off was disabled. Took a picture and the camera died. ... When I restarted the camera no image was saved.

My frustration is growing. The technician from CPS asked me to bring in my batteries, charger, everything tomorrow. :'(


----------



## Valvebounce (Aug 27, 2015)

Hi StudentOfLight. 
Sorry to hear you have this issue, but I can tell you that no matter what field of expertise we are in sometimes we go through the fault finding, come to a decision about what the problem is, make the repair in the certainty that the customer will be thrilled with the outcome and lo and behold the issue returns just after the item leaves our care, usually after a thorough testing too. 

Hopefully a second visit will see the issue dealt with permanently, whether you can grow to trust the camera again is a different problem. 

Cheers, Graham.


----------



## Mt Spokane Photography (Aug 27, 2015)

StudentOfLight said:


> I got my 5D-III back yesterday after having it serviced at CPS and today the power issue happened again. I noticed that someone mentioned in a different post that the button sized battery might need to be replaced. After some digging in the manual I found out where this was located and how to get it open and checked the CR1616 battery. It was measuring as 3.1V so no problem there.
> 
> I reinserted the battery and reset the date and time on the camera. It appeared to work fine for a couple of minutes then it randomly died. I turned it off and after a minute or so the red light flashed. I could then turn it on again and it started up but promptly died again. After a minute or so the red light flashed again and I waited a bit longer.
> 
> ...


----------



## StudentOfLight (Aug 27, 2015)

Mt Spokane Photography said:


> StudentOfLight said:
> 
> 
> > I got my 5D-III back yesterday after having it serviced at CPS and today the power issue happened again. I noticed that someone mentioned in a different post that the button sized battery might need to be replaced. After some digging in the manual I found out where this was located and how to get it open and checked the CR1616 battery. It was measuring as 3.1V so no problem there.
> ...


The battery is a Hitachi 3V CR1616. If rated to 3V then isn't 3.1V fine? (See attached)


----------



## kaihp (Aug 27, 2015)

StudentOfLight said:


> Mt Spokane Photography said:
> 
> 
> > StudentOfLight said:
> ...



I checked wikipedia, and it says that the CRxxnn types have up to 3.6V voltage fresh (usual is about 3.3V), but nominal voltage is 3.0V. What voltage is the acceptable lower limit is determined by the device using the power.

I haven't seen this issue with my 5D3, in my 3 years with the 5D3.


----------



## Mt Spokane Photography (Aug 27, 2015)

StudentOfLight said:


> Mt Spokane Photography said:
> 
> 
> > StudentOfLight said:
> ...



While they do have a 3 v nominal rating, new ones are closer to 3.4 volts. In theory, they can be used down to 2 volts, depending on whether the equipment can operate at that voltage.

A new one costs about $2, I keep a dozen in stock. Its just something I'd try changing. The in circuit voltage is the critical thing, and that's tough to measure. If internal resistance is too high, the voltage will drop when current is drawn. This should not be the case with a 3.1v reading, but I'd toss it and try a new one, even though there is only < 10% chance of it fixing anything.

I sold a DSLR to a lady whose camera had died, and included the starter CF card. A week later, she inserted her CF card and the camera died! Fortunately, Canon fixed it under Warranty.

It turned out that her CF card was shorted internally and was killing the cameras.


----------



## StudentOfLight (Aug 27, 2015)

I got to interact face-to-face with the head technician today. He said that the little button battery is just there in order to maintaining your date and time settings when the camera is off and a LP-E6 battery is removed. 

Anyway, I demonstrated the issue first hand I went outside with him and shot for a couple of minutes before the issue came up. He seems to have a good idea of what is going on and will hopefully have it sorted by tomorrow or latest Monday.


----------



## StudentOfLight (Sep 4, 2015)

So got my 5D-III back again and it is working flawlessly for the moment. The Technician told me that they replaced the battery box again because one of the connections looked a bit suspect as well as the main board. (all under warranty) When I demonstrated the issue last time he said it appeared to be a CPU MPU communication error and that was why he replaced the main board as well. He said they tested the camera quite thoroughly before calling me in to collect it so they are confident all issues are resolved.

P.S. I decided to do a factory reset as well to eliminate any potential weird custom function setting issues as well. Anyway, so I'm busy setting up and customizing my camera today. Weirdly it feels like I've got a new camera with going through all the setups and with everything looking so clean and smelling so fresh.


----------



## cayenne (Sep 4, 2015)

StudentOfLight said:


> So got my 5D-III back again and it is working flawlessly for the moment. The Technician told me that they replaced the battery box again because one of the connections looked a bit suspect as well as the main board. (all under warranty) When I demonstrated the issue last time he said it appeared to be a CPU MPU communication error and that was why he replaced the main board as well. He said they tested the camera quite thoroughly before calling me in to collect it so they are confident all issues are resolved.
> 
> P.S. I decided to do a factory reset as well to eliminate any potential weird custom function setting issues as well. Anyway, so I'm busy setting up and customizing my camera today. Weirdly it feels like I've got a new camera with going through all the setups and with everything looking so clean and smelling so fresh.



Wow!!

What an amazing story!!! Well, good luck, hope it stays in working order!!

After awhile...make sure and update this thread periodically, so we can hear that it (hopefully) is still working and this was the fix that was needed!!

Enjoy shooting again!!

cayenne


----------



## StudentOfLight (Sep 4, 2015)

cayenne said:


> StudentOfLight said:
> 
> 
> > So got my 5D-III back again and it is working flawlessly for the moment. The Technician told me that they replaced the battery box again because one of the connections looked a bit suspect as well as the main board. (all under warranty) When I demonstrated the issue last time he said it appeared to be a CPU MPU communication error and that was why he replaced the main board as well. He said they tested the camera quite thoroughly before calling me in to collect it so they are confident all issues are resolved.
> ...


So far my experience with dealing with CPS has been quite positive. I'll definitely post an update again in a month or so.


----------



## weddingshooter (Oct 29, 2015)

How is your camera performing now? Your issue seems to be similar to what I just started experiencing with my 5d3. Would you say that the main board and battery box replacement did the trick? I'll have to pay for it as my warranty expired, but as long as they can bring it back to "reliable" state it's worth it.


----------

