# LP-E6's dropping like flies.



## paul13walnut5 (May 27, 2013)

Having Biiiiiig problems with my 7D.

Picked it up the other day to use and it wasn't communication with the grip.

Tried it off battery only and seemed fine.

Picked up again yesterday, dead.

Only works with third party LP-E6. Replaced internal CR1616. Tried to charge one of my genuine LP-E6's and the charger just rapidly flashes constantly. 2nd LP-E6 goes straight to green light.

Tried the other one on camera and it worked for a while then bricked. During that time the camera was giving me info on battery status (both around 95% charged, 2 status bars) 

Never had lithium ion batteries fail on me before, and to fail at same time..

Any ideas?


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## Mt Spokane Photography (May 27, 2013)

There are electronics in the battery which shut it down when drained. If you have a bad charger, it can zap the electronics in the battery and produce what you described.

Of course, it can be something else, like a counterfeit battery. There have even been legitimate dealers reportedly selling them in Europe and England.

You might try buying a cheap third party battery to see if it also fails, that would point to a charger or a grip causing the issue.

Finally, it can just be Mr Murphy pulling his old tricks.


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## pierlux (May 27, 2013)

No idea, sorry, never came across such behavior. Just out of curiosity, a few questions:

1. Did you buy all your LP-E6 at the same time? I mean, are they all the same age?

2. Do you remember their "battery info" history? how many green/red bars and when? My ones, all bought at different times, went from 3 green bars to 2 green bars after about 1 1/2 years, then 1 red bar after 3 years. Now they're all 1 red bar, but still perform well. But I don't do video and don't use live view so much, live view and video stress them a lot more...

3. Did you ever run them empty? Or, do you often charge them when they are nearly empty (say, below 10%)? 

Your post made me feel a bit anxious... LP-E6 were first introduced with the 5D2, it may be that in a few months we will begin to notice an hecatomb of them, who knows... 

I don't have third party LP-E6 compatible batts because I prefer to use 6 AA Ni-MH Eneloop, a cheaper but valid alternative to compatible third party Li-ion batts, as an emergency power source since I already have lots of them for my Speedlites and I'm quite satisfied as far as performance is concerned.


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## paul13walnut5 (May 27, 2013)

2 genuine canon batteries (one came with camera)
1 thrid party, calumet, the only one which is still working.

Battery condition was 2 green squares, and charged to at least 90%

Bought the two failed batteries within a month, as said one came with camera.

I use them for video and so fairly often they run to the icon flashes then I change and charge. Been fine up until now and it's curious that both fail at exactly the same time.

Only change I can think of is that I loaded on the x-video settings via the canon software last week.


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## alexanderferdinand (May 27, 2013)

Try with a different camera. 
Same with or without the grip.
A different charger.
(like Mr. Spokane said: could be the charger).
Or the camera cant read the information on the chip (is it a problem in the cam or the charger?)
Summary: facts should lead you to the fact, that is common. 

I had this painful moment once with the 5d2 and the grip. It was a little bit loose, this blocked the controls on the grip, but not on the body....


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## paul13walnut5 (May 27, 2013)

yep the grip is playing up as well. Sometimes connects, sometimes dead, with the working calumet battery.


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## tpatana (May 27, 2013)

Strange. I guess you don't have fluke/multimeter/something to measure the actual voltage after charging?


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## paul13walnut5 (May 27, 2013)

nope, going to go into calumet tomorrow and hopefully try batts in alt body.


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## Neopulse (May 27, 2013)

Really bothersome the adverts in the posts made in threads. Well anyways, was going to ask where you purchased the LP-E6s because I recently bought a Canon 5D Mark III and was going to buy 2 spare batteries and of course will want to stray from where you bought them. Amazon? Adorama? B&H?


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## Mt Spokane Photography (May 28, 2013)

Neopulse said:


> Really bothersome the adverts in the posts made in threads. Well anyways, was going to ask where you purchased the LP-E6s because I recently bought a Canon 5D Mark III and was going to buy 2 spare batteries and of course will want to stray from where you bought them. Amazon? Adorama? B&H?


 
Welcome to Canon Rumors.

Are you referring to the advertising from Google? Its personalized, Google is able to target you with advertising based on things you have viewed at other sites. We all see different things targeted to us. It pays for operating the web site, its not sponsored by Canon.

You might reread the OP's comments about where he bought his batteries. Don't assume he is in the USA. Click on his user IS to see his profile. It sounds like UK to me.


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## pierlux (May 28, 2013)

paul13walnut5 said:


> nope, going to go into calumet tomorrow and hopefully try batts in alt body.



Let us know some news tomorrow... If something's broken let's hope it's the battery rather than the grip!



Neopulse said:


> Really bothersome the adverts in the posts made in threads.



I don't see them, I use Firefox with Adblock Plus. 8)


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## paul13walnut5 (May 28, 2013)

Yep, Uk.

Read this funny story re google Ads:

http://m.guardian.co.uk/technology/2013/mar/17/gavin-barwell-date-arab-girls-twitter


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## paul13walnut5 (May 28, 2013)

pierlux said:


> paul13walnut5 said:
> 
> 
> > nope, going to go into calumet tomorrow and hopefully try batts in alt body.
> ...



I hope it's not the 7d body!


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## pierlux (May 28, 2013)

paul13walnut5 said:


> I hope it's not the 7d body!


I think it's neither your 7D nor the grip. But if you want to sleep peacefully tonight, why don't you insert whichever kind of fresh AA-sized batteries in your grip and try right now? Disposable alkalines don't last long, actually only a few minutes shooting LV, but are fine for just running a test.


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## Neopulse (May 28, 2013)

Mt Spokane Photography said:


> Neopulse said:
> 
> 
> > Really bothersome the adverts in the posts made in threads. Well anyways, was going to ask where you purchased the LP-E6s because I recently bought a Canon 5D Mark III and was going to buy 2 spare batteries and of course will want to stray from where you bought them. Amazon? Adorama? B&H?
> ...



Thanks for the welcome. I have been on here once before when I wa looking up the Canon 7D MK II if it was gonna come out or not, which apparently didn't some time ago. well anyways thanks for clearing that up for me. Using Google Chrome at the moment and also glad doesn't affect the US heh. But, wouldn't be the first time a bad batch of batteries went out into the population. Think nikon even had a batch of EN-EL15s that would explode at one point.


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## paul13walnut5 (May 28, 2013)

pierlux said:


> paul13walnut5 said:
> 
> 
> > I hope it's not the 7d body!
> ...



Tried with fresh alkalines, not even enough to power on, but I did get the blinking battery icon on the top lcd.
Took the pack out and the batteries were roasting hot, with an electrical burning smell.

It's still more of a response I got with the lp-e6's.

Put cslumet batt in grip and then in body and all working fine again.

Going to visit calumet this morning to buy new batt and see if Zi can try my lp-e6s in one of their bodies.


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## tpatana (May 28, 2013)

To get batteries hot, you need to draw plenty of current. I wonder if something is shorting... can you check the pins/connections on the grip, if anything looks like bent or something?

In a sense I was thinking if you'd test with NiMHs instead of alkalines, as they can give even higher current. But there's big risk if something has shorted, as that could damage something even further. So I recommend not to try, but try to find out what's wrong.

Can you check all the ports also if there's any pins bent? For card slot you might not be able to see properly, but does it behave same without a card?


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## alexanderferdinand (May 28, 2013)

Causing a smell like this I would not make any more experiments, I would give it to a CPS.


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## paul13walnut5 (May 28, 2013)

No bent pins, same with card in or card out, cheers


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## tpatana (May 28, 2013)

Does the Calumet battery get hot also?

Just a guess here, but maybe the real "better" batteries have protection circuit (like most batteries nowadays), and they'll just shut down then the camera tries to draw too much current. And maybe the 3rd party doesn't have, or the safe limit is higher. Anyway doesn't sound good, and I'm also voting for CPS on this. If you had lab bench power supply, you could check yourself what's the actual current draw, but most people don't have those.


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## optikus (May 28, 2013)

Hi,

for security reasons I would not test anymore -> Canon service. 

What you reported points directly to a short circuit in the grip or in the cameras battery chamber or anywhere in between. 

If batteries become hot in such a short time (primary cells likte the alkalines or NiMH/LiIon accumulators), then there must be MUCH current in the system - too much. And this can seriously cause much more damage as you can imaginge looking at those small parts ... - final consequence might be the explosion of the cells. Kep fingers off and give it to an experienced technician with sufficient instrumentation to examine the problem safe.

Joerg


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## paul13walnut5 (May 28, 2013)

Cheers, going to drop into CPS this morning.


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## pierlux (May 28, 2013)

Hi Paul, I've just switched my PC on at work and checked this thread for news... bad news, indeed.  Sorry to hear this, tpatana, alexanderferdinand and optikus are right, CPS is the only route. Fingers crossed...


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## paul13walnut5 (May 28, 2013)

I can live without the grip, would rather spend money on new spare batteries than a repair. Fingers crossed it's the grip, a pain in the A, but the least costly route.


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## neuroanatomist (May 28, 2013)

tpatana said:


> Does the Calumet battery get hot also?
> 
> Just a guess here, but maybe the real "better" batteries have protection circuit (like most batteries nowadays), and they'll just shut down then the camera tries to draw too much current. And maybe the 3rd party doesn't have, or the safe limit is higher. Anyway doesn't sound good, and I'm also voting for CPS on this. If you had lab bench power supply, you could check yourself what's the actual current draw, but most people don't have those.



+1, that's one reason I stick with OEM batteries. 

Glad you're taking the service route...


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## paul13walnut5 (May 28, 2013)

Well thats it booked in, A J Johnstones who have done good work for me in the past.

Lets hope the estimate keeps it viable.


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## paul13walnut5 (Jun 1, 2013)

£155

Groan, but also slight sigh of relief.

Rebuild grip and rebuild battery chamber of camera with a couple of new boards.

Will also need a ton to replace my cooked LP-E6's (though one might be able to be resuccitated, hopefully)


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## paul13walnut5 (Jul 1, 2013)

Lost both my LP-E6's. But now have working 7D again. Work paying the repair thankfully, and using Hahnel battery (£23) and the calumet one. Might sell the 7D and grip...


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## brad-man (Jul 1, 2013)

paul13walnut5 said:


> Lost both my LP-E6's. But now have working 7D again. Work paying the repair thankfully, and using Hahnel battery (£23) and the calumet one. Might sell the 7D and grip...



Sorry to hear of your misfortune. Were Johnstones able to determine whether there was an internal short in the camera that fried the grip and batteries, or was it the other way around? At least you'll have the 7D for the next joust!


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## paul13walnut5 (Jul 1, 2013)

Fault was in grip, replaced boards, battery chamber and stripped down 7D to check internals for any other damage effects. Back and working!

There's always the jousting again next weekend. Might even take a rainslicker and a pacamac next time! Good day out by the way!


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## adhocphotographer (Jul 1, 2013)

glad it's back and working...


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