300d battery problem or me being silly?

Matty · 02-05-2005, 21:26

I got a BGE1 for the 300d, i bought it and got a couple of batteries chucked in, the batteries were dead flat, so i havent bothered to use them, i have 2 of my own, now the problem is that i was out shooting yesterday, put the battery on to charge, took it off when the light was solid red, then it ran out this morning after about 20 mins use. When i try to charge it it goes like this...red light flashes every second for about 5 secs, then it double flashes for about 5 secs, then it goes solid, all in the space of about 30 secs, all 3 batteries that i have that have been in the grip now do this, the 4th battery is fine, wtf is going on???? :cry:

CT · 02-05-2005, 21:36

That doesn't sound at all right mate. I've been out shooting with mine today and I haven't charged the batteries for 3 weeks, plus they've seen a lot use in between. The batteries charge quick - but not THAT quick! Defective charger?

Matt · 02-05-2005, 21:39

The batteries are not fully charged when you get the solid light, you are supposed to leave them for a few hours to trickle charge before use.

Matty · 02-05-2005, 21:43

yeah i knew i had to leave them to trickle, says 90 mins in the book, but its the time its taking to get to that point that worrying me, its only since its been in the grip that its done it, im assuming the other 2 were used in it too and its having an adverse affect. I think a snotogram to Canon might be the way forward.....

Matt · 02-05-2005, 22:08

Are all of the batteries Canon batteries, did you buy this (battery grip) new or used?

Matty · 02-05-2005, 22:58

the grip is used, but you wouldnt know it to look at it, not a mark anywhere..the one batterie that i have been using is a canon battery, i have 3 non canon batteries, the only one that doesnt seem ruined is a non canon,

silkstone · 02-05-2005, 22:59

Doesn't sound right to me either. Have you put a meter across the battery? When fully charged, the BP-511 should read about 8.2V under no load.

I'm not absolutely sure what the other two contacts (labelled B and D) are for. One of them may be for a thermistor to sense temperature while charging. AFAIK the camera and battery grip use only the + and - contacts.

Unless there's a fault in the grip which is causing the batteries to overload and fail (do they get hot?), all I can suggest is to ignore the red light and leave them on charge for a few hours.

Matty · 02-05-2005, 23:07

all 4 read approx 7.6volts, the canon battery now shows fully charged on onthe camera LCD, but i dont know how to check its charge with a multimeter, its been on for over 2 hours..

Matt · 02-05-2005, 23:21

You aren't mixing canon with none canon batteries in the grip are you?

Steep · 02-05-2005, 23:31

It doesn't matter wether he does mix them, I certainly do and have never had a problem, I reckon it's just that they needed a long trickle charge, try leaving a 'bad' one on overnight.

Matty · 02-05-2005, 23:31

i will leave them overnight and see what occurs....

Matt · 02-05-2005, 23:36

It does matter if they have different power ratings.

Matty · 02-05-2005, 23:38

i have 3 with the rating of 7.4v 1300.mah and the 1 canon, the canon is 1100mah i believe....

Matty · 03-05-2005, 14:23

spoke to canon, they tell me the battery grip is fubar. If its under warrenty they will do it for free. trouble is i dont have the original receipt......

dod · 03-05-2005, 14:52

Not so good

. Any comeback on the seller?

Matty · 03-05-2005, 16:24

dunno yet, have emailed him....

Matty · 03-05-2005, 21:50

being not convinced the grip was the issue, i had a good look at the charger too, seems the leftmost contact sticks down so its not contacting the battery properly, i reckon this is the problem!

TerraS · 03-05-2005, 22:04

Mine does this too!

If I put that battery on and it goes to the solid red straight away (after 5 seconds or so), I take it off and put it on again. I do this four times. If its the same result after 4 goes then it is definitely charged. But what usually happens is that it will realise that it's not charged and charge it up properly (i.e. with red flashing lights).