Camera is draining batteries, even when off

[Raymond]

How come? And how do I get it to stop doing that?

It’s a Canon A720, purchased October 2007. It’s been great, I carry it with me all the time, but now it’s causing me distress.

After experiencing dead batteries just about every time I’ve tried to use it for the last week or two, I finally figured out that it must be that the camera is draining them, even when it isn’t turned on.

I charged some batteries yesterday and checked them with a battery tester. The needle wasn’t pinned at the full-charge end of the scale, but it was pretty close. Ten hours later, I went to turn on the camera, and nuthin’. Deadsville.

I don’t get it.

It may or may not be a coincidence that last week, from one day to the next, the AC adapter I’ve been using for years (when the camera is attached to the computer, or I’m reviewing the day’s pictures while on vacation) suddenly stopped working. The camera can be running on battery power, but if I plug in the adapter, the camera immediately turns off. I tried the adapter on my ladyfriend, Susan’s, camera (identical to mine, but it’s sat unused in its box for 2½ years because she has some kind of mental block about using it), and it wouldn’t work with the adapter, either, although it turned on right away with the batteries that have probably been inside it all this time. So it has to be the adapter that is no good in this case, not the camera’s jack.

The adapter, by the way, is just a generic one, not a Canon. It came with about a half dozen different plugs, so it could work with a variety of devices. I’m not even sure where the other plugs are, because I only use it for my camera.

Now that I think about it, the camera often turned itself off while I was using the adapter, so maybe the adapter was wearing out the last several months anyway, and its breaking wasn’t as sudden as I thought. But that still doesn’t explain why the batteries keep losing their power overnight, so why is it happening and what can I do about it?

 

[Grumpy]

I'd look first at my (rechargeable) batteries. They do wear out eventually.

The rapid discharge syndrome and inability to hold a charge you describe is exactly how camera battery packs that I've used have tended to behave at the end of their usable lives.

G.

 

[Raymond]

I’m not sure.

That may be the case with the oldest of the batteries, the Panasonics, but I also have rechargeable Duracells and Energizers, purchased more recently. The same thing (quickly dying in the camera) has been happening with all of them.

Usually, if the batteries are low in pwer, the camera will come on with a musical bl-l-ling! and then turn off, with a message appearing on the view screen that informs me to Change the batteries.

What’s been happening anymore is that the camera is just stone cold dead. Absolutely nothing happens.

Yesterday, it was four Energizers that were recharged. The pair left in the camera overnight were dead this morning, the pair in the camera bag were still alive. And I didn’t even get a low-battery warning signal from them, either, when I inserted them into the camera. But during this morning’s walk, I was so spooked that I would take a picture or four, then remove the batteries until the next time I wanted to take a picture.

The batteries — the Duracells and Energizers, anyway — have been working all right in my GPS (which I use even during walks around my neighborhood just to keep track of how far I go), and it seems like the GPS must use more power than the camera, as it’s constantly on. A pair of the Panasonics lasted a long time in the GPS just recently, probably for a week or more.

When I get back to Susan’s house tonight I’ll use that battery tester to make sure the batteries really are completely dead.

 

[DougPaul]

If the same problem occurs with several sets of batteries, then the problem is probably not the batteries. (BTW, a generic battery tester cannot tell you the state of charge or the capacity of an NiMH cell. The only thing it can reliably tell you is if a cell is currently discharged.) You could also have a bad charger and are not fully charging any of your NiMH batteries.

When NiMH batteries get old, their capacity and charge retention times tend to go down, but they may still test full right after charging. You could test the battery capacity by putting them in a GPS, resetting the trip computer (zero out the trip time) and letting it run until it shuts down. Put some charged batteries in and read the trip time. Or put them in an incandescent (not LED) flashlight and see how long they run. These tests aren't perfect--flashlights and GPSes tend to less current than a camera (which draws short bursts of high current)--but they are easy to do with gear that you already have.

The problem could be in the camera. The camera most likely has a software on-off button. (That is, software reads the button press and turns the camera on and off.) Thus the camera is always on, but in a low current mode when "off". It is possible that something is wrong with the on-off function.

Check and clean your contacts.


You seem to have two of most of the parts of the chain. You should be able to isolate the offender by swapping parts. (For the batteries, you could also try a new set of alkalines. Put them in and see how long they last with the camera turned off. Just don't take any pictures with them because that will drain the alkalines fairly rapidly.)

Doug

 

[Grumpy]

If your camera runs on AA batteries, why not try a set of non-rechargeable cells to see what happens? If it is the camera draining the batteries, it will flatten the non-rechargeable set quickly, just like what is happening to the rechargeables. If it doesn't, then look at the batteries.

G.

 

[LivesToHike]

batteries...

I had the same problem with my Canon SX10 SI - and my brother had the same problem with a Canon SX3 SI. We both thought it was the camera - we were both dead wrong. I left the batteries out of the camera. The next time I tried to load and use the batteries in my camera - pushing daisies!

 

[Raymond]

Some good tips here, thanks very much.

 

[WinterWarlock]

I had an older Canon film camera that did the same thing...turned out there was a short in the camera itself that drained the batteries overnight. It ended up being less expensive to buy a new camera than fix that one.

 

[Raymond]

Where did you get the camera checked to learn that, W.W.?

My ladyfriend has adamantly refused to use her own camera, which is identical to mine; she keeps telling me that it’s a replacement if anything happens to mine.

I guess something has happened to mine, but I hate to throw in the towel without knowing for sure that it’s broken.

 

[WinterWarlock]

Where did you get the camera checked to learn that, W.W.?

My ladyfriend has adamantly refused to use her own camera, which is identical to mine; she keeps telling me that it’s a replacement if anything happens to mine.

I guess something has happened to mine, but I hate to throw in the towel without knowing for sure that it’s broken.

Here in Rochester, NY is a great camera shop - Rowe Photo. They do repairs, so I took it in, and they determined it was a short. Not sure were you are, but I'm sure a high end camera shop (is it Hunt's Photo near Boston?) would do the same for you.

 

[DougPaul]

It should be pretty easy to check for a short in the camera. Just measure the current when the camera is off. Should be less than ~1 mA unless something is wrong.

Doug

 

[Raymond]

I’m sorry to say I have no idea how to measure the current of a camera.

 

[DougPaul]

I’m sorry to say I have no idea how to measure the current of a camera.

You put a current meter in series with the batteries. Since the camera in question uses AA batteries, you should be able to get to the end of at least one cell to connect the meter.

Current meters (ammeters) have ranges which need to be set correctly to take a meaningful measurement.

It isn't hard, but if you don't understand the above, perhaps you should get help from someone who does or do the test described below.


An indirect way of measuring the above is to put a fresh set of alkaline batteries (test them with your tester to verify them if you wish) in the camera, leave the camera turned off, and after a day or so test the batteries with your tester or by trying to turn the camera on. Your battery tester is probably reasonably accurate for alkaline cells (but not for NiMH cells). If the camera passes this test, then put good batteries in, turn it on for a few moments, turn it off, wait the day, and test the batteries. (The first test checks the current drain of the initial off state and the second checks the software switch to see if it can turn off after being on.)

If either of these tests fail, then the camera draws excessive current when turned off and may have a short circuit. If so, it is likely that it will be cheaper to replace than repair.

Doug

 

[sli74]

I have a Canon A720 as well that I bought at the end of 2007. It is doing the exact same thing described here. We have tried every kind of battery and it drains it in hours. I actually came on VFTT tonight and searched for cameras because we need to replace this battery draining camera. The search brough up this thread. I wonder if there is something up with the Canon A720 cameras?

sli74

 

[David Metsky]

I wonder if there is something up with the Canon A720 cameras?

No, it's a coincidence. There is a failure mode in digital cameras, where an internal short causes batteries to drain. It happens to a lot of different models.

Unfortunately, the features of the A720 are hard to replace with today's cameras. There's no direct replacement, unfortunately. If you can live without the manual controls there are some really good cameras out there. What is important to you?

 

[Raymond]

I hope you’re right, Dave, because I just tonight switched to my ladyfriend, Susan’s, camera, also an A720. It’s been pretty much unused the last 2½ years, but I tired of removing the batteries from mine after every picture.

My son and I will be heading to the Adirondacks in two weeks, and I’m hoping I at least don’t have to worry about the camera.

 

[DougPaul]

I hope you’re right, Dave, because I just tonight switched to my ladyfriend, Susan’s, camera, also an A720. It’s been pretty much unused the last 2½ years, but I tired of removing the batteries from mine after every picture.

My son and I will be heading to the Adirondacks in two weeks, and I’m hoping I at least don’t have to worry about the camera.

A particular design may be prone to certain types of failure but that does not mean that it will happen on any individual unit.

In other words, you might as well use the second A720 for as long as it works. It is up to you whether you want to purchase a camera as similar to the A720 as possible now (while they are still available) or wait for the second camera to fail (which may or may not happen). In any case, you can use the first A720 as a backup if the second fails in some way that prevents you from taking pictures.

FWIW: Canon P&Ses:
http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/controller?act=ProductCatIndexAct&fcategoryid=113
Reviews:
http://www.imaging-resource.com/MFR1.HTM?view=Canon_reviews

Doug

 

[sli74]

We decided to replace our A720 with a A1100IS. It has everything we need except the manual controls. Hopefully it was a good decision. Guess we could always get yet another one after we save up the money.

We need

optical viewfinder
AA batteries
lightweight
takes great pictures

Brian would have preferred manual controls so he isn't thrilled with my choice of purchase but I needed to make a quick decision and I found the 1100IS for less than $150 and bought it.

If, as Dave says, it isn't something with the A720, then maybe we will buy another A720 in the future.

sli74