EOS 1 battery issues.

Meow7 · Aug 20, 2017

Hi, my EOS1 eats batteries like they are candy. Is it worth looking into to repair or do I just need to suck it up and deal with it? I tried the rechargeable but they are cheap and didn't work. I have the E1 power booster but it's so big.

thanks

Adria

Chan Tran · Aug 20, 2017

It eats batteries when it's off or it eats a lot but only when it's on? I heard of many cameras have battery drain when off. In such case may be simply take the battery out when not using.

Meow7 · Aug 20, 2017

It eats batteries when off. I will try taking the battery out, see if that changes anything.

Thanks

shutterfinger · Aug 20, 2017

Meow7 said:
It eats batteries when off.

Dead Link Removed
Electronics failure, pinched wire(s), stuck switch contacts, battery contacts in the body corroded or shorting out.

ColdEye · Aug 23, 2017

I use eneloops with mine and they last for quite a while. aF all the time with IS too.

Poisson Du Jour · Aug 24, 2017

Replace the lithium button cell (within the camera) that holds the ISO and other set data when the battery is removed (or batteries, plural, in the case of the early version of the power drive booster, if used). Additionally, inspect all circuits for functionality/corrosion, especially the display driver (governs viewfinder and external display information).

This [battery replacement] is a service normally carried out after 5-10 years at Canon, or at the most, when the ISO and custom settings are lost. Additional problems can cause this; Canon has a tool that plugs into the hotshoe to read-off the camera's system. The EOS 1 really should be inspected/serviced; it is now more than 28 years old (first popped up in 1989).

Meow7 · Aug 24, 2017

It has a command back as well. I assume this runs off the button battery as well.

Is the button battery replacement easy-ish?

Poisson Du Jour · Aug 24, 2017

Meow7 said:
It has a command back as well. I assume this runs off the button battery as well.

Is the button battery replacement easy-ish?

The E1 Command Back is powered by its own lithium button cell, and it too lasts a very long time. I have the faithful E1CB in my kit for the EOS1N.

Replacement of the camera's internal battery is a service centre task, as it is soldered into position on a flexible circuit board. But at this time, the lithium button battery replacement is mentioned with some speculation. The EOS1 is, as I mentioned earlier, 28 years old -- who is to say something else is not involved in excessive battery drain?
A full going over is warranted I reckon.

Meow7 · Aug 24, 2017

I was going to contact Photo Tech in NY, but if you folks know anywhere else/better that would be good. I did watch a video on changing a button battery in a T90 which involved solder...

Poisson Du Jour · Aug 25, 2017

Meow7 said:
I was going to contact Photo Tech in NY, but if you folks know anywhere else/better that would be good. I did watch a video on changing a button battery in a T90 which involved solder...

The lovely T90 was well-known for its heavy drain on batteries. Under the skin many of the same circuits carried over to the EOS 1 in 1989.
BTW, the EOS 1 was not weather sealed when it was released; this was addressed, very effectively, with the release of the later 1N (1994). It raises the question that over a long period of time corrosion somewhere in the circuits may have taken hold. We really do not know, hence the recommendation for service.

Meow7 · Aug 25, 2017

I guess many of the EOS film cameras had this issue...

Chan Tran · Aug 25, 2017

I don't think it's rust or something like that but rather the solid state switching devices leak.

Meow7 · Aug 26, 2017

Well I seem to be SOL on finding someone to look at it. Does anyone know of a place that will look at it?

E. von Hoegh · Aug 26, 2017

Chan Tran said:
I don't think it's rust or something like that but rather the solid state switching devices leak.

More likely aged capacitors, or possibly something seeped onto a circuit board and is providing a leakage path

Meow7 · Aug 26, 2017

I ordered a Juice charger and battery, we'll see how that works. I did not have luck with another brand charger and battery. Or I just load up on batteries, ugh.

vlasta · Aug 27, 2017

Try with battery pack BP-E1. Chip and uses 4 x 1.5v AA batteries.

flatulent1 · Aug 27, 2017

Meow7 said:
Well I seem to be SOL on finding someone to look at it. Does anyone know of a place that will look at it?

Contact Steve Sweringen at the Camera Clinic. He fixed my EOS 1 when it needed a new dial on the back. He's also CLA'd one or two T90s for me. He does good work for a reasonable price.

Poisson Du Jour · Aug 27, 2017

From a long-ago memory, I seem to have something that says rechargeable and lithium batteries cannot be used in the first generation power drive booster that was released with the EOS 1. When the EOS1N and power driver booster E1 (second generation) was released, it was freely able to take rechargeable, lithium or alkaline batteries. Very high capacity ENELOOP NiMH batteries are good (2,500mAH), but these batteries are quite beefy and heavy, and thus add substantially more weight than other batteries to the already heavy EOS 1/1N+ PDB; definitely enough for me to lose interest in with 8 hefty batteries on board!

flatulent1 · Aug 27, 2017

I've had no problems using AA lithium in any of my cameras, including the EOS 1 and the T90.

I assume the OP is burning through 2CR5 batteries? Could it be that she bought some past their pull date? I did that exact thing a few years ago; batteries lasted not long at all, I only discovered the pull date on the packaging as I was opening my third one. Bought them from a well-known online store and didn't think to check the date when they arrived. Live and learn, I suppose...

Hatchetman · Aug 27, 2017

My monster zoom eats the battery like crazy. The nifty fifty lasts forever.

ronwhit · Aug 29, 2017

I have both an EOS 630 and a 650. Both seem to eat those 2CR5's in a short period of time, even when turned off and sitting in a camera bag. Other than that they perform well and are fully functional. Given that I paid $22.00 total for the two of them, I'll resort to the old battery removal trick when they are idle.

Poisson Du Jour · Aug 29, 2017

ronwhit said:
I have both an EOS 630 and a 650. Both seem to eat those 2CR5's in a short period of time, even when turned off and sitting in a camera bag. Other than that they perform well and are fully functional. Given that I paid $22.00 total for the two of them, I'll resort to the old battery removal trick when they are idle.

All EOS bodies use a small amount of power when turned off.
The 2CR5 batteries are a very poor power choice. It is much better to jump up to the power drive booster or AA battery pack, even at the expense of weight.

ronwhit · Aug 29, 2017

Poisson, I am not aware of a power drive booster or AA battery pack for the EOS 630/650. Do you have a model or part number of such an accessory? Thanks, ronwhit.

vsyrek1945 · Aug 29, 2017

ronwhit said:
I have both an EOS 630 and a 650. Both seem to eat those 2CR5's in a short period of time, even when turned off and sitting in a camera bag. Other than that they perform well and are fully functional. Given that I paid $22.00 total for the two of them, I'll resort to the old battery removal trick when they are idle.

The LCD display illumination circuit on the EOS 620/630/600 was the source of battery drain, and you can probably still find an internet article about a DIY "fix" that disconnects the backlight.

Aha! I found it: Dead Link Removed

It took me about 20 minutes each to do two 620 bodies I had (I bought the second when I found the first one ran down its 2CR5 in less than a month sitting idle,only to find out it did the same), after which I eBayed one. I don't miss the LCD illumination, especially since the battery I put in my 620 two years ago still tests good.

Haven't heard anything about battery drain in the 650, though . . . . .

PS: Can we get the Pophoto website on the Wayback Machine?

Poisson Du Jour · Aug 29, 2017

ronwhit said:
Poisson, I am not aware of a power drive booster or AA battery pack for the EOS 630/650. Do you have a model or part number of such an accessory? Thanks, ronwhit.

No alternative battery source over the 2CR5 is available for those two EOS bodies, and this applies to all cameras prior to the EOS 1 and later 1N, when battery packs and drive boosters became available as options.
A side note worth mentioning is none of the bodies prior to the EOS 1 / were optimised for use with Canon's L-series lenses, and this resulted in grievances over excessive power drain. Even the use of the first generation non-L-series image stabilisation (IS) 75-300 lens (c. 1995) screwed 2CR5 batteries!

EOS 1 battery issues.

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