I think I fried my Canon Powershot A630 **FIXED - thanks Nitroz!!!**

[bullfrog]

Hi all, not sure if this should be in the battery section (but it pertains to a digicam) so mods please feel free to move...

Anyway, I have had a Canon Powershot A630 for the past year - absolutely love the camera and the fact that it runs on AAs is a huge bonus to me.

Well, like an idiot, I ran my perfectly good and high quality NIMH 2400mah AAs all the way down a few weeks ago (it told me low battery but I still kept shooting away) and now whenever I put brand new AAs in (whether they be NIMH, Alkaline, or Lithium) my camera says "change the batteries" then I get about 2 shots and it dies. Does this sound logical?

Is there anyway to fix this or did I destroy a perfectly good camera because I ran rechargeables too low?

This is above my electronic/battery/circuitry pay-grade to fully understand...

Thanks in advance for your answers!

 

[PhotonBoy]

Re: I think I fried my Canon Powershot A630 - any hope?

My Canon camera uses 4 AA cells, plus has a coin cell battery to retain settings. If your camera is similar, it's possible the coin cell battery is dead too. JMHO.

 

[Nitroz]

Re: I think I fried my Canon Powershot A630 - any hope?

Try to clean the battery contacts on the camera with an eraser. Make sure you clean the contacts at the top of the camera also. Good Luck!

 

[FrostyCoke]

Re: I think I fried my Canon Powershot A630 - any hope?

Hi bullfrog,

I am using the same camera as yours and I am loving it till now. I have a few very dumb questions. Please forgive my stupidity.

I am surprise that your camera has battery indicator. I have to use CHDK to get that function and plus others.

Lithium? Can Canon Powershot A630 accept lithiums? If yes then its good news for me. All these while I thought my camera can only run NiMH. Care to recommend me some lithium batteries (rechargeable). I cant seem to find any 1.5V rechargeable. Thanks

Regards.

 

[Nitroz]

Re: I think I fried my Canon Powershot A630 - any hope?

Lithium? Can Canon Powershot A630 accept lithiums? If yes then its good news for me. All these while I thought my camera can only run NiMH. Care to recommend me some lithium batteries (rechargeable). I cant seem to find any 1.5V rechargeable. Thanks

Regards.

Whatever you do don't use lithiums in your A630, besides Canon does not recommend them anyway.

 

[FrostyCoke]

Re: I think I fried my Canon Powershot A630 - any hope?

Nitroz,

Thanks for the advise. Ya I read and reread the manual and there is no mentioning about lithium at all. Thanks again.

Regards.

 

[bullfrog]

Re: I think I fried my Canon Powershot A630 - any hope?

Whatever you do don't use lithiums in your A630, besides Canon does not recommend them anyway.

Thanks for all the responses so far guys - hopefully later tonight I will be able to fool around with it.

As far as lithiums, I only tried them in the camera when I was troubleshooting to see if ANY batteries would work after the initial issue. I had used the Energizer Ultimate Lithium AAs - NON RECHARGEABLE.

But would it be a logical assumption that I could have fried my camera by running the NIMHs down too low??? Or is it definitely something else?

 

[Nitroz]

Re: I think I fried my Canon Powershot A630 - any hope?

[/B] Or is it definitely something else?

This is a known problem with this Canon and you should be able to resolve it hopefully. Make sure all the metal tabs on the bottom of the battery door and securely attached and clean those aswell as the others inside the camera with a brand new pencils eraser.

 

[bullfrog]

Re: I think I fried my Canon Powershot A630 - any hope?

This is a known problem with this Canon and you should be able to resolve it hopefully. Make sure all the metal tabs on the bottom of the battery door and securely attached and clean those aswell as the others inside the camera with a brand new pencils eraser.

Well all I can say is holy shi*t!!!

After a week of trying to fix the little guy I just tried the pencil eraser and IT WORKS!!! Just spend 10 minutes running the flash and its just like it never had issues. I honestly can't believe what a simple fix this was.

Nitroz, what can I say, you are the man! Greatly appreciate your time and help!!! What is the secret behind this?

Everybody else who responded - thank you as well!

I really love this place

 

[Nitroz]

Re: I think I fried my Canon Powershot A630 - any hope?

Well all I can say is holy shi*t!!!

Nitroz, what can I say, you are the man! Greatly appreciate your time and help!!! What is the secret behind this?

I really love this place

You're very welcome!

No secret, it's just oxidation on the contacts. This happens with our beloved flashlights also.

If the problem comes back again and the eraser does not do the trick, you can also hit the contacts with a very fine grit peice of sandpaper.

 

[Osprey_Guy]

Until recently I had been been using a Canon a620 for the past several years and it's been a truly terrific camera! I had previously been using a Nikon 8700, which in 2004 was arguably the best in its class...but at the time I was just beginning to learn a little about photography and the 8700 was really too much camera for me. After one year I sold it (recouped all my money) and I "traded down" to the a620...and I never once regretted the decision. For what it's worth, I always used Energizer Lithium disposables. Never a problem.

I recently decided it was time to trade up... and one of my primary prereq's was that the camera had to have an articulating screen (like the a620, and the 8700). I've gotten so spoiled that I can't even imagine using a camera that didn't have the swing-out lcd. After a lot of research I wound up with the Canon SX10 iS...and damn... I friggin' love this camera!! And like the a620 before it...I only use Energizer Lithium disposables.

D-

 

[Nitroz]

That's good to know.:thumbsup:

Frostycoke said rechargeable lithiums above, and I did not want anyone to think they could use the AA lithiums that are 3.7v each.