Erroneous Low Battery Indication on Canon Powershot A560

Thanks for the URL. I love that little camera, but not knowing the real battery life is crazy. I bought the camera so when I went into the water(I'm an avid, year 'round fly fisherman)i wouldn't have to risk falling in with my EOS 30D and $2000.00 worth of lenses on my back. The A560 fits nicely in my vest pocket!! I will try that website and see what happens. Thanks again for taking the time to write back!!!.............Bob

If you do try that solution, would you please give us a report.
It sounds interesting but a bit complex.
I would like to hear your experience.

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My thoughts exactly! I'm going to re-read the instructions six or eight more times and then decide. I will definitely report on the outcome......stickmann

Has worked great for about one year using rechargeables or regular alkaline, hundreds of photos before recharging. Suddenly, I only get about 10-15 photos, or worse. It doesn't matter if I use rechargeables or brand new (sealed package, different brands) alkalines.

Sometimes I place new batteries in, and still see the low battery warning. Testing the batteries shows full voltage. Sometimes just opening the battery case seems to fix the problem, at least for a while.

I plan to call Canon, but something is wrong here.

Thanks for your post. I've tried cleaning all the contacts with a clean eraser, but that does not seem to help. I'm now going to move on to the "toothpick trick", which I've read about in various forums. I think the idea here is to make sure that the contacts have a greater chance of touching the batteries. We'll see how that works, and I'll post my findings here.

Again, it's really unfortunate that Canon is not acknowledging this problem despite the fact that so many people are reporting the same issue on a variety of cameras with a similar battery door in various forums.

I've tried the "toothpick trick" as described in other forums, and it seems to be working. There is a belief that there is a design flaw with the battery compartment door, or the springs that press against the battery. By wedging a toothpick under the battery contacts, it seems to force the contacts into the battery, seemingly helping with the problem that many are facing in this and other forums.

Since applying the toothpicks to my Canon, I've not seen the low battery indicator, regardless of the type of battery I am using.

Really a shame that Canon will not acknowledge this flaw and help their users. When I called Canon they said they know of no such issues, but judging by the number of users in this and other forums, it is quite hard to believe that they have not heard. Perhaps we're not complaining loud enough!

-michael

I brought my A530 2 years ago & It produced excellent pictures!
But about 1/2 year ago, it started giving me the "low battery" signal all the time! I brought 3 sets of recharger, couple sets of 2700mA rechargeable batteries from Japan & ... never worked!
After I saw this "toothpick trick". I inserted trimmed-to-thin-slice toothpick under the 2 battery' metal contacts on the lid & the problem fixed! Thank you!

I've been reading everywhere about the toothpick trick, but I haven't been able to find actual information about how to do it. Could someone please send me the link?
I've been googling and gooling!

I did some research on this and this suggestion from another user might be easier than the toothpick idea. I could not find any pictures but I think the explaination is fairly easily stated.
I can tell you that I have contacted Canon customer service and have gotten my AS570 IS replaced along with my fiance who has the same camera. The new AS590 they gave us seems to work fine - the alkaline batteries that came with the camera lasted about 3 weeks!
I hope this helps you fix your problem, but don't be afraid to contact Canon and complain loudly! You know that a bad customer will tell many people about their bad experiences and Canon will loose business so its only in their best interest to make you a happy customer.

Here is the suggestion:

I expected the battery compartment cover and I believe the design of the metal electrical contacts is flawed. These acontacts re made of springy metal, but there isn't enough force to press the metal securely against the battery. Even worse, the end of each contact has a metal tab that prevents it from being bent further out to increase the tension. I believe these contacts are the cause of the low-battery warning.

I fixed my camera by inserting tiny pieces of plastic foam (i.e., spongy, like from "foam rubber" pillows) under the metal contacts. I used a small screwdriver to gently bend up each metal strip, and stuffed a small piece of foam under it. This provides enough force to keep the contact securely touching the battery. Since I made this fix, I have power-cycled the camera at least two dozen times, and never once did the low-battery warning come on. In other words, I believe the problem is fixed.

I have had this 'low battery' alarm issue on my 570IS, and seem to have fixed it by inserting some thin cardbox under the electrical contacts of the battery cover (a variant of the now famous toothstick trick!)
Thank you for all the participants of this forum!

Cheers

Mikado141

Has anyone successfully gotten Canon to fix the low battery warning in a Powershot camera? If so, what was the cost? If it is more than about 50US, it is hardly worth it. I had been looking at the Rebel XTi and XS as a step up, but after this experience, I'm not so sure about Canon anymore. Feedback appreciated.

Regards,
Steve Diggs, W4EPI

I got a new 590IS (replaced my 570 IS) after talking with Canon customer service and them realizing that I had sent my camera in 3 times the previous year for complaints. I did this under the 1 year warranty time but had contacted customer service after the 1 year time expired. I also got them to replace my fiance's 570IS that was experiencing the same issue.
The 590IS ran over 3 weeks on the first set of Alkaline batteries they sent with the camera. I have since been using Canon NiMH batteries I got from them during one of the service repairs. They don't seem to last the same 3 weeks but I'm still experimenting to see if this is a contact issue or a battery life issue.
When I had checked the battery voltage on the 570IS it seemed to be about 1.37 volts but all I can think is that Canon has some minimum level that is probably set too high in the software within the camera that trips the low battery warning. Something is monitoring the batteries (either voltage or current draw).

To my surprise, the toothpick trick worked on my A530. All of a sudden I started getting a "Change the batteries" message recently, when I knew the batteries were fully charged.
Here is how I did the toothpick trick: I found a flat, rectangular toothpick in the box. It was different that most, in that it wasn't square. That made it thinner to start out with. After several tries, I found I had to split it with my Exacto knife and make it thinner yet. I cut off a piece about 1/8 inch long and split that into two thinner pieces. Next I found the two lever type metal areas under the battery door that each make contact with a battery. Using a hemostat (very, very small pliers would work) I forced the toothpick piece under each lever. This acts as a shim to force the lever outward from the battery door bottom. Keep in mind that you have to shim both levers, not just one. I put my two good NiMH batteries back in, closed the door, and problem fixed! Now for the interesting part...
Just for grins, I put new two alkaline batteries I had in the A530, and the problem returns! I check the alkaline batteries next to the NiMH batteries standing up on a level surface, and sure enough the alkaline is 3/32 inches shorter. So the problem is a combination of things: the battery contact lever on the underside of the door is getting compressed over time and is not recovering, plus some AA batteries are shorter than others. There has to be a more elegant solution to the problem, but it definitely works.

Regards,
Steve Diggs, W4EPI

I bought a A560 off Ebay and tried every kind of battery you can imagine. I was lucky if I could even take one picture before it would shut off because low battery. Frigging joke actually.
So, I saw here on CNET people talking about the tooth pick trick. I didn't find it anywhere on the WEB, so with my years in the electronic business decided that it couldn't be to difficult.
I just took one round toothpick and shaved it down on both sides to make it flat and very thin, then inserted it directly under the battery contact under the battery compartment lid. I will rephrase that. When you open the battery compartment the lid has two contacts that connect the negative and positive side of the two batteries you see. You will notice if you touch them they move very easily. The metal doesn't have enough spring to it, so by placing a very small piece of a toothpick under each contact, it provides a much more better contact. Yes, it sounds stupid, but it works.
I'm going to post pictures of what I did for others to see here at:
http://crwifi.com/canon-a560
The pictures are self explanatory less the two toothpick photos.
The first is shot from above picture of the end of the toothpick after slimming it down with a sharp knife. Doesn't do it justice actually. The second picture I rotated the toothpick so you can see how skinny I made it. The other pictures will show you where to insert the toothpick and how long to cut them.
All in all this takes 10 minutes and works great.
BTW, don't make the toothpick to thick and force it in place. If you do the compartment lid won't close correctly. If you get it just right, they will stay in place and the lid will close if you apply a little down pressure on it while closing.

Hope this helps!!


Low and behold it work

Hey your link is broken -- the pictures would be useful.

But I did try the toothpick sliver. Couldn't get it to work (too fat? Slice or squish to get it tiny.) But the contacts got raised. Changed batteries -- works now.

The SIZE (length) of the batteries also affects it apparently (contact problem again).

This DROVE ME CRAZY. I have a A560 that worked fine for a couple years and then started eating batteries like a guy watching football with a bag of M&Ms.

Love the internets. Thanks all.

Hello! I live in Russia and what I did for a few last months it was fighting with Canon Power Shot A 610 camera(disassemble-clean-assemble and so on). It was long and hurd straggle, but it seemed to be over.. I assembled it, and when this Low Battery Problem came...I thought my mind would be destroyed, but I already had a strenght to proseed 'till the end... So, iI found nothing about this problem on our sites, and whan went to English-and found this theme. Now, about a decigion - I simply turned up these little metal teeth on "-" contacts on the battery cover!!(Using a little screwdriver).The matter is-the battery cant reach the "-" contacts! It is not Firmware problem or somethin'!! It is as simle as possible! Try it! Please tell everyone who needs!

My daughters Canon PowerShot A560 had the same problem, displaying low battery even thought i checked and confirmed that the batteries were in good condition. Instead of using the tooth pick trick i read about in other postings, I actually pulled out the supporting legs of the battery contacts that are on the battery door. For each battery contact one end is part of a one piece metal plate and the opposite end is floating. I gently pulled the floating end of the contact/legs out of their original location using my finger nail. The floating legs then rest on top of the plate creating a protruding surface. Once i did that the contacts put more pressure on the batteries when closing the lid. Basically same concept as using the toothpick trick, minus the toothpick. Hope this helps

I slid the tookpick underneath the battery contacts and they lifted immediately. I thought I broke the arm, they now will not go back down BUT.......the battery indicator has not come back and the power stays on.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. It's been two years since we have used the Powershot A560 because of the low battery problem.

Sorry to have to say that my ?solution? didn?t work! After only 28 days/37 photos the batteries are totally flat. Think I?ll just resort to having 2 sets of batteries, one set in camera and the other always charged up and ready for use. Not really a satisfactory answer, but authorized repair is too expensive and may not find/fix the problem in any case. A newer model Canon doesn?t seem to be the answer either, as I note similar complaints about them here as well as on dpreview.com.

Rechargeable batteries lose, at least, 1% of their charge per day. The time you have the LCD on makes a difference too. How much was the LCD on when you took those shots during that time. I charge my batteries for my point and shoot each time before I go out. I don't expect them to be very potent after a week or two.

Thanks for your advice Kalel33. I am a very careful user of camera batteries! I take almost all of my photos using the viewfinder and keep the LCD closed/off except for a few seconds to quickly view images I?ve just taken. I take most of my photos outdoors so seldom use flash, and I never leave the camera on after I?ve taken photos. I also use a 15 hour/slow charger, supposedly safer than quick chargers; and always fully exhaust the batteries before recharging ? a holdover precaution from the days of NiCad batteries.

I have also kept very accurate records of my battery usage so can say with full confidence that my set of rechargeable Energizer 2500mha NiMH?s started out by taking 419 images over 5+ months before needing to be recharged. The next recharge cycle was 304 images/5+ months, then 283 images/3+ months, then 261 images/3 months, then 279 images/47days, then 149 images/47 days, then 61/54, then 103/35, then 47/32 and finally, 37/28.

From this you can plainly see that the number of images and duration times between recharges was great to start with, but steadily decreased, first gradually and then very quickly. From 419 images over more than 5 months to just 37 images in less than a month now!

Of course the batteries, the charger, or the camera could be the cause of this deterioration, so I first tried a brand new set of Eveready SHD alkalines. They lasted for only 61 images and 23 days, proving to me that the problem must be the camera. But ever hopeful, I?m now trying a brand new set of rechargables. We shall see?

Well, for anyone still interested in this matter I am happy to say I was WRONG! I had reached the conclusion that the camera was at fault because it had also failed with 2 sets of alkaline batteries. But the new set of rechargables I installed on 13 November has proved that the low battery problem was not a camera problem! They have now been in the camera for a month and produced 325 images - so far ? and still no low battery warning. During this same period the original set of rechargables was sitting, recharged and uninstalled, in my desk drawer. When I checked them this morning 3 of the 4 were still reading about 1.3 volts but the 4th one had dropped all the way down to 1.0 volts. I charged them up again and all retuned to about 1.4 volts but I?m pretty sure the 4th one will discharge itself again. So the problem has turned out to be just one defective/leaky battery! I sure am glad I didn?t send the camera in for factory service!!