Canon Battery Charger CG-580

[willscarlett]

I just got back from Europe and I had my 5D with me. I have the CG-580 battery charger and had that there with me last year as well. The

back of the charger says it takes voltage inputs of 100V-240V. Last year, I charged my batteries in Italy and Switzerland, without incident,

just by using an adapter to make the sockets match, but no voltage conversion of any kinds. This year also went fine in Italy, but I started

encountering some weird problems in Switzerland. For example, I would plug a battery in to charge it and the charge light would blink once

for a while and then stop altogether - if you unplugged and then plugged it back in, the cycle repeated. No matter how long it was left it, the

batteries never charged and the empty battery light always flashed if one of these batteries were put into the camera. Even when I got to

hotels with american voltage, they still wouldn't charge, as they won't back here in the states.

 

So I'm just wondering... should I have used a voltage conversion adapter or was this just a fluke thing? My Power Book and iPod charged

fine without the need for a voltage conversion adapter. Do people think the batteries are gone, the charger is gone or both?

[michael_ziegler2]

You might have a bad battery. Did the process work when you got home? I have seen had that occur at home and ultimately replaced the battery.

[rainer_t]

John, what you write simply means that your battery has reached end of life. All modern chargers that have indications like yours (100V-240V / 50hz-60Hz) charge batteries without any problems when connected to the different voltages.

[willscarlett]

Michael - no, the charing process did not work when I got home.

 

Rainer - wow, those batteries only last a year. Dead already?

 

Thanks for the input, guys!

[bluphoto]

I've travelled extensively and one thing I've noted about continental sockets is that many of them are horribly loose

and make poor connections.

 

In some cases, I've had to try four or five sockets before I found one that made a decent connections.

[bluphoto]

Of course, if it still didn't work when you got it home, then it's unlikely to be the socket or adapter, unless you have a broken wire in the cable.

[rainer_t]

-- "wow, those batteries only last a year. Dead already?"

 

I have three batteries for my camera. Each of them is nearly 4 years old now. They certainly don't have the original capacity any more, nevertheless, when freshly charged each of tehm is good for 300 to 400 images.

 

But this doesn't mean, that a certain battery cannot be dead after a single year.

[sbp]

John: i moved to Italy about two years ago with several CG-580 chargers purchased in the USA. They all work fine here, and in

other countries in which we work. Unless you have a faulty charger, i agree with all above that your battery is probably shot.

[willscarlett]

So I went out this morning and bought a new battery and proceeded to charge it with my current charger and the same thing

happened as with my older batteries. I went back to the photo shop in town with my batteries and told them what happened

and they said they'd try charging my new and old batteries with their chargers and guess what? They all charged, so I

bought a new charger. Wonder how my old one went bad tho?

[freelance]

Do not feel guilty for not having used the adapter in Europe. No need. The problem may come from the batteries or from the charger. Have you got a friend to borrow a charger? I think everybody that travel should carry two chargers. You can ruin your possibilities if the charger is lost or damaged. You can get one from 25 to 45 $ (original Canon at BH)

[freelance]

I missed your last post, John-Paul. Sorry

[michael_orlosky]

My last trip to Europe I did what you did without any noticeable trouble

 

For what it's worth, in April 08 I picked up two Sterlingtek BP-511 knockoffs. As of tonight, 4 months later, one of them is completely dead - won't take a charge anymore, and the other purchased at the same time and used in the exact same battery grip, charged with the same charger seems to be holding up fine. (Used only in the States, these were) I think there is a vast difference in the quality of rechargeable batteries out there.

 

It sounds to me like just a fluke with your batteries.

 

I wish I knew a reliable source other than the expensive ones from Canon. All the recommendations told me Sterlingtek was the answer, but I'm still looking.

[rainer_t]

John, interesting that it turned out to be a dead charger, I missed the point that all batteries wouldn't charge, and in the case it's just one battery not charging its far more likely the battery has gone south. Well, "case closed" as it seems.

[willscarlett]

Interesting that the charger died as well. Perhaps there was a faulty outlet somewhere on the trip? Anyways, now I have a Promaster charger.