topic Re: Cannot communicate with battery - 7D in EOS DSLR & Mirrorless Cameras

Cannot communicate with battery - 7D

aridillse — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 09:48:53 GMT

Dear Friends,

I am a proud owner of 7D for the past 2.5 yrs and have done many trips and shooting with that.

I am not using any battery grip. Have 2 Canon original battery with me.

Fromyesterday night I am getting an error "Cannot communicate with battery". It is same described in the below link also :-

http://kbsupport.cusa.canon.com/system/selfservice.controller?CONFIGURATION=1011&PARTITION_ID=1&secureFlag=false&TIMEZONE_OFFSET=&CMD=VIEW_ARTICLE&ARTICLE_ID=38704

I am using Original Canon battery and I have tried with both of them but no result.

As per User Guide ,

If the message "Cannot communicate with battery" is displayed when checking the battery status, select [OK] and continue shooting. Please note that the battery level indicator will appear blank.

My concern is :-

1. If I ignore that and continue shooting , will it create any problem to the Camera functionality ?

2. Wil the battery drain fast due to that ?

I am Ok with not displaying the battery infor as of now ( which I will repair by Canon) but need to confirm that the battery functionality will remain as usual. I will be travelling for a birding trip soon and I due to short time I dont want to send it to repair...

Please guide.

Warm Regards,

Ari...

Re: Cannot communicate with battery - 7D

Mykolas — Sun, 10 Feb 2013 15:34:02 GMT

Hello Aridillse,

Sorry to hear about the error. If you would prefer to wait to send the camera in for service later on, you may do so. Choosing to continue using the battery will not cause any additional problems, you will just be unable to see the battery status. The battery will not drain any faster than it normally would.

When you are ready to send the camera in for service, you'll need to complete a Repair Request on our website.

If this is a time sensitive-matter, additional support options are available at Contact Us.

Re: Cannot communicate with battery - 7D

Geoge — Tue, 06 Aug 2013 21:57:58 GMT

This is a very popular issue. Pls check internet to see how many users od 7D and 60D have the same error again and again! Why Canan not recall them and fix them for free> I am sure this is not user's fault at all!

Cannot communicate with battery - 7D

walmirribeiro — Wed, 30 Oct 2013 21:26:30 GMT

Dear friends, I am also having the same problem. my 7d reconhese not the battery .. please help me.

Re: Cannot communicate with battery - 7D

mackguyver — Thu, 31 Oct 2013 15:34:16 GMT

I had the same issue with my 60D and battery grip. I tried all of the tricks and eventually sent it to Canon. It turns out there was a wire that was disconnected inside of my brand new battery grip. I know this doesn't match the OP's issue, but wanted to post this for others who have tried everything.

Re: Cannot communicate with battery - 7D

Junior72 — Fri, 01 Nov 2013 15:52:46 GMT

Good morning all. Another victim of the popular problem. It started out of the blue yesterday morning (10/31) .After many seaches on the web, forums for "a fix" (some of them worked for a few, some did not - even a mention of placing the camera in a freezer for 6-8 minutes which I will not do), I'm still at a loss.

I can click OK after the warning message, but no Icon of how much battery life, the "Battery Info" on the menu screen showed the error and also showed the ID of he batteries - Now that is gone.

I have the Canon battery grip, 2 genuine LP-E6 batteries. Removing the grip and placeing the single battery into the camera body did not fix this as well..so I am assuming it's not the grip. I have a hard time thinking 2 of these batteries have become damamged in some way on the same day.

I did notice on the 1st page that this issue will not affect battery life. I'm not so sure about this. After testing it yesterday, taking only 20-30 shots on fully charged batteries, I used EOS Utility to read the photos and that prompted me I had a low battery. ugh, when I went to charge it, it took almost 45 minutes to complete. Just going by theis, it looks like this probme is draining the battery 10 X faster, at least.

If cleaning the connections didn't work..removing the watch battery and letting it sit for 30, 60 minutes, maybe it is the camera. Warrenty expired so it looks like the price range to fix this is $250-450...just based on what I've seen. So very frustrating!

Re: Cannot communicate with battery - 7D

ebiggs1 — Sat, 02 Nov 2013 12:41:44 GMT

I am not certain this is a "camera" issue. Well, of course it IS a camera issue because it shows up on the camera but I don't think it is the camera causing it. I have seen this on several different models. I am sorry I don't know exactly what works to correct it except new batteries.

Just because the 'keep alive' battery is supposed to last for 10 years does not mean it will. Replace it first and see what happens.

Re: Cannot communicate with battery - 7D

Junior72 — Tue, 19 Nov 2013 01:20:44 GMT

Well I had to bite the bullet and take this in for repair, tried mulitple "fixes" to remove this communication problem, even my friends LP-E6 battery, same problems. I used it this weekend and was only able to get 308 photos before the camera died usuing the battery grip (real Canon grip, 2 real canon batteries - nothing 3rd party). That's around 700-1000 less photos before this error. So despite what the Canon rep replied earlier on this thread, this 'battery commincation' issue IS affecting battery life. So since this is a 3 year old camera, not under warranty. this will cost about around $250-300. Was also told it could take up to 3 weeks to get it it back - but "it could be sooner." It's fine, I can wait.

Anyway, it's defalting, not a cheap fix..and seeing this is such a widespread issue with many 7D users - not just here but on many other photography forums, 7D posts & even a rep for Canon in New Jersey knew about this issue I spoke with her last week. Until an official recall is announced with this camera, either deal with it, or pay big bucks for an obvious flaw.

Re: Cannot communicate with battery - 7D

walmirribeiro — Tue, 19 Nov 2013 01:34:44 GMT

Dear friends, I sent my 7d for asistencia technique, and I'm waiting for the budget and a report on this issue.
Here in Brazil many have also had this problem with the 7D.
So that Canon provide me the budget share here in Forun ... Happiness to all

Re: Cannot communicate with battery - 7D

Larryjay — Sun, 24 Nov 2013 20:32:49 GMT

I have the same problem with a 15-month-old 60D. I have a Canon battery and a generic. The problem occurred while using the generic. I assumed that would not occur using the Canon battery. I was interest. It is obvious from the posts I've read here that is a problem with the camera. I assume it is a contact issue. Cleaning the contacts inside the camera's compartment is dicey at best. Rather than pay $300 to correct what seems like a minor in common issue I will simply "suck it up" and continue shooting. It does insert extra steps to actually start shooting. Has anyone attempted to clean contacts inside that department?

Any help would be appreciated.
Larry Jay

Re: Cannot communicate with battery - 7D

walmirribeiro — Sun, 24 Nov 2013 21:20:55 GMT

Hello friends, I sent minha7D for Canon to Brazil.
she remained for several days in tests. and showed no defect.
the defective battery not reconheser, avia disappeared.
The technical report was the following ..
a problem in the battery, (Original) caused this error ..
However, by staying a few days off, this information is lost in the memory of the 7D ... and everything started to work normally.
Only then I'll have to buy another battery.

Re: Cannot communicate with battery - 7D

walmirribeiro — Sun, 24 Nov 2013 21:27:32 GMT

According to the technicians from Canon. this error is caused by the battery.
desapareser for the error, you should leave the mamera off without batteries for a few days, al this information is lost. and everything returns to normal.
however you should change the battery, because it must be bad.

Sorry for the google translation

Re: Cannot communicate with battery - 7D

Junior72 — Sat, 07 Dec 2013 21:57:35 GMT

Ok, so 2 1/2 weeks and $302 dollars later, I just picked up my 7D. No errors, thankfully. Cleaned sensors - thank you.
90 day warrantee on this, so if the issue arrises again before March 7th- and I hope not - then it's covered.

However, can someone here from Canon translate this. - picture attached.

Very vague "Adjustments made to circuit board" What kind of adjustments, was it replaced, should I expect to have this "adjusted" again lets say a year from now? Did the batteries and / or updated firmware cause the board to go haywire? I take immaculate care of the camera so this was a totally out of the blue error when this started.

Is that the leading cause of this "battery communicate error?" After shelling out this kind of money, I thought I would get a more detailed explanation. Although I appreciate the fix, I see this error with MANY 7D cameras all over the web and other forums. Just Google "Cannot communicate with battery 7D"

If this is a flaw, Canon needs to own up to this and issue a recall if these circuit boards are an issue.

(Clean and adjust to factory specs - That I understand was sensor cleaning and a deep check to see if the camera is working perfect)

Re: Cannot communicate with battery - 7D

Junior72 — Fri, 20 Dec 2013 02:00:53 GMT

Hate to beat a dead horse with this issue, I did have to drop close to ANOTHER $200 on two new EP-L6 batteries. I went to use the camera a few mornings ago - first time in 4 days on fully charged batteries, noticed the battery icon - using my battery grip with 2 L6's - showing 1 bar...15 minutes later camera went off, batteries died.

Anyway long story shot, I looked at the Battery info on the Menu screen, both battery's showed 1 red bar on the Battery perfromance"...meaning - "Battery has reached the end of its useful life, and should be discarded and replaced with a new LP-E6 battery pack."

Before the "cannot communicate" problem, I had 3 green bars on my battery performance.

So to Mike at Canon that posted back in February, YES this affects the battery.

Re: Cannot communicate with battery - 7D

ebiggs1 — Fri, 20 Dec 2013 17:03:03 GMT

"I am not certain this is a "camera" issue. Well, of course it IS a camera issue because it shows up on the camera but I don't think it is the camera causing it. I have seen this on several different models. I am sorry I don't know exactly what works to correct it except new batteries."

I am going to repeat my post from long ago. This is only my 40 years of experience with Canon equipment. I am not a technician but this is what I have known. Possibly there is a large batch of faulty batteries out there (even Canon).

I discourage the use of 3rd party batteries ever. Strongly discourage it.

Now I am sure there is that specific camera that has a flaw but I still will go with bad batteries.

Re: Cannot communicate with battery - 7D

eesnova — Sun, 22 Dec 2013 16:24:15 GMT

Hi Mike,

I have the same issue, one week before I go onto a Safari photoshoot. As a matter of fact, the internet is filled with 7D users having the same problem.

Mike, I do use original new Canon batteries, I have updated the fir ware to the latest version (.05) and I do not use a grip.

The symptoms are:

1) when switched on the 7D says "Can Not communicate with battery. Use this battery ?"

I will then be able to use the camera, however the battery info is not displayed

2) Howver, most of the time, even recently charged bateries are drained very rapidly (over night) even when the camera is in "off state". The camara then refuses to start at all.

Mike, this issue is too wide spread to be called a one off issue or user error. It is really an manufacturing issue. Please advise what to do.

kind regards

Re: Cannot communicate with battery - 7D

Junior72 — Sun, 22 Dec 2013 18:53:16 GMT

The "solutions" to this are so widespread. I have seen postings that new batteries will clear up this problem. I've also seen someone put the camera into the freezer for 20 minutes..this seemed to work (No way I was going to try that). Cleaning the copper connections..that worked for some. Removing batteries and the small watch battery...another "fix." Can't say if this was a permanent fix for them or temporarly. But for many, like myself it needed a costly repair.

Look, I love my camera..I can't complain really, I have it since mid 2010 and this is the first problem I ran into.. I've seen many who only have had the camera a few weeks before this problem started. Even one who bought it from B&H, right out of the box the issue was there. THAT has to suck.. Inconvenience, yes. I guess the bright side for them it's under warranty.

Do I fear this issue will pop up again out of nowhere, I do. I would like to know...from Canon, what is causing this (battery, faulty internal part..the firmware?) Why is it so common? I would understand a few cameras affected, but when you start typing "cannont communicate..." into Google and it autofills the rest. Then you know it's a popular problem,

Heck let us know if there is something we need to do to perhaps prevent this again.

Re: Cannot communicate with battery - 7D

pheffernan — Thu, 16 Jan 2014 22:56:10 GMT

I've been living with this malfunction for the past six months. I've finally had enough. This is a major issue for so many owners. Canon please help!

Re: Cannot communicate with battery - 7D

eesnova — Fri, 17 Jan 2014 09:30:35 GMT

Hi,

After, as usual, no response from canon, I took my camera to on independent repair shop. They confirmed that the 7D has a manufacturing problem, which creates a disconnect within the PCB, as a matter of fact , they told me , it starts with a screw which gets lose, which then creates the issue. If it not fixed in time, that screw can actually unscrew completely and then it can short oit your camera. They told me that there is no software or firm ware ipgrade , which can fix this, and concerning the freezer method decribed by someone, that if the screw is not too lose, the drop i temperature might temporarily fix it again, but it will alsways come back.

Since I had to go on a safari shoot that week, and since they knew exactly what it was, they fixed it within the same day ! And it only cost me $ 180. no more can't communicate with battery message, no more fast draining of battery etc.

I know the $ 180 stil sounds $ 180 too much i. Terms of the supposedly professional brand, who just like car manufaturers do or even super markets, initiate a recall of their products if there is a manufacturing issue, instead of asking if you are a mameber of the canon profesional club, having a wait time of several weeks, asking for rediculois amounts of money, just to see if there is an issue, and then charge an astronomical amount of money tp repair a manufaturing issue that should not have happend in the first place.

My recommendatiion, just find a reliable independent repairshop. Ask them if they have seen this before, and if they can describe ithe issue and the solution, go with them.
If they can not, it means they will kind of make it up on the fly, and I would not risk going with them.

Re: Cannot communicate with battery - 7D

ebiggs1 — Fri, 17 Jan 2014 14:21:38 GMT

"After, as usual, no response from canon, ..."

This is a forum, it is not the place to request repair or warranty work on Canon products. They have an 800 number for you to use.

I my experience Canon has dealt with me and customers very positively.