Vixia HF 200 won't charge battery

[cheerful]

Hi,

I have a HF 200 which has served me well over the years.  Now when I plugged in the original Canon power adapter, the red LED will flash 7 times in about 7 seconds, and then rest for about 5 seconds.  The battery does not charge and it's the original Canon battery.  I can use a compatible battery charger and the battery will charge.  However, it won't display the remaining time properly and it will alert me to change battery all the time.  I bought a new battery which initially  worked fine, displaying the remaining time properly.  But the camcoder won't charge it.

Is the problem with the power adapter?  Is there a replacement?

Or is the problem with the camcorder?  Given its age, I probably don't want to fix it.  if so, is there a compatible charger that I can buy?

Thanks

[WHITETAIL]

Well, I'm glad I was able to help some of you with the issue.  Here's what I ended up doing.  When I called back when I had this problem the service tech told me I had the option to have the camera repaired or purchase a refurbished newer model.

I ended up going with the newer model and have not looked back.  It took a little getting used to as it was a little different.

You know...just when you've figured out yours....you have to up and learn a whole new one again.  I can say Canons Customer Service for me was top notch.  I'd buy another. The failed camera...well lets face it if you have saltwater on it (like a post I read), own it for 5 years....take it hunting in a backpack with you everywhere you go...it is bound to have some problems eventually.  I beat on mine and it held up for years.  I was happy with the Canon I owned.  I was upset at first but they did right by me in the long run.

[tuckerdognc]

Basically, what I did. I haven't tried the wifi yet but that seems to be something that may help with downloads.

[DarthVedder]

Just discovered this problem myself over this past weekend when my HF200 wouldn't turn on. Called Tech Support and they recommended buying a new battery...did that, put the new battery on and the thing turned right on. Had three bars on the battery...so I plugged it in to the charger, went back 3 hours later and the battery was drained to 1 bar. Called tech support again and they seem to think its something inside the camera, to send it in for repair, it would cost $269.00. Canon will stop accepting this camera for repair on January 31, 2015. She also offered a Canon Loyalty discount...so it's something to think about,

For the moment, I am ordering a wall charger from Amazon for $15.00 in hopes that my batteries will charge and I can run the set up this way for as long as I can...

[lrleo]

THE problem is definitely the internal charging circuit in the camcorder.  I received my eforcity external charger (amazon ~ $5) and it works like a charm.  I put a DMM on the AC adapter and it has the correct voltage and current.  I hope it wasn't a cost-cutting design for this circuit, but it seems to be a flaw that many of us are experiencing.  Canon should fix this at cost or free.

[DarthVedder]

Of course I agree. However, when I talked to tech support yesterday, the rep said that come January 31, 2015, they won't even touch these cameras for support any longer. Something I kind of find odd with the money that I spent on it...I would think they would have a little more support than that. I've had the camera for 5 years, yet I only use it on occasion...and of course prepping it up for Christmas Morning...this is what I find...lol.

[WHITETAIL]

Guys,

i'm hoping what I found may help others. I recently said my camera was miraculously fixed. Here's what I've discovered. First I bought an external wall charger that keeps the camera working just fine rather than use the plug in charger that I always used to use.  Got mine at Best Buy.

Next, my battery notification I had... came back when I put the other battery on the camera again. Thinking it might be the battery itself(obviously), I charged the other one I have back up to full charge and put it back on the camera and my battery indicator went away showing me the charge in the upper right hand corner again. I'm guessing one of my batteries is either bad or causes something to make the camcorder "think" there's something wrong.  So I guess in a nutshell:

1) get some kind of extra wall charger to charge your batteries and

2) check your battery it could be the reason the error message is coming up on screen.  Funny thing is....that battery still accepts the charge on my wall charger and will still run the camera for over an hour just like my other one...but this particular one gives me the battery error message on screen I posted earlier.

I hope this helps others.

[uzibahar]

lawsuit???

 We need someone that understand cameras and check this issue.

We also need a lawyer that understand that can dig more in the this and find more people that got the same issue.

I am in.

Anyone ?

[4lcg]

Lawsuit? No. Don't be silly. There is no safety issue.

My camcorder is working fine now (at least the short tests I have done). No issues on battery life yet when using external charger.

It issue is a simple short circuit or solder separation. I will point out, I never removed my battery since new. The issue started on a summer trip when I (for some unexplained reason, took the battery out. I never do that). Had I left it in, it probably would still charge... but now I have two batteries and external charger that seems to do the trick.

When the unit dies for good. I will buy a Sony or Panasonic. That is the best reaction.

[Moutainside79]

Hello,

I had the same problem after the camcorder sat in the back of my truck next to the ocean. I bought a new battery and it did the same exact thing. It would not charge at all through the camcorder. It also would not turn on unless I had the camcorder plugged in. I fixed the problem by putting in and taking out the battery about 10 times. It must have worked loose some of the corosion on the pins when it was sitting next to the sea all winter. It works perfect now. I am so happy.

6-8-2015 Update: I found that plugging the battery in and out many times did get the power to the camera, but I later found that it still would not charge properly. The one battery I bought on ebay was a clone and it appears that there is a chip inside that prevents the clones from working. The orginal battery would not take a charge I think it was shorted out by a frayed wires in the charger. The freyed wires caused the current to flow backwards out of the battery when it was not plugged in causing a dead short that killed the battery because it sat like that for many months. It appears that if the battery is a clone it must be charged on an external charger. Some clones say they have the right chip inside. If it says it is encoded, that does not mean it will charge, I think that just means it can read the level of charge left in the battery. Look the the cannon intellegent sign on the battery. But don't expect it to be cheap, I am seeing prices of 70 to 80 dollars per battery!

[Evernormal]

I'm glad (but not really) I'm not the only one with this problem.  Have had an FS30, with 2 batteries (the second one cost an extra $80), for 2 years and now all of a sudden it won't charge either battery.  The red light flashes 7 times, then pauses, then repeats.  The camera does work plugged directly into the wall, so it must have something to do with the internal charging system.  I guess I'll try a wall charger (if I can find one) or a new camera.  Don't think I'll be buying another Canon.