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Lost connection when trying to connect to EOS Utility with AC Adaptor

siv1
Contributor

I'm trying to use the live view function on my 50D which works fine on battery power. However when i use my AC Adaptor, the camera connects for 1-2 seconds before the connection is lost with my PC and EOS Utility crashes. Any ideas on solution?

10 REPLIES 10

Waddizzle
Legend
Legend

If it works on battery power, and then quiets when using an AC adapter, then that is the classic symptom of a ground loop.  If your computer is also plugged into AC power, then it is almost certainly a ground loop.  

 

Most of the time, there is not a whole lot you can do about it, except don't use the AC adapter.

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"The right mouse button is your friend."

Thanks for the quick response, the works on the ac power but doesnt communicate via the usb to the computer, would this be the case for a ground loop?


@siv1 wrote:

Thanks for the quick response, the works on the ac power but doesnt communicate via the usb to the computer, would this be the case for a ground loop?


Yes, and no.  The ground loop is completed when you connect to an AC adapter, but the problem is the grounding of the USB signals in the computer.  

 

Is your computer also on AC power?  If it is a laptop, then unplug its' AC adapter.  It will probably work with just one AC adapter or the other connected, but not both.  If so, that is sure sign of a ground loop.  You could try a different USB cable, but that is a slim chance of "fixing" the ground looop, assuming that is the problem.

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"The right mouse button is your friend."

Just tried on a laptop which wasn't plugged into any power source and it worked fine on live view. My computer and the camera are plugged into the same extension lead. How do other people solve the problem of using their camera on ac power?


@siv1 wrote:

Just tried on a laptop which wasn't plugged into any power source and it worked fine on live view. My computer and the camera are plugged into the same extension lead. How do other people solve the problem of using their camera on ac power?


I don't know what to tell you.  Every scenario is a little different.  The only sure fix is a hardware change.  

 

I assume that your AC adapter for your camera is genuine Canon gear.  Maybe a powered USB cable might provide the isolation you need, and then again maybe it won't.

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"The right mouse button is your friend."

Are you using the Canon ACK-E2 or an aftermarket adapter? 

 

The ACK-E2 output is floating with respect to the AC line and the input of this switching type AC supply doesn't use the AC line ground so it can't create a ground loop because your camera has no separate ground connection using this adapter.  If you are using an aftermarket adapter, then it may use a three wire plug and if the aftermarket AC adapter is supplied with a three wire plug then the negative side of the DC output connector may be connected to your AC ground but that doesn't happen with the Canon AC adapter/DC coupler unit.

 

However a ground loop isn't likely to cause a communications disconnect over a USB link because the noise created by the differential ground between two grounded devices is heavily biased to the very low frequency end where it causes audio interference and isn't in the gigahertz range where USB communications is based in this spread spectrum system.  The system clock is also synced over the interface but this will be in the 12 Mhz. range which is also well above the frequency where ground loop artifacts abound.  The two leads that carry data over the USB interface are arranged as a differential system so the noise environment impacts both data leads leads equally which is cancelled by the differential nature of the system.  But because the USB cable does provide a common ground path between two devices, if BOTH devices also have their own connections to a ground system then the artifacts of the ground loop can and often will impact audio reproduction.

 

If you power the camera from the AC adapter, not connected to your computer, and shoot a high speed burst (or some other camera activity that draws sustained high current), how does it behave.  I suspect that your AC adapter itself is faulty.

 

Rodger

EOS 1DX M3, 1DX M2, 1DX, 5DS R, M6 Mark II, 1D M2, EOS 650 (film), many lenses, XF400 video

Aftermarket, finding it very hard to source a genuine one.

 

The camera seems to perform the the same when shooting on high speed bursts on both Battery and AC Adapter. I guess the solution is to find a genuine Canon AC Adaptor which would hopefully solve the issue. 


@siv1 wrote:

Aftermarket, finding it very hard to source a genuine one.

 

The camera seems to perform the the same when shooting on high speed bursts on both Battery and AC Adapter. I guess the solution is to find a genuine Canon AC Adaptor which would hopefully solve the issue. 


I have seen grounding issues on computer serial ports, both USB and RS-232/485, literally for decades.  All of theses port types drive a "balanced" signal, so the comm signals being grounded is not the problem.  [The signals should not be grounded.]

 

More times than not, the problem is cheap computer hardware..  The computer's serial port is not true balanced input that it is supposed to be.  It is actually single-ended, which means it grounds one side of the supposedly balanced input.

 

Sometimes it is cheaply made cable.  Try a different cable.  I suspect that finding a genuine Canon adapter may be hard, so try the used market at reputable dealers like KEH or MPB, and others.  It would not hurt to have a powered USB extension cable laying around, so one of those may or may not fix the problem.

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"The right mouse button is your friend."

Start with the simple, inexpensive possible fixes, and work your way up.  A new USB cable is cheap, and it dos not hurt to have a spare one laying around.  They have been known to just suddenly quit working without warning.  

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"The right mouse button is your friend."
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