70D won't turn on

[1stSolo]

This 70D is 9 years old and had been my workhorse all this time. I'm doing daytime nature and astrophotography, timelapses of Milky Way and deep sky photos.
A few days ago decided to record a music video with it. It was on AC/DC power adapter because battieries drain fast when display is always on and an extra light is connected to the accessory shoe.
Noticed the camera and the microSD card had become very hot, and "Err" is displayed on LCD display. No code, just "Err". Turned it off, let it cool, then turned on again. It was showing a frozen frame on the monitor and "Err" on LCD. Cycpled power again and it never turned on again, neither on AC/DC nor Canon battery power.
Talked to a couple of local camera repair shops. One quoted $178 to replace DC-DC converter, the other said I have a dead brick because "70D has a design flaw where heat sink on CPU is inadequate for dissipating heat and shooting video for a long time can fry the CPU. Replacing a motherboard costs more than a used 70D on the market and I'm better off throwing this out and paying $1000 for 80D or 90D".
Also contacted Canon repair and automated system quoted $0.00 to send it in for repair.
I scanned through Canon Community Forums and it seems like a relatively common problem.
So if I send it to Canon, are they going to slap me with the bill later or they are treating it as a recall and replacing burned motherboards?
I was considering switching to Sony for a while, but I've been a Canon guy since 1980s when 36mm EOS-1 came out (still have one in working condition along with 20D) and all my lenses, accessories and printers are Canon. Am I having attachment issues? Help me save my friend!

[jrhoffman75]

Welcome to the forum.

Give Canon a call directly at 1-800-OK-CANON.

[1stSolo]

Thank you, but I already tried that and the automated system said support for this camera is online only. I can try again to talk to a person...

[ebiggs1]

"... contacted Canon repair and automated system quoted $0.00 to send it in for repair."

First off are you sure the 70D is still a serviceable camera by Canon?  It is 7 or 8 years old now. Ask that question first.

"... costs more than a used 70D on the market and I'm better off throwing this out and paying $1000 for 80D or 90D".

This might very well be true. In the case for the 90D, it will be a nice upgrade for you besides making sense money wise.

"...the camera and the microSD card had become very hot"

Never, never, never use a micro-SD card.

The earlier cameras that did video, the 70D, were subject to over heating. The current crop of cameras seem to have that problem mostly eliminated and handle it fairly well. Bottom line I am all in for you to upgrade to the 90D. I think for what you do it will serve you better.

[1stSolo · Accepted solution]

Canon confirmed there’s an “advisory” (read “recall”) on mainboards of 70D getting fried by taking videos and if my camera falls under the advisory the repair will be free. So I’m gonna send it in. Thanks, all!

[ebiggs1]

Great! 

[Whooper333]

I have the same problem on a 70d, did you hear back from canon on the repair? 

[1stSolo]

Yes. They are replacing the board for free, even though it’s out of warranty. I don’t remember the exact language they used but basically there’s a recall on 70Ds due to boards failing from overheating when in video mode. Takes a week to do it though, plus 4-5 days for ground shipping.

[1stSolo]

An “advisory”, they called it.

[Whooper333]

Thanks, I will call them to find out what the process is to send my 70d in  for the fix. Thanks for your post I thought I was sol. like you stated I was considering another  brand because no camera should crap out like this in normal use. Then when you take into account the lenses I already have it looks like a big pain to switch. 

glad to know that canon will stand behind their product and make good on this short coming. I will post the results of my experience with canon customer service here when I get that far. It may be helpful to others that experience this same issue with the canon 70d.