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Friday, June 18, 2010 - 2:39PM CDT

Canon LC-E5 battery charger contact problem

By DAN ROBINSON

Editor/Photographer

Since there doesn't appear to be any information on the web about this, I'm just putting this post up here to get it into search engines and see if anyone else is having this problem. The LC-E5 battery charger for my Canon Rebel XSi stopped working sometime last year. The charger is a small single unit with 'flip-out' plug prongs (no cord). When my charger stopped working, I'd plug it into the wall and the charging light would come on for a second, then turn off.

Jiggling the prongs made it work (for a couple more weeks at least), which indicated that the problem was with the electrical contacts inside that were supposed to connect with the plug prongs. After that temporary solution didn't work anymore, I ended up opening the casing to see what was wrong. The contacts are two small metal fins that use weak spring tension to keep in electrical contact with the prongs. Over time, these fins had bent back far enough that they weren't making contact. Once I had the case open, I could re-bend the fins back into shape so that they resumed proper contact. But eventually, the problem would come back after one or two chargings.

Since being without a charger is not an option (I use my camera almost daily), and new ones from Canon cost about $60, I had to come up with a solution. I ended up permanently cutting the charger's casing partially open, so that I could adjust the fins whenever they stopped making contact with the prongs (do this when the unit is unplugged, of course!) - which was invariably every time I needed to use it. I eventually got tired of this, so my final solution was to remove the prongs altogether, hard-wiring an old lamp cord and plug to the contacts. A pretty extreme measure, but one that works. In the above photo, I just twisted the stripped wire ends securely around the metal fins and soldered them in place. I used a set of wire ties to secure the lamp cord to the casing so that the cord wouldn't pull away from the contacts.

I was surprised a charger could fail so miserably at such a simple point. I'm curious if other Canon DSLR users have had LC-E5 battery chargers fail. If you're here from a search query, maybe you could try my solution of hardwiring a cord (like a lamp cord or an extension cord with a standard plug) to the contacts. Let me know if it solved the problem!

Mine just randomly stopped working a couple of days ago. Quite sad really. I use my camera almost daily and its a downer that the battery is almost out. I'm also wondering if there's a solution other than getting a new charger.
- Posted by Mai

I had this problem after 4 months of use. Finagled one replacement under an expensive warranty I'd purchased. It is 2 months later and the second charger has failed exactly as you describe. At least I can now assume the problem is purely hardware and nothing to do with the interaction of the battery with the charger.
- Posted by markfineart from Toronto

Got the same behavior here, it is a guenine charger bought in US. I called my local Canon who says it was the DSLR motherboard contact issue ! I am purobserving a no-name one from Amazon, $10. Let's see if this sold the issue.
- Posted by bitonio from Paris, France

same problem here. i bought a new charger, a replacement one (not original) but my battery life runs out quickly. i think the replacement charger isnt charging the battery enough. such a waste of money for that charger. i tried fixing the original charger but im afraid that i might ruin it more. :(
- Posted by pink

I've replaced the thing once already and the second has now gone South. Canon seems to have a problem they are not addressing. Thanks for the tip, time to slice and dice.
- Posted by RRH from US

Thanks for posting this! Having the exact same problem....now I have to find a torn driver small enough to open the case.
- Posted by TP

thanks so much. it worked great
- Posted by nostaycondi from st simons island GA

Same problem, charge light only comes on for a few seconds. I'm going to try taking it apart and hard wire it, hope that will solve the contact issue.
- Posted by John from Honolulu

I am having the same problem
- Posted by Matt from Missouri