Canon 5D Mk 4 with a Battery Communication Error

Question

I have a Canon 5D Mk 4 with a Battery Communication Error. On switch on an error message appears checking that you are using a genuine Canon battery, which I am, and I have also bought a new genuine battery. I understand from this internet that this is know problem that just occurs for no reason. There are no other faults with the camera.

I have sent it for repair and the cost has come back at £528. The camera needs 3 boards, the main board and 2 others. To me this sounds strange as in most electronic faults you have just one fault, most unlikely is 2.

For instance, if your car doesn't start one morning, it say either the battery or starter motor, not both.

Anyone else sent there camera for repair? What was the faulty board(s)? How much was it to repair?

I do know that main board is £150, the service cost is £220, so the rest is taken by the 2 other boards.

BTW, sorry if this is a duplicate, but the post of yesterday didn't appear.

Answer 1

I've never seen failures with real Canon batteries in the body itself, but Canon's grips are notorious for this problem. Loosening the grip a little and retightening it will typically fix the problem is that's the issue.

Another thing that can cause this failure is cheap batteries with fake ID chips. As best I can tell (and this is mostly speculation), they don't work correctly if they lose power; when the battery gets too low, the chips crash and don't ever start working again. But that wouldn't cause future failures.

I agree that three boards sounds seriously suspicious, like they tried replacing one thing, it didn't work, they tried something else, and they got it right on the third try. But without having access to the working and supposedly defective boards, there's no way to confirm that suspicion.

I would insist on getting back the defective parts.

Answer 2

Thank you for the reply. I too question 3 boards being replaced. I have asked the canon approved facility for the reasons why.