GoPro Battery dies fast

[Maddog]

Recently I have noticed the batteries on my GP4 Silver are dying overnight when left in the camera. I have had the camera for over a year and this was not an issue before.

All 4 batteries do the same thing, but hold a charge when left out of the camera. Have tried reformatting SD card, using different SD card but no help.

I have stayed with FW 3.0 so the camera will start and stop with Solo, and have had this version since it came out so the problem didn't start with 3.0.

I checked online and discovered this has been a problem with the 4 series cameras at least as far back as 2015, but no solution has ever been discovered, even by GoPro. Users who have updated through FW 4 and 5 are reporting the same problem.

Is anybody else having this problem and if so are you aware of a solution? For now, I'm just leaving the batteries out of the camera until just prior to flight.

 

[speatuk]

Recently I have noticed the batteries on my GP4 Silver are dying overnight when left in the camera. I have had the camera for over a year and this was not an issue before.

All 4 batteries do the same thing, but hold a charge when left out of the camera. Have tried reformatting SD card, using different SD card but no help.

I have stayed with FW 3.0 so the camera will start and stop with Solo, and have had this version since it came out so the problem didn't start with 3.0.

I checked online and discovered this has been a problem with the 4 series cameras at least as far back as 2015, but no solution has ever been discovered, even by GoPro. Users who have updated through FW 4 and 5 are reporting the same problem.

Is anybody else having this problem and if so are you aware of a solution? For now, I'm just leaving the batteries out of the camera until just prior to flight.

Hmmm
I have always left mine out of the GoPro just habitually done it.

Have you got quick photo turned on in settings?
(Might not be called that, it lets you take a photo/video by holding the shutter (top button) for 2 seconds.)

I do know when I had turned on it would deplete the battery within hours as the GoPro is always on standby. I got into the habit of removing the battery at that point then spotted I had that turned on.

So I turned it off but still remove the battery as a matter of course.

Hope this helps.

 

[Maddog]

Hmmm
I have always left mine out of the GoPro just habitually done it.

Have you got quick photo turned on in settings?
(Might not be called that, it lets you take a photo/video by holding the shutter (top button) for 2 seconds.)

I do know when I had turned on it would deplete the battery within hours as the GoPro is always on standby. I got into the habit of removing the battery at that point then spotted I had that turned on.

So I turned it off but still remove the battery as a matter of course.

Hope this helps.

Thanks Steve, but I have never had that turned on. I have always left the battery in the camera and the camera in the gimbal. Not now, at least until this gets fixed.

 

[Pedals2Paddles]

Never happened to mine. I charge that battery maybe once every 2 months!

 

[Maxheadspace]

Sorry if this is too basic, but did you by chance leave the wifi on? If you switch on wifi it remains on even after you shut off the camera.

 

[Maddog]

Never happened to mine. I charge that battery maybe once every 2 months!

That's how mine "used to be".

 

[Maddog]

Sorry if this is too basic, but did you by chance leave the wifi on? If you switch on wifi it remains on even after you shut off the camera.

Max, thanks for bringing that up. I forgot to mention it but it was frequently discussed online as a possible cause. I never use it.

I'm sure something in the camera is FUBAR, but it's out of warranty now. Even in GoPro's support forum, they never acknowledged there was a problem- they constantly blamed the user for everything under the sun.

Their standard line was that they would pass the information on to blah,blah,blah. Now I can understand part of the reasons they are going under.

 

[Maddog]

Well, I opened a support case with GoPro but that was a waste of time. They just told me to charge the batteries (duh), try a different SD card, update firmware. No help.

I read through the GoPro support forum and found 15 pages of posts from 2014 through today complaining about the same thing. Even the 3 and 5 series cameras are susceptible.

It looks like there are 2 kinds of GoPro's: those that have this problem and those that will develop it.

If GoPro knows what the problem is they're not sharing it- they continue to deny there is a problem. All the complaints are "isolated, rare incidents".

Here is what I got back from GoPro support:

as of the moment, we don't have service centers that fix camera issues. The reason being is because the camera is a complicated device on it's own, that the cost of having the camera fixed is almost the same as buying a new one.

I didn't know this but GoPro does not repair cameras. If it is under warranty, they might replace it. If it is out of warranty they will tell you to buy a new camera.

Oh joy.

 

[RichWest]

I had the problem initially with my GP4B. As mentioned before, I'd double check wifi and readyshot modes are turned off. To the point of turning these features ON and then reboot and then again turning them off then reboot. I'm still running the original GP FW that allows the unit to turn on when Solo is booted up.

Pulling the battery makes the best sense if the problem persists. If only to prevent the battery damaging the GP, when it does fail....

 

[speatuk]

[QUOTE="Maddog, post: 100891, member: 1429"[I'm sure something in the camera is FUBAR[/QUOTE]

Any chance of a uk translation on FUBAR please?

 

[RichWest]

[I'm sure something in the camera is FUBAR

Any chance of a uk translation on FUBAR please?

fu·bar
ˈfo͞obär/
adjective
adjective: fubar; adjective: foobar

1. out of working order; seriously, perhaps irreparably, damaged.
   "the clock in the hall is fubar" "my gopro battery is fubarred" "F'd up"

 

[speatuk]

Ahhhh now I see

@Maddog

Perhaps your battery is FUBAR'D lol

Maybe, seeing as you have only noticed this recently, your batteries are near the end of there lives?

It looks to me like a day of public mourning is required, and those poor old batteries may need to be sent to the great recycling centre in the sky.

Awwww poor old GoPro batteries

 

[Jubalr]

[QUOTE="Maddog, post: 100891, member: 1429"[I'm sure something in the camera is FUBAR

Any chance of a uk translation on FUBAR please?[/QUOTE]
F'd Up Beyond Any Repair..

 

[Maddog]

Ahhhh now I see

@Maddog

Perhaps your battery is FUBAR'D lol

Maybe, seeing as you have only noticed this recently, your batteries are near the end of there lives?

It looks to me like a day of public mourning is required, and those poor old batteries may need to be sent to the great recycling centre in the sky.

Awwww poor old GoPro batteries

Actually, you may have hit on something. I have 4 batteries about the same age and it happens with all of them.
But, many complaints come from people with new cameras.

 

[Maddog]

I had the problem initially with my GP4B. As mentioned before, I'd double check wifi and readyshot modes are turned off. To the point of turning these features ON and then reboot and then again turning them off then reboot. I'm still running the original GP FW that allows the unit to turn on when Solo is booted up.

Pulling the battery makes the best sense if the problem persists. If only to prevent the battery damaging the GP, when it does fail....

Thanks Rich- tried all that so I think I will just stop leaving the battery in.

Nice to know that if the camera breaks after warranty, GoPro won't repair it. Wonder if anybody does?

 

[MPRamsey]

This may not be worth mentioning but what the heck, I'm going to anyway. I have GoPro 4 Silver. I must have FW 4 or later because I always have to manually turn it on after I power on my Solo. Recently, I've noticed that if I forget to turn off my Solo battery before I pull the Solo batter and put in a fresh Solo batter, I don't have to manually power on my GoPro. I'm guessing the GoPro automatically switches to power from its own battery. I say all of this to ask, do you pull your Solo battery without powering it off? If so, your GoPro may be remaining on and draining your battery. Just my 2 cents. Oh who am I fooling, it's really only worth 1 cent.

 

[Maddog]

This may not be worth mentioning but what the heck, I'm going to anyway. I have GoPro 4 Silver. I must have FW 4 or later because I always have to manually turn it on after I power on my Solo. Recently, I've noticed that if I forget to turn off my Solo battery before I pull the Solo batter and put in a fresh Solo batter, I don't have to manually power on my GoPro. I'm guessing the GoPro automatically switches to power from its own battery. I say all of this to ask, do you pull your Solo battery without powering it off? If so, your GoPro may be remaining on and draining your battery. Just my 2 cents. Oh who am I fooling, it's really only worth 1 cent.

Thanks for thinking about that, but I always turn off Solo's battery before removing it.