p.1 #1 · Canon 1D Mk IV Good OEM Battery Randomly Discharging Quickly??
Hi I have a low click 1DIV and the OEM battery is like at 75% good for charging but recently it’s been discharging really quickly should I worry, investigate or just buy the DSTE batteries which are 3rd party but have like 4400 mAh compared to the OEM which has about 2300 I think.
I know it’s really old at this point but it’s just so weird how it went from good to bad so quickly. But could it also say something bad about the camera itself? I super hope not. I’m in no place to replace it. It will be enough of a struggle to replace the battery financially. Ya know?
p.1 #2 · Canon 1D Mk IV Good OEM Battery Randomly Discharging Quickly??
If it is more than 5 YO, then replace it. Generic battery suppliers often fabricate ridiculous capacities, but they should work well enough in such an old camera body.
p.1 #3 · Canon 1D Mk IV Good OEM Battery Randomly Discharging Quickly??
If you do go for an OEM replacement, be aware that the original LP-E4 and later LP-E4N are discontinued, replaced by the LP-E19. I assume that would work in your 1D Mk IV, because it works in my 1Ds Mk III, which also came with the LP-E4. The problem is that the LC-E4 charger that came with your camera can’t charge an LP-E19; you’d also need to buy an LC-E19 charger. (I have one from my R3.) I can see why people go for the third party replacements!
As for age, I have two LP-E4N which are 8 years old, still OK, and work in the old charger. But I also had one that failed after a few months.
When you say it’s been discharging quickly, I assume you mean with the camera is in use. If it’s doing it by itself, that’s a big red flag for safety – get rid of the battery ASAP as an internal short can progress to a fire.
My 1DsIII just stopped charging about 2 months ago, after 18 years.
Move quickly, before the tariffs hit.
Jul 09, 2025 at 08:09 AM
AmbientMike Offline • • • • • • [X]
p.1 #5 · Canon 1D Mk IV Good OEM Battery Randomly Discharging Quickly??
erikstoufferphotography wrote:
Hi I have a low click 1DIV and the OEM battery is like at 75% good for charging but recently it’s been discharging really quickly should I worry, investigate or just buy the DSTE batteries which are 3rd party but have like 4400 mAh compared to the OEM which has about 2300 I think.
I know it’s really old at this point but it’s just so weird how it went from good to bad so quickly. But could it also say something bad about the camera itself? I super hope not. I’m in no place to replace it. It will be enough of a struggle to replace the battery financially. Ya know?...Show more →
I worry about the safety of 3rd party, the li ion we use to power everything (phones, laptops, cars, etc) aren't really safest things in the world. But I've used many of them throughout the years, including one im using currently. I would be skeptical of 4400 mah claim though, they overstate a lot of cheap li ion battery capacities, pretty much no chance it's 4400 mah
I googled "lp e4 battery teardown" and found interesting articles, you can apparently short out the battery tearing these down, or soldering potentially leading to explosion, though, so I probably wouldn't do it myself. You can get tool batteries rebuilt, though, so I might try to find someone who does that and see if they'd rebuild it, thread on it if anyone can find it, it just takes 3 common sized readily available 18650 cells
p.1 #6 · Canon 1D Mk IV Good OEM Battery Randomly Discharging Quickly??
AmbientMike wrote:
I worry about the safety of 3rd party, the li ion we use to power everything (phones, laptops, cars, etc) aren't really safest things in the world.
According to the fire service here, the main reason so many e-bikes and e-scooters have caught fire and burnt houses down is mismatched batteries and chargers.
They don’t explain it, but the reason the charger and battery must match is that Li-ion cells must not be overcharged or recharged from being completely flat, and there has to be circuitry to control that. The chips to do it are tiny and mass-produced, but there is no standard as to whether they are in the battery or the charger. So if you pair a battery that expects the control to be in the charger with a charger that expects it to be in the battery, you have no charge limiter and it could overcharge or charge an empty cell.
According to this teardown and replacement the LP-E4 does have a protection chip. You’d want to be sure any third party battery also did, and if you couldn’t be sure it might be safer to set aside the camera’s original charger and use the matching third party one.
Li-ion batteries also don’t like mechanical damage.
I share your caution about third party batteries. One is trusting a brand one might never have heard of to make a product where a manufacturing or design defect could start a fire. I’m operating on a budget that allows me to just go and buy the Canon batteries and chargers, but if I weren’t I’d be carefully researching brands.
I would not recommend attempting a DIY cell replacement on these; the linked thread gives some reasons.
p.1 #7 · Canon 1D Mk IV Good OEM Battery Randomly Discharging Quickly??
I would be very surprised not to find a BMS circuit in the 3-cell battery. How would they balance the cells?
You should not solder directly to a battery, especially lithium ion types. Use a battery spot welder and nickel tabs. You can then solder wires or boards to tabs if necessary. It's not worth replacing the batteries if you can find a generic that works well enough. If you do need to then probably get matched LG or Samsung INR cells from a reputable supplier. There are still some counterfeit cells around.
EBH
Jul 09, 2025 at 11:22 PM
AmbientMike Offline • • • • • • [X]
p.1 #8 · Canon 1D Mk IV Good OEM Battery Randomly Discharging Quickly??
melcat wrote:
According to the fire service here, the main reason so many e-bikes and e-scooters have caught fire and burnt houses down is mismatched batteries and chargers.
They don’t explain it, but the reason the charger and battery must match is that Li-ion cells must not be overcharged or recharged from being completely flat, and there has to be circuitry to control that. The chips to do it are tiny and mass-produced, but there is no standard as to whether they are in the battery or the charger. So if you pair a battery that expects the control to be in the charger with a charger that expects it to be in the battery, you have no charge limiter and it could overcharge or charge an empty cell.
According to this teardown and replacement the LP-E4 does have a protection chip. You’d want to be sure any third party battery also did, and if you couldn’t be sure it might be safer to set aside the camera’s original charger and use the matching third party one.
Li-ion batteries also don’t like mechanical damage.
I share your caution about third party batteries. One is trusting a brand one might never have heard of to make a product where a manufacturing or design defect could start a fire. I’m operating on a budget that allows me to just go and buy the Canon batteries and chargers, but if I weren’t I’d be carefully researching brands.
I would not recommend attempting a DIY cell replacement on these; the linked thread gives some reasons....Show more →
I don't really recommend a DIY cell replacement but they do replace the cells in tool batteries and someone on here may know how. But it is pretty risky
I've read that at 2.5 V you get crystals, so if the battery drops to that point you are apparently pretty much done and need a new one. Even 3.6 volts doesn't necessarily have much left, you can charge to 4.25 V of course you have 2 or 3 batteries so the Canon battery (technically a battery pack since more than one) has voltage of 2x or 3x.
I think the Canon charger is more likely to put correct amps and volts in the battery, concerned about getting it correct on the 3rd party chargers. I'd hope Canon has a protection circuit to handle a dead cell, which apparently is a big problem, or prevent too high or low voltage.
p.1 #9 · Canon 1D Mk IV Good OEM Battery Randomly Discharging Quickly??
melcat wrote:
According to the fire service here, the main reason so many e-bikes and e-scooters have caught fire and burnt houses down is mismatched batteries and chargers.
They don’t explain it, but the reason the charger and battery must match is that Li-ion cells must not be overcharged or recharged from being completely flat, and there has to be circuitry to control that. The chips to do it are tiny and mass-produced, but there is no standard as to whether they are in the battery or the charger. So if you pair a battery that expects the control to be in the charger with a charger that expects it to be in the battery, you have no charge limiter and it could overcharge or charge an empty cell.
According to this teardown and replacement the LP-E4 does have a protection chip. You’d want to be sure any third party battery also did, and if you couldn’t be sure it might be safer to set aside the camera’s original charger and use the matching third party one.
Li-ion batteries also don’t like mechanical damage.
I share your caution about third party batteries. One is trusting a brand one might never have heard of to make a product where a manufacturing or design defect could start a fire. I’m operating on a budget that allows me to just go and buy the Canon batteries and chargers, but if I weren’t I’d be carefully researching brands.
I would not recommend attempting a DIY cell replacement on these; the linked thread gives some reasons....Show more →
I wouldn’t want to replace parts of a battery on my own or even send it to someone really.. my first fancy camera was a 7D Classic.. It had a grip and the grip had a AA Battery Holder. I would be super fine with using a official Canon AA Battery Holder.. I have and would buy more rechargeable AA’s!! What a great idea! I’m gonna go search for that!
