HV20 Won't Turn On / Charge

[andrewkendall]

My three week old HV20 has suddenly stopped working, it refuses to power on (tried with two externally charged batteries) and no longer shows a charge light when connected to power. Anyone else have this happen?

[CJDaniels]

Have you tried A/C adapter without a battery?

[andrewkendall]

Yes. Still no joy. Rang canon today and have sent it to the local service centre. Hope it all goes ok!

[JeremyCain]

Same here. I just got my HV20 yesterday. Today, I shoot a few test shots, try to power the thing up for capture and POOF, it won't power on! ARGH! Canon says to send it back to the vendor first. I'll try that first. Keep you posted.

[andrewkendall]

Same here. I just got my HV20 yesterday. Today, I shoot a few test shots, try to power the thing up for capture and POOF, it won't power on! ARGH! Canon says to send it back to the vendor first. I'll try that first. Keep you posted.

I sent mine away on the 12th and know it was received by Canon because I checked with Royal Mail. I've been away on work since, I returned yesterday expecting a letter that would let me know the status or even better a fixed camera. Nothing! No email, phone call, letter or camera. Not impressed. I'm going to chase them up tomorrow.

[bluegrass]

I've been in the service industry for over 40 years. It's not just Canon. In my opinion the whole flippin' society needs to wake up and understand what courtesy, honesty, ect. is all about. If people would just realize that service plays such a big part in sales maybe they would treat their customers with more respect. I'm talking about from Canon to McDonalds. I guarentee you if a few people like you spread bad words about Canon's service, it will play into their future sales.

I know there are always unique situations, and I hope that your's is one of them. I keep my fingers crossed that my hi tech equipment doesn't break down. What a hassle it is just to find out where to ship it, pack it, take it to UPS or wherever and wait for a response.

I feel for you and the others that have had to send their HV's back. Keep us posted as to your dealings with this because more of us may be in your boat someday.

[PWHerman]

Yeah, this is true crap...no reason at all that you should have to deal with this junk. They should give you something for all of this trouble. Best of luck to you!

[Editeer]

Yesterday my one-week old HV20 suddenly "died". I wonder if anyone else had this happen... I heard a "pop" sound from inside the camera. Sounded like a circuit breaker tripping. I noticed that there is a "reset" button behind the battery, but I've pressed that and still no power. No power with the A/C as well. I will be calling the vendor I bought it from and sending it back to them for a replacement. Let them deal with Canon!

[Mal]

This almost looks like a bit of trend with the power going bad: let's hope it is NOT!

[Worley]

I wonder if it has to do with the type of battery being used. Maybe the HV20 is highly sensitive to changes in voltage/current? Are all these dead HV20s using genuine Canon batteries or generic cheap ones?

[dhnj]

While i was researching about the HV20 I came across a post on the internet from an owner with 3 Canon camcorders models warning not to charge the battery in the camcorder using the external power supply that came with the camcorder, as he had damaged all his 3 camcorders in the past. Because of this warning I bought an external charger before I bought the HV20 and has only used the HV20 with fully charged batteries with the external charger.

[Worley]

I use an external charger too. Cheap one from eBay.

[andrewkendall]

I wonder if it has to do with the type of battery being used. Maybe the HV20 is highly sensitive to changes in voltage/current? Are all these dead HV20s using genuine Canon batteries or generic cheap ones?

Mine was using the original Canon battery and I was mainly charging it externally using a Canon 350D charger. I did charge the battery in camera a few times in the first week though.

[andrewkendall]

Another update: I phoned Canon on Thursday, I was told that they had been waiting on a part that had come in that day and that I should receive the fixed camera some time next week. They also said that I should have received a letter telling me what was going on. Hopefully the lack of communication was just a simple mistake and everything will be sorted by the end of the week.

[jclightman]

I had a similar problem. Only 1 month of owning (shot for about 4 hours), it turned into the proverbial paperweight. I sent it off to Canon Service Center for warranty repair and it came back today. They changed a few parts, the only one mentioned was the lens assembly. It seemed to me to be a power issue...maybe the power issue damaged the lens assembly??? Anyway, so far (10 minutes) it's working like it was before.

I'll post here if I have further issues, but maybe it's been resolved!! I HOPE SO!!!

ps...Canon Customer Service was really nice. It was great to talk to someone in Virginia, and they understood my dilemma of needing a quick turnaround.

[UPressure]

Just sent my HV20 to the NJ service center on Monday. It won't power on when switched to the "Play" position. Power up OK when switched to the "Camera" position.

[andrewkendall]

Still not resolved! Last week's delivery didn't happen so I phoned today and was told that the camera was still awaiting repair and would probably be done tomorrow. The reason given was something about a large backlog of repairs. I must say I'm pretty disappointed, very nearly a month waiting for a fix on a three week old camera. Not once has anybody tried to keep me informed, not a single phone call, email or letter.

[bluegrass]

Still not resolved! Last week's delivery didn't happen so I phoned today and was told that the camera was still awaiting repair and would probably be done tomorrow. The reason given was something about a large backlog of repairs. I must say I'm pretty disappointed, very nearly a month waiting for a fix on a three week old camera. Not once has anybody tried to keep me informed, not a single phone call, email or letter.

poor customer service can sure damage a companies reputation. i hope you get some satisfaction soon. i have been in customer service for over 40 years and always thought of the customer as a person my job depended on.

[UPressure]

Just wanted to close the loop on my repair. I sent my HV20 to the NJ service center on the 2nd July, Canon sent a letter acknowledging receipt on the 6th. I received the unit back on the 14th. Repaired under warranty. I'd say that was great service.

- Felix

[andrewkendall]

Still nothing resolved for me!!! My camera is at the Canon Elstree Service Centre UK.

[Worley]

On a three week old camera, I think you're within your rights to request a new replacement. You are not obliged to accept a repair. However, as you sent the camera away, that is implicit acceptance of the offer to repair the camera, so it's probably too late to request a replacement.

But, if the fault returns, you can claim that the camera is inherently faulty, and does not meet the sale of goods act. Then demand a replacement.

The year's guarantee is also very misleading. Professional trade bodies will tell you how long you can reasonably expect an item to last. If the item fails within that time, and if it has not been abused, then you can reasonably demand a free repair. Of course, retailers won't tell you that because it costs them money.

A VCR, for example, can reasonably be expected to last for around 6 years. (If memory serves me correctly).

[apduk]

On a three week old camera, I think you're within your rights to request a new replacement. You are not obliged to accept a repair. However, as you sent the camera away, that is implicit acceptance of the offer to repair the camera, so it's probably too late to request a replacement.

But, if the fault returns, you can claim that the camera is inherently faulty, and does not meet the sale of goods act. Then demand a replacement.

The year's guarantee is also very misleading. Professional trade bodies will tell you how long you can reasonably expect an item to last. If the item fails within that time, and if it has not been abused, then you can reasonably demand a free repair. Of course, retailers won't tell you that because it costs them money.

A VCR, for example, can reasonably be expected to last for around 6 years. (If memory serves me correctly).

Thats very true, the UK law actually goes on the lines of , if the item is under 6 months old and develops a fault, it will be deemed as being faulty when it was purchased. If after 6 months it develops a fault, it is upto the owner of the item (you) to then prove it was faulty at the time of purchase.

If anyone else's camera breaks within 6 months of purchase, demand a replacement/refund, dont send it away. I wouldnt have anything fixed that was faulty within a month of purchase, id be asking for my money back.

Also to add to this, even if the item is replaced, you dont get a brand new 12 month warranty, it continues from the original purchase date. This why I always want my money back, as you then start a fresh warranty if you re-buy the item again.

[andrewkendall]

My camera was finally returned at the end of July! I gave it a try and the problem I sent it away for was fixed - by that I mean it switched on. Since then I've been busy so didn't have a chance to shoot anything properly until last week.

Since the repair it seems that something is wrong with the far right hand side of the image. I've tried capturing with several different programs, from tape and straight from cam, no difference. Old tapes pre repair look fine though. On top of that, the autofocus is much, much slower than before.

Does this look like a hardware problem?

http://www.andrewkendall.com/downloads/misc/hv20_problem.mov

[Ian-T]

tried downloading...but all I get is audio.

[andrewkendall]

tried downloading...but all I get is audio.

http://www.andrewkendall.com/downloads/misc/broken_hv20.zip

Here are some M2T samples (94.8MB) that play in VLC, footage before and after sending to Canon.

Check the right hand side to see what's now broken, what would cause this?