Hi, i was gifted an EOS 250D in mid 2022. Each time I've used it it has been great (though it really didn't get as much use as I wish it had up until recently) it was brought with me on holiday 2 weeks ago and worked perfectly! But after coming home and starting to use it again... well as of last week it wont turn on reliably. I've tried 3 different batteries all fully charged. I've tried cleaning the contact points with a clean q tips nothing's working. The only temporary fix is rubbing the contact points on the batteries with a cloth or q tip but as soon as the cameras turned off it's back to bot working. This camera is always kept in a camera bag. It's had no contact with water. Its never been dropped. The only thing I can even think is coming home from my trip the camera was, while secured inside the camera bag, placed in my suitcase. Though to my knowledge it was not hit, tossed around or had anything piled ontop of it. (Travelled by coach. Coach was full enough to not have cases bumping around but not full enough to pile cases on eachother)
I would suspect that the batteries may have expired and even though they show a full charge they still may not have enough energy to power the camera. Rechargeable batteries only have a certain life span and if they are over 5 years old, subjected to heavy use or left uncharged for long periods then they have probably reached the end of their life. Cleaning contacts rarely achieves anything useful.
Lithium ion batteries will eventually fail to take a charge if they're allowed to sit depleted for too long. The best way to maintain a lithium ion battery is to use it periodically, a partial discharge is usually sufficient, and charge it back up. This is a bit different from nickel cadmium batteries, which prefer to be fully discharged and given a 'deep cycle' charge to maintain optimal health. I try to remember to occasionally pull my spare batteries out of the camera bag to top off the charge, just to keep them healthy. It might be worthwhile to get a brand new battery, charge it up and see how the camera likes it.
Yeah i haven't done anything special, but i surely try to remember once or twice a year to top off all my canon batteries that have just been sitting. Knock on wood, even the twenty year old ones for my 20d still work.
