AE-1 Program drains batteries! Has anyone heard of this happening?

[HexInverter]

How big is the current during battery check?
edit: don't the batteries in Canada have an expiry date on them?

Yes! Canada does have expiry dates on batteries

Both of the batteries I bought check out according to the expiry dates. 2015 or something for each of them. I have no doubt in my mind that there is a problem with the camera. It was not a bad battery to begin with...

That is a good question on the battery check current draw!!! I did not think of that.

Okay, measured it with both the camera in "A" and "L" mode with the battery test button depressed. When in L (off) mode, there is no current draw as expected - in A (on) mode, it draws 57mA of current. That's almost double what it draws when metering. That seems like a nominal current draw to me though, no? I really have nothing to compare it to. I would think a short would show ~250mA (which is what the battery alone and shorted tests as).

@ John - thank you for that information. Now we're getting somewhere! I am going to follow your guide and pull it apart tomorrow after school if I can't think of anything else before then.

Again, thanks for all the responses guys. Your advice is greatly appreciated!

[HexInverter]

Have you removed the winder to test the camera?
Access to the main switch is through the top cover. The cover around the lens mount is removed first.The back light switch is under this too.
If you do this set the Iso to 100 and shutter speed to B. This is only reference for reassembly so all the woodjies line up.Remove the RW knob & Iso dial. It's pretty straight forward.
On the wind side of the camera, wind lever, washers(keep in order) misc stuff. 5(?) screws and cover will lift off but there's a wire soldered to the hot shoe.
The Lock position is actually a mechanical block to keep the meter from inadvertently turned on
'That should give you access to the entire top section of the main board and switches.
On occasion the main switch stack will be defective, it's a stack of contacts and insulators near the front of the camera and the insulators become defective.

Okay! Missed your query the first time somehow. Yes, I did test it with the winder off, as well as on...same readings.

So, I have started to take the camera apart as you described. I am stuck with the rewind lever though - how does the very top come off the rod? I figured how to take the clip off to release the ISO control, but the top winder/lever part I cannot seem to figure out how to remove. I've fiddled with it a bit but don't want to bugger it up too badly...

[HexInverter]

Okay...I'm in now! 'Figured out how to get the lever off. The main switch appears to be in tact and functioning correctly.

What else should I be looking for? Man is it ever a crammed design! Holy moley.

I can't visibly spot anything that would indicate a short or other malfunctioning. Some ideas would be grand! Thanks!

[John Koehrer]

I'll see if I can find some information on current draw for you, some old natcam manuals lying around = )

[Pavel_Urusov]

This is a known problem... My Canon A-1 was draining batteries really fast until I cleaned the contacts and insulators around battery check button/finder LED switch. AE-1P doesn't have finder LED switch, but I think battery check button is worth looking at.

[HexInverter]

This is a known problem... My Canon A-1 was draining batteries really fast until I cleaned the contacts and insulators around battery check button/finder LED switch. AE-1P doesn't have finder LED switch, but I think battery check button is worth looking at.

Yeah, I've heard about that causing problems. It looks like it's a really big job to pull off the front panel to get to the battery contacts, but I think I might have to.

[John Koehrer]

In my quest through my manuals, I didn't find current draw for the AE1p. But for the A1 and AE1 switch in "on" camera idling, the current was measured at less than 10 microamps.