Overheat issues with DR-680

G

gpforet

Well-known member
well, it's happened to me now:

Three days in 95 degree F direct sunlight. Sitting in the recorder pouch of my porta-brace bag and being driven by a PSC Alphamix which was supplying 12V power to the Tascam via the DC power distro and running everything off of the Alphamix NP-1 battery system. Tracking 4 iso tracks.

Friday everything worked fine for the 12 hour day.

Saturday by around noon I started getting noise in the Alphamix headphone circuit. After a little troubleshooting I could get the noise to go away by disconnecting the power feed to the tascam and running the tascam using it's internal 8-AA batteries. The noise was not being injected into the recorded tracks, simply in the Alphamix monitoring circuit.

About 3 hours later, loud humming in the Tascam monitoring circuit, and also being injected onto the recorded tracks. Pulled the recorder out of the bag, and limped thru the rest of the day by shutting the recorder down often any time there appeared I would have a few minutes while the camera was moved.

Sunday, I tried to use the "shut-down often" approach and that worked until around 2 pm after shooting for about 6 hours. Keeping the recorder out of the bag helped a bit. At one point the recorder locked up and would not function or power down. I had to pull out a battery to get the unit to reset.

Needless to say, this has created a very worrisome environment and I was constantly powering down, and then hustling to power up, let the recorder boot, and hit record.

I have worked this recorder very hard in the past, but never this hard, in this much heat. I'm not sure what direction I'm going to take in a remedy which includes possible creating more ventilation in the bag, or and now seriously being considered, change recorders.

Just wanted to make everyone aware of the potential shortfall of this recorder. I believe I have read of one other person's problem with heat issues with this recorder.
 
There was a thread after this recorder was introduced about this exact issue. In the manual it states operation max = 104f. Probably if it was in the sun, working in a bag, you might have exceeded this pretty easily. I guess they weren't kidding. You should move to a more temperate climate.....just kidding.

Grant
 
I'm interested to know whether your DR-680 will work normally again when you move it back into a cooler indoor environment. In other words, was this just a transient overheating problem, or has something been permanently damaged by running it too hot for too long?

I have a Tascam HD-P2, but have not yet used it in such extreme conditions. However, some of my other equipment routinely spends hours outside in the summer sun, and on occasion has gotten too hot to touch. Nothing has acted up so far, but that 104°F limit (which translates to 40°C) is a pretty common one on the spec sheets I've seen.

- Greg
 
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The "ice pack" approach might work; also, I wonder about small battery operated fans? If you could fit one or two in a bag... When instrument amplifiers have over-heated or had poor ventillation, sometimes a fan will do the trick (heat dispersal). Of course you could have more trouble with noise...

GJ
 
I have noticed the 680 getting a little warm just sitting on my desk. Packed with the two largest sides in contact with a bag can't help the heat dissipation. Please report back if this turns into permanent damage.

Grant
 
The problem did seem transitory. When allowed to cool down a bit, everything returned to normal. Of course, cool down a bit is the key word, since it was probably only cooling by a few degrees when turned off for a few minutes. Whether the unit has now become heat sensitive is unknown at this time.

Greg Smith said:
I'm interested to know whether your DR-680 will work normally again when you move it back into a cooler indoor environment. In other words, was this just a transient overheating problem, or has something been permanently damaged by running it too hot for too long?

I have a Tascam HD-P2, but have not yet used it in such extreme conditions. However, some of my other equipment routinely spends hours outside in the summer sun, and on occasion has gotten too hot to touch. Nothing has acted up so far, but that 104°F limit (which translates to 40°C) is a pretty common one on the spec sheets I've seen.

- Greg
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yeah i've read about a few over heating issues but have yet to experience it. however, i don't use my 680 very often and usually when i do its only for like a day or two at a time but they are usually long days. i've got a couple of days coming up soon where i'll be rocking it both interior and exterior so i'll make sure to keep an eye out for such issues and try to keep her cool. thanks for the detailed report tho!
 
I've just had this same issue. It seams to overheat quite easily in the supplied bag, and especially when battery operated. Had noise and squeals come in and save to tracks, etc.

But the most frustrating thing that happened, was it once overheated, and was reading false battery levels apparently, and without warning shut down, not saving a 2 hour interview, which I had to retake. This has me questioning whether I am going to use it or not, since some of my interviewees are expert witnesses and some charge $1000/hr.

I have since kept it out of the bag for any recordings, always replace the batteries every 1.5hrs, and during any quick breaks restart the audio tracks so that they save to the card.
 
Right, thanks for reminding me. Mine gave false battery reading as well once it overheated. What supplied bag are you talking about? Mine did not come with a bag. I'm using it in my porta-brace mixer bag in the recorder pocket. I also have a wireless pocket hanging in front of that.

Ryan-Guy said:
I've just had this same issue. It seams to overheat quite easily in the supplied bag, and especially when battery operated. Had noise and squeals come in and save to tracks, etc.

But the most frustrating thing that happened, was it once overheated, and was reading false battery levels apparently, and without warning shut down, not saving a 2 hour interview, which I had to retake. This has me questioning whether I am going to use it or not, since some of my interviewees are expert witnesses and some charge $1000/hr.

I have since kept it out of the bag for any recordings, always replace the batteries every 1.5hrs, and during any quick breaks restart the audio tracks so that they save to the card.
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gpforet said:
Right, thanks for reminding me. Mine gave false battery reading as well once it overheated. What supplied bag are you talking about? Mine did not come with a bag. I'm using it in my porta-brace mixer bag in the recorder pocket. I also have a wireless pocket hanging in front of that.
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It came with a "cute" carrying case w/ strap. It has flaps to access the top, sides, front and batteries. Kinda handy actually if you are using it as a mixer/recorder. I must note that I had the Busman preamp mod, and when my 680 works, it sounds phenomenal, especiually paired to a cs3e. A must have if you don't have a mixer in front imho.
 
The run time on the 680 has been my only real disappointment with the recorder. Internal batteries work, but I am always nervous. This isn't so different than any field recorder, it's just that the 680 is what I would call, "the entry level bag recorder", which might mean it gets left on for longer periods than the handhelds I was using before. I really need to head towards external power.

Grant
 
BRH said:
Not very good run time.
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I'm not too impressed with the run time either, and I am still figuring out what it is capable of as a far as battery life goes. I've set that as a safe point for myself, because I know that I can run phantom power and mutilple tracks and still be safe. I'd rather replace batteries more often then have to redo an interview. I do believe I have gotten 4 hours out of it once. But after my little "power down and not save" event I am scared to push it. I'm still learning about what can be pushed and what cant, but I can tell you that they are not kidding about the 104f limit. KEEP IT COOL.
 
FWIW, I don't think many sound professionals run off internal batteries if they are using a bag. Especially so if a mixer is added to the er..mix. I looked into this a while back, and it seems like the NP1 system with a distribution box is still the most common and the most cost effective. It would be nice if the 680 had something besides that hokey-pokey plug in the side, like a 4pin XLR. If anyone has a better suggestion, I'm all ears. I like the 680, and feel that it is a good value, but sometimes I wish I had choked it up for a SD.

Grant
 
yeah, well we all learn. buy right or you buy twice… i bought mine to hold me over till i can choose between nomad or 788. i've only used it on 3 gigs so it quite hasn't paid itself off yet. but it is a very entry level recorder, but its the cheapest for me to get 5 iso's from my 552.
 
My Alphamix runs on an internal NP-1 and has power distro connectors that I use to power the DR-680. A good condition NP-1 will run the recorder and mixer for about 3.5 hours. I carry 3 batteries, + a 600 watt inverter that I can connect to my car. The batteries charge in about an hour. My charger can accomodate 4 batteries and charge sequentially. The initial cost of the charger was high, but I've found a source for batteries at about $30.00 a battery.

ggrantly said:
FWIW, I don't think many sound professionals run off internal batteries if they are using a bag. Especially so if a mixer is added to the er..mix. I looked into this a while back, and it seems like the NP1 system with a distribution box is still the most common and the most cost effective. It would be nice if the 680 had something besides that hokey-pokey plug in the side, like a 4pin XLR. If anyone has a better suggestion, I'm all ears. I like the 680, and feel that it is a good value, but sometimes I wish I had choked it up for a SD.

Grant
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mangler, at my level, which is as a generalist who wants to own his own sound gear, the 680 has enough audio quality and features to keep me happy. Mostly I wanted a bag recorder and getting 4 pre-amps at the price of the 680 is good. The build quality would be my only real concern; like that power plug.

gpforet, thanks for the info, that is very useful about run times.

Look to Dolgin for chargers....top notch stuff. I believe he is a site sponsor as well.

Grant
 
Bummer. I have the 680, hasn't overheated but how annoying. You know, those little laptop bases might be good to have, they act like a fan, heatsink combo.
Has it overheated outside of the bag?
 
I run SD302 mixer on 3 Lithium AA batteries for 2 eight hour days with a couple hours of battery left....running one T power mic.
 
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