Topic: TASCAM DR-680 portable 8-track #4

[Chuck]

Anyone ever experienced an issue with the DR-680 they believe would be related to overheating?

Yes, my DR-680 started to distort on all inputs recording Wilco at Red Rocks in June. The bottom of the recorder near the power jack was really hot. It was in the high 90's that day too. When I got the recorder home, I tested it and the LCD screen showed that I was on AC power even though I tested it with the internal batteries, and it wouldn't record anymore. I sent it to Tascam for repair. $182 to replace the power supply board. Now, I was running three pairs of condenser mics. One of those pairs was Audix M1290's, which draw 5-6 mA each. Tascam said that load should be a problem with the recorder, but...

FWIW, in my field bag, the bottom of the recorder is covered over, so I'm going to re-arrange things to leave some space around the bottom for air circulation.

Bingo! Thanks Chuck, this is the EXACT behavior I experienced this weekend (unfortunately also at wilco) and have been able to reproduce while troubleshooting at home. I'm running the 680 in the same gear bag as my AD2k+ and after 90 minutes or so, when everything is beyond hot-to-the-touch, the 680 preamps start to go completely haywire and if you pull the AC Adapter, the unit continues to behave as though it is on AC.

Problem goes away as soon as the unit is cooled. Not sure if replacing the power supply board would do anything or if it's actually damaged. Quite possibly this is normal behavior when overheating. There's absolutely nothing wrong with the deck once it cools back down.

That is very strange. Mine was not OK after that incident. Like I said $182 for a new power supply board. How many mics were you running?

I also had a strange experience recording the Samples last year. It was also very hot that time. My levels started to go up and down in a cyclical manner... I sent it to Tascam, they checked it out and said it was working fine.

[hi and lo]

Anyone ever experienced an issue with the DR-680 they believe would be related to overheating?

Yes, my DR-680 started to distort on all inputs recording Wilco at Red Rocks in June. The bottom of the recorder near the power jack was really hot. It was in the high 90's that day too. When I got the recorder home, I tested it and the LCD screen showed that I was on AC power even though I tested it with the internal batteries, and it wouldn't record anymore. I sent it to Tascam for repair. $182 to replace the power supply board. Now, I was running three pairs of condenser mics. One of those pairs was Audix M1290's, which draw 5-6 mA each. Tascam said that load should be a problem with the recorder, but...

FWIW, in my field bag, the bottom of the recorder is covered over, so I'm going to re-arrange things to leave some space around the bottom for air circulation.

Bingo! Thanks Chuck, this is the EXACT behavior I experienced this weekend (unfortunately also at wilco) and have been able to reproduce while troubleshooting at home. I'm running the 680 in the same gear bag as my AD2k+ and after 90 minutes or so, when everything is beyond hot-to-the-touch, the 680 preamps start to go completely haywire and if you pull the AC Adapter, the unit continues to behave as though it is on AC.

Problem goes away as soon as the unit is cooled. Not sure if replacing the power supply board would do anything or if it's actually damaged. Quite possibly this is normal behavior when overheating. There's absolutely nothing wrong with the deck once it cools back down.

That is very strange. Mine was not OK after that incident. Like I said $182 for a new power supply board. How many mics were you running?

I also had a strange experience recording the Samples last year. It was also very hot that time. My levels started to go up and down in a cyclical manner... I sent it to Tascam, they checked it out and said it was working fine.

I've experienced the exact same issues. Cyclical levels and also completely cutting in and out, but my deck is indeed still operating normally once cooled. I am slightly nervous because at its peak temperature I could hear an audible high-pitched whining (it immediately stopped when I powered the deck down) and I'm slightly concerned it could have been gas leaking from a capacitor. Maybe i'll open up the unit and take a look to ensure nothing has visibly leaked.

[achalsey]

I ran mine for the second time on saturday.  Outside in the middle of the day and it got too hot to touch.  Made me a little worried after reading these threads.  Ended up fine but am thinking about getting a little battery powered fan to keep in the bag.

Maybe something like this:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Hand-held-Mini-Green-Super-Mute-USB-Battery-Operated-Cooling-Fan-/380453793010?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5894d02cf2#ht_1889wt_1190

[hi and lo]

One more note... I've reproduced this issue using both 9v and 12v power supplies. What I haven't yet figured out is if either one creates additional heat within the 680s power supply. It was hot as hell (bottom right corner of the 680) last night when I yanked the 12v battery.

[runonce]

Dang you guys!

Everytime I get close to pulling the trigger on one of these boxes - you guys come up with a new problem!!!

Im not super concerned as I almost always run on AC - and indoors...with AC(air cond)

But I'd hate to go down on the handful of outdoor events I do...

[hi and lo]

I'm not yet concerned, nor should anyone else be. There have been many recorders known to malfunction in excessive heat.

The ad2k gets SCORCHING hot without ventilation.

[Chuck]

I agree. My first one completely died on me. The replacement unit was doing the cyclical volume then the internal power supply died. But, I still like it and will continue to use it.

I do want to know what the exact circumstances this has happen to other people on though. If this is due to too much current draw from mics, or just high heat.
I almost always run three sets of mics, or two sets and SBD feed. I'm blaming the M1290's, but maybe it wasn't them?

edit to add the mics that I was running when my power supply choked:

95 degree day

(2) Microtech Gefell M300's   3.3mA each
(2) AKG C-483                    < 2mA each
(2) Audix M1290   estimated 5-6 mA each

[hi and lo]

Hrm. Well so far during at-home testing, I haven't had any issues if only the 680 + 3 pairs of mics are running. It ran all night with no issues in this setup, but there was plenty of ventilation for the 680 in the gear bag.

It wasn't 95 degrees though. More like 75.

[bobbygeeWOW]

yeah heat is the enemy of electronics.. my v3 runs d@mned hot in the sun since its designed to shed heat through the aluminum body heat sink.
Sitting next to the dr-680 makes things toasty so I try to maintain air around everything, separate the v3 from to isolate its heat...
used an umbrella to shade things.

Then realized that reflective sheet would be the way to go to keep sun off, like that tent material that's nylon coated with some sort of silver stuff on one side.
And just as DeadheadEd and I were plotting this wild new idea, Rob walks over and tells us that he did just that at Rockygrass and kept his stuff running at 80F while it was over 100F outside (keeping the cool moist earth temperature in)......and then I notice that Barrett is doing exactly that right next to us!
Barrett's was a silver emergency blanket, but not the loud crinkly space blanket style, more like silver rain gear material.

[runonce]

I guess the question is - is it the battery suffering in the heat - or the unit itself.

Somehow - I want to blame the hot battery...

[Gutbucket]

I doubt it's the battery.  Never had a problem with the same DVD batteries powering an R44 and/or a V3 in the same situation other years.  I've only paired the V3 with the 680 in less thermally changed conditions, but when I do it's arranged right under the recorder, seperated only by the optional snug fitting cover my 680 lives in, both of them inside the main compartment of a soft-sided cooler bag (itself insulated, if weakly) along with the batteries.

The time I had the issue was in very hot direct sun, cooler bag zipped up to protect from ramdom beer spillage except a small opening for cables.  Recorder was running constantly for a few sets while I was away.  Came back to check things and start a new file between sets and found it very hot.  It was over a year ago and I'm sketchy on what the exact issue was- may have been oddly pulsing levels, menu freezing, or somthing like that.  I powered down let it cool a bit, powered back up then proped open the bag lid and kept it shadded with a Gakbrella or white rain towel.  Worked fine the remainder of the weekend and ever since.  I've kept the bag shaded and lid cracked in similar hot conditions at the same place since and the problem hasn't re-occured.

[edit- I was running phantom on all 6 channels at the time - significant, but probably not an overly huge current draw. I'd have to go back and check to be sure of which mics, but I think it was 4 AudioTechnica PFAs powering the Tetramic + 2 Niant PFAs powering 4060s.  At the same hot situation place since, I've also run 4 Niant PFAs w/4060s + a pair of Gefell M94/M692. 

[Chuck]

I wonder if this thing would work?

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00303287000P?sid=IDx01192011x000001&srccode=cii_17588969&cpncode=26-155746614-2

It says it has unique cooling crystals. I'd rather use heat sinking material than a fan...

[bobbygeeWOW]

That's interesting. Seems its basically a heat sink that would absorb heat from your laptop and disperse it across its entire body.
Sort of like what the aluminum case of the V3 does.
There might be a way to rig that up to be effective.

[dgpretzel]

Thank you, Gutbucket, for the info on the direct use of unbalanced input.


I have noticed that several folks are using some kind of stubby XLR connectors in their DR-680's.  If the phone jack inputs are identical to the XLR inputs, I could just as easily use right angle phone plugs, right?   I'm thinking I could get XLR female to 1/4" male TRS (balanced) adapter cables, and use them, instead of chopped XLR sonnectors.  Is there any special advantage to using the custom XLR connectors?  The phone plugs would also not require a fixed orientation.

Thank you for comments.

Regards,

DG

[Chuck]

Thank you, Gutbucket, for the info on the direct use of unbalanced input.


I have noticed that several folks are using some kind of stubby XLR connectors in their DR-680's.  If the phone jack inputs are identical to the XLR inputs, I could just as easily use right angle phone plugs, right?   I'm thinking I could get XLR female to 1/4" male TRS (balanced) adapter cables, and use them, instead of chopped XLR sonnectors.  Is there any special advantage to using the custom XLR connectors?  The phone plugs would also not require a fixed orientation.

Thank you for comments.

Regards,

DG

The standard right angle TRS plugs don't work. At least the ones I've tried. They don't clear the well where they plug into. Plus, TRS plugs can pull out. XLR's lock.