Topic: Tascam HD-P2 freezing up while recording

[Kush]

I have run the HD-P2 on a 9.6V wally world lithium battery (without AA internals) a few times, all without issues. A few nights ago was my first time out running both internal AA's (Energizer 2450 mAh NiMH rechargeables)and the 9.6V wally world battery connected at the same time. I was under the impression that the HD-P2 would switch between battery options automatically when the voltage dropped below a certain level. First set, no problems. Set break goes by and I hit record when the lights go back down for the second set. I only get about 8 seconds into the set and I notice the time stop and the recording levels dropping all the way down. The deck is frozen (yes, I checked the hold button); can't get it to do anything, even turn off. I popped out a AA battery and unhooked the external power cable to the wally world battery. The deck finally turns off. I pop the AA battery back in and hook up the external battery. The deck turns on and I begin to record again. Same thing happens, about 20 seconds into the recording the time stops and the recording levels drop, everything is frozen. This cycle continues maybe 3 more times before I get smart enough to only hook up the external battery and leave out one of the AA's. I record the rest of the show without issues.

Is this a known problem? Has this ever happened to anyone else? Seems like I should only have one power source plugged in at a time.

[JasonSobel]

you're problem is likely the combination of the 9.6V battery and the AA batteries.

The specs on the HD-P2 call for 12V operation, though many people have found that the deck works with a 9.6V external battery.

The HD-P2 does seamlessly switch between power sources, it automatically chooses the highest voltage source to use.  With the 8 internal AA's, the internal battery voltage is at 12V, while the external battery is only supplying 9.6V.  So the HD-P2 chooses to use the highest voltage power source, in this case, the internal batteries.  My guess is that even with the internal batteries 99% dead, it was still a higher voltage source than the external power, so it was still trying to use the internal batteries, even though they were completely dead.  It wasn't until you removed the internal AA's completely that it would try to use the power from the external 9.6V pack.

My suggestion is to either (1) just use the external 9.6v battery and not use the combination of internal AA + external battery.  or (2) get a 12V external pack, so that the HD-P2 will use the external battery first, and then switch to internal AA's when the voltage of the external battery drops below that of the internal AA's.

[dallman]

I remember an old thread somewhere that talked about this. Keeping AA batteries in the unit and using external power runs the risk Jason mentioned above. It is better to run external with no internals or to be sure they are fresh.

That said, I always have internal AA's in my deck more for emergency use. I try to keep them fresh and have never had a problem. One particularly good trick for me, is that I have my deck set to keep the backlight on at all times with external power, but I also have it set for the backlight to go 30 seconds then go off when using the internal batteries. That way when I am at my one annual festival, I run off external power, but when the backlight goes off, I know that my external battery has dies and it is time to plug in my back up external battery.

One thing that I think makes a huge difference, is that all of my external batteries are 12v. This way, the external is always going to take precidence over the internals, so I don't think I's ever run into a freeze unless the externals dies and the internals were dead or near dead. This alons is the reason I would never go with a 9v external battery.

It is a good emergency backup too. I had a bad external battery and did not know it. It showed up as a bad cable from time to time, but since the backlight would go off, I'd be alerted. Each time that happened, the internal batteries kicked in so I never lost a second of recording.

[ero3030]

told u to take those dam aa's out   hope u figure it out    ed

[kirk97132]

I've since sold my P2 for an R-44 BUT the only lock up I ever had with it was when the internal batteries went dead. 

[Kush]

told u to take those dam aa's out   hope u figure it out    ed

Thanks for helping me salvage the rest of the second set Ed, you were spot on with that call. I'm not going to run both internal and external batteries at the same time anymore, thanks for the help guys.

[KenH]

Or you might be able to use NiMH batteries at 1.2V each * 8 = 9.6V along with the external 9.6V source. 
That's all I've ever used internally, along with an external 10 AA (NiMH) battery sled for 1.2V*10=12V.

[Kush]

Or you might be able to use NiMH batteries at 1.2V each * 8 = 9.6V along with the external 9.6V source. 
That's all I've ever used internally, along with an external 10 AA (NiMH) battery sled for 1.2V*10=12V.

The internals I was using at the time of freezing were Energizer 1.2V 2450 mAh NiMH rechargeables. I suspect Jason Sobel hit the nail on the head, saying that the near dead AA internals were giving off better voltage than the supposed 9.6V wally world external. At any rate, I'm not going to tempt the fate of another recording with both power sources connected at the same time.

[KenH]

fwiw I've always powered my HD-P2 with both of these at the same time:
- internal: 8x1.2V NiMH batteries (internal) and
- external: PowerRunner LiIon universal battery set at "9-12V"

and have never had a problem.

[dallman]

fwiw I've always powered my HD-P2 with both of these at the same time:
- internal: 8x1.2V NiMH batteries (internal) and
- external: PowerRunner LiIon universal battery set at "9-12V"

and have never had a problem.

You should never have a problem if the external is at 12v. It will run at 9v, but because of this issue, I'd never run this way. I use the Power Runner and/or the Tekkeon, and this solves the problem.

[KenH]

Ran an recording/powering experiment last night, and the results would seem to contradict some of the observations made above. 

• Mics -> XLR -> Tascam (phantom power on)
• 9V LiIon eBay battery (external, plugged into the AC jack of the P2)
• 8xNiMH AA's (internal P2)

Power/Voltage readings (per the P2), taken before, during, and after completing the test, were pretty much identical:

• 9V LiIon eBay battery - fluctuated btw 8.97-9.11V
• 8xNiMH AA's - 10.13V

Recorded for 3 hrs, 33 mins @ 24/96.  the P2 was running on External power for the entire duration, despite the higher voltage readings of the internal AAs.

My P2 is at Version 1.04, Bootloader Version BL2.

[KenH]

Now here I go contradicting myself.  After recording Club d'Elf on sunday using 8xAA NiMH internal and the 9V ebay LiOn battery (external), I found that the AA batteries were about 70-75% used up, while the LiOn battery went down 1 level. This tells me that the P2 was running primarily on internal battery power even though the indicator read "plugged in" (AC power indicator from the LiOn).    Weird, but sort of makes sense since the 8xAA's read >10V, while the LiOn stays around 9V.   I though the power indicator in the lower left indicates what power source is being used, but now I think it can indicate plugged in external power while actually running on the internal AA's.

Or something like that.

[Kush]

I thought the power indicator in the lower left indicates what power source is being used, but now I think it can indicate plugged in external power while actually running on the internal AA's.

I think it just indicates an external power source is presently plugged in, not what source it's drawing it's power from.

[KenH]

I thought the power indicator in the lower left indicates what power source is being used, but now I think it can indicate plugged in external power while actually running on the internal AA's.

I think it just indicates an external power source is presently plugged in, not what source it's drawing it's power from.

Yep, that's my conclusion too.

[Kush]

You should never have a problem if the external is at 12v. It will run at 9v, but because of this issue, I'd never run this way. I use the Power Runner and/or the Tekkeon, and this solves the problem.

Those Tekkeon myPower ALL batteries are expensive. Which model do you recommend?