V3 spike

[vwmule]

Any idea what would cause the V3 levels to suddenly spike? It's happened a few times. I think it's because the bag gets moved, which much rattle the cable or something. But it causes a severe spike in the levels that shows up in the recording. Do I have a bad cable or is there something internal I need to address?

[hi and lo]

Yep. Sounds like you've got a bad cable.

Time for some testing at home to see if you can reproduce and isolate the issue. I assume you're running XLR cables, so if you're not in a hurry I'd highly recommend a picking up a cable tester like this. A device like this will make it easier to hunt for shorts that only happen when you wiggle a cable just the right way and avoids having to hunt for intermittent shorts using expensive field equipment.

[vwmule]

Would it be the power cable or XLR? Seems power more likely.

[drewski1986]

same thing happened to me when my lc3ka cable for my neumanns had a short in it.  There was a short or something very close to where the extension cable went into the mic body.  Had the cable repaired and no more spikes when my bag got moved.  It may be  one of your cables from your mics to your pre.  Not sure if the cables leaving the pre to the recorder would have the same result but they might.  I found mine by hitting record and playing with the cables until it spiked.  It didn't take very long for my situation.  Hope you can find it and get it repaired.

[hi and lo]

Would it be the power cable or XLR? Seems power more likely.

A bad interconnect is more likely based on your description, but can you specify the entire recording chain?

If your power cable has a short, far worse can happen. Maybe the unit power cycles, which would more obviously indicate a power connector issue. Then there is the possibility of a battery fire in your bag. I do recall that the V3 power input connector can be fickle, but a spike in recording levels typically indicates a bad interconnect and not something more serious.

[kirk97132]

Could be that you need to spread the center pin on the V3.  It's a known issue. Common fix is to put a small piece of rubber band in the split.  Can happen even with the locking nut is secure and would be a prime culprit for bag moving.

[vwmule]

Thanks for the feedback, guys. I'll give it a thorough look.

[F.O.Bean]

Could be that you need to spread the center pin on the V3.  It's a known issue. Common fix is to put a small piece of rubber band in the split.  Can happen even with the locking nut is secure and would be a prime culprit for bag moving.

Jon Merin had this happen at moedown 2004, and I had a small screwdriver and fixed the issue for good. So I would start with that

[hi and lo]

Except that the symptoms aren't indicative of a power failure. Start with the interconnects.

[F.O.Bean]

Except that the symptoms aren't indicative of a power failure. Start with the interconnects.

I dunno, it def could be an interconnect issue. But when I buy new gear I put it thru some pretty nasty bag kicks and shaking around in my bag to see if all of my connections were good, and 9 times out of 10, if I was having spikes or the like, it was because of subpar power connections. I didnt trust the Sony L/M style 7xx batts because they kept dying on me, so I switched to 9.6v NIMH RC batts, and I was always nervous of all the connections, so once duct taped before every show, things were 100%, but if I didnt have the batts placed perfectly in my bag and the RC batts werent taped, I had spikes, so thats why I would at least start by tweaking the v3s split on the inside of the power connector. Even if its not a power issue, then it still couldnt hurt to fix that now and avoid problems in the future

As always, YMMV!

[kirk97132]

Except that the symptoms aren't indicative of a power failure. Start with the interconnects.

I read the OP as it happens on both channels at the same time.  I'd check power first.  sounds like a quick intermittent power on/off/on issue. Odds of both cables going bad at the exact same time are pretty low.  And this check/fix is the easiest and simplest.  Just my .02 cents.

[vwmule]

Did some examining and think it's the power cable -- the "quick intermittent power on/off/on issue" as mentioned above. I could recreate the problem twice, with some tugging, pulling on the power cord. I don't quite understand the rubber band fix; can you explain?

[kirk97132]

Did some examining and think it's the power cable -- the "quick intermittent power on/off/on issue" as mentioned above. I could recreate the problem twice, with some tugging, pulling on the power cord. I don't quite understand the rubber band fix; can you explain?

If you look closely at the center pin in the power connector on your V3 you will see it is split down the middle.  It could be VERY hard to see in your case as the to halves are probably squeezed together.  you need to spread them apart.  And a way to keep this from happening again is to insert a small piece of rubber band in the split to keep it apart.  Silicone will last longer.  Here is what it should look like:

[vwmule]

That photo helps a lot. So force a small piece of rubber band between the slits? That won't mess up the power connection?

[edtyre]

That photo helps a lot. So force a small piece of rubber band between the slits? That won't mess up the power connection?

Yes, i had the same exact problem with my V-3 and that was the solution.