misound Posted October 9, 2012 Report Share Posted October 9, 2012 Hi there, I was wandering if anyone has ever experienced any problems powering a Sound Devices 744T using the hirose 4 pin with an NP29 NiCad having the machine's battery un-plugged? Apparently Sound Devices advices the users to keep the machine's battery always plugged in while powering it externally. Is there any reasons why I shouldnt do this? Can this damage the machine? I am planning to power my 744T using the NP29 NiCad and was thinking that if I'll keep the sound devices battery plugged in at the same time then the NP29 will keep charging the machine's battery and powering the device at the same time incurring in less power life. Any thoughts and ideas will be much appreciated. Thanks in Advance Marco Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soundslikejustin Posted October 9, 2012 Report Share Posted October 9, 2012 Hi there, I was wandering if anyone has ever experienced any problems charging a Sound Devices 744T using the hirose 4 pin with an NP29 NiCad having the machine's battery un-plugged. Apparently Sound Devices advices the users to keep the machine's battery always plugged in while charging it externally. Is there any reasons why I shouldnt do this? Can this damage the machine? I am planning to power my 744T using the NP29 NiCad and was thinking that if I'll keep the sound devices battery plugged in at the same time then the NP29 will keep charging the machine's battery and the device at the same time incurring in less power life. Any thoughts and ideas will be much appreciated. Thanks in Advance Marco If you charge the battery in the 744T first, the internal charger won't function (or only for a very short period) and add to your power draw. Then when you have to swap out the external battery, the internal will temporarily take over. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misound Posted October 10, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 10, 2012 If you charge the battery in the 744T first, the internal charger won't function (or only for a very short period) and add to your power draw. Then when you have to swap out the external battery, the internal will temporarily take over. Thanks for your quick response. I think I have said charging in my post but I meant powering the machine while at work. I guess you are mentioning to have the 744s battery plugged in but what If I use the 744T with the NP29 only? Will that damage the machine? Sound Devices advices to have their battery plugged in at all the times during use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philip Perkins Posted October 10, 2012 Report Share Posted October 10, 2012 SD advises having the battery on the recorder as a backup to your external power--ie if that is lost in mid-take the machine will switch over. The recorder will work fine w/o a battery onboard and only ext power (the default is ext power). philp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soundslikejustin Posted October 10, 2012 Report Share Posted October 10, 2012 SD advises having the battery on the recorder as a backup to your external power--ie if that is lost in mid-take the machine will switch over. The recorder will work fine w/o a battery onboard and only ext power (the default is ext power). philp What Phil said. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gpiegari Posted October 10, 2012 Report Share Posted October 10, 2012 Simply put, there is no advantage at all to running it without the on-board and lots to gain in terms of fail-safe and uninterrupted external swaps. Glen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RPSharman Posted October 10, 2012 Report Share Posted October 10, 2012 And if your Hirose cable is wired to 1 & 4 only, the external battery will not charge the onboard battery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soundslikejustin Posted October 10, 2012 Report Share Posted October 10, 2012 And if your Hirose cable is wired to 1 & 4 only, the external battery will not charge the onboard battery. Didn't know that - thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misound Posted October 10, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 10, 2012 Thanks everyone for their input! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
studiomprd Posted October 10, 2012 Report Share Posted October 10, 2012 " Didn't know that - " another reason to RTFM... good (and important) stuff like that... it's in the book... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misound Posted March 12, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 12, 2013 Hi guys just going back on this old topic. I came across another problem.. I have made an Hirose cable wired to 1 & 4 only (as RPSharman mentioned) to be able to power my 744 externally ONLY without charging it but for some strange reason the orange LED still blinks and charges the machine at same time as powering it. Now just to specify, the cable was made by a professional engineer and I went back to him to double test the cable and nothing wrong was found with it. So my question is,, Is anyone aware of any problems with firmwire 2.66v giving this problem? Or do you have any other thoughts on why this is happening? Thanks in advance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt.kraus Posted March 12, 2013 Report Share Posted March 12, 2013 See the chart at top of page 60 of the 744T user manual re: "External DC Input Wiring / Operation." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Wielage Posted March 13, 2013 Report Share Posted March 13, 2013 Matt has clearly RTFM! Even though I almost never use it, I would never be without the internal battery on these machines, just in the event of an emergency (or extreme stupidity). I always make it a point to check the display at the beginning of each shoot day so I can make sure the 788's power is correct. Once in a blue moon, I'll disconnect it for some reason, and it's merrily going along at 7.1V from the L battery. I've caught that a couple of times -- never lost a recording, but it's still a scary situation to realize you only have a belt and no suspenders. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misound Posted March 13, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 13, 2013 OK Matt thanks for pointing that out on the manual and I have myself RTFM (Thanks Mark) but I thought that as RPSharman mentioned and hopefully he had experienced, if you only wired 1&4 pin on the hirose you are able to only power the internal battery without charging it. Anyways my main question to you guys is Do you know if there is any way to NOT charge the internal battery at the same time as powering the unit using an external source? Basically I wasnt looking for something you can read on a manual but something out of the box. Maybe I will have to address my question directly to the SD people. Thanks for the comments. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BAB414 Posted March 13, 2013 Report Share Posted March 13, 2013 What if you attach the L battery but not slide it in completely? Then it won't charge, and when u want to switch, just make sure to slide it in all the way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
studiomprd Posted March 13, 2013 Report Share Posted March 13, 2013 " Maybe I will have to address my question directly to the SD people. " We all know how difficult that is, but sometimes ya' gotta do it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.