Zoom H4n , old version , Phantom kills batteries , short in DC-DC Converter ?

[nashkato]

Hi

No luck in finding any schematics , did contact Zoom Germany , or any useful information other than send it in and we will see , should be around 100€ without taxes and shipping .
Well , that´s not worth it .

Have not opened it up yet , never seen one from the inside .
i´m prepared to do rudimentary SMD soldering .

symtpoms : working with Phantom On , once you connect the condenser the Zoom shuts down .
disconnect the mics and turn it on again , batteries are fully charged .
problem is not with dynamic mics  and phantom on/off
Never tried it with external PS , guess it would just overheat ?

anyone worked on one of those and can tell me what i´m up against ?
Should i even bother to open it up or just leave it and use it with the internal mics ?

cheers
David

 

[gyraf]

tried with a different cable?

tried with a different phantom-powered microphone?

..to exclude external errs..

 

[nashkato]

yes and yes

 

[Whoops]

Should i even bother to open it up or just leave it and use it with the internal mics ?

Well you have nothing to loose, sending to Zoom is a prohibitive value. Might just well try to fix it.

I would power it up with an external Bench PSU with current limiting to see if the problem persists

 

[gyraf]

Are you sure your H4 actually has a problem?  from a quick search, it seems it was always considered nororious for killing batteries when used for generating p48, often used with external phantom power..

http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?259059-Zoom-H4N-Issues

/Jakob E.

 

[Whoops]

Are you sure your H4 actually has a problem?  from a quick search, it seems it was always considered nororious for killing batteries when used for generating p48, often used with external phantom power..

The problem the op describes it doesn't seem to be related to Draining batteries quickly (minutes)  when on phantom.

It seems it shuts down straight away:
"symtpoms : working with Phantom On , once you connect the condenser the Zoom shuts down ."


nashkato, if you have a fresh/new pack of alkaline batteries and turn the phantom power, does it shuts off immediately or takes some time?

 

[Gus]

have you tried the following?
https://service.shure.com/s/article/how-to-test-phantom-power-voltage-and-current?language=en_US

What are the current draw ratings of the phantom powered microphones you tried?

 

[nashkato]

I would power it up with an external Bench PSU with current limiting to see if the problem persists

i will do that , thanks .

that also might answer if i really do have a problem .
i‘m aware of the reports that they drain batteries quite fast , but not even 2 to 4 minutes with a pair of C451 with ck1 ?
that‘d suggest quite some design flaws . i‘d be happy with half an hour .
further ... once the condensers are not connected the before „empty“ batteries do have full charge again .

gus : i will have a look at the shure article , thanks.

in the meantime i used two good dynamics for one session in a big church .
recorded acoustic guitar and it turns out the preamps , as described on the net , are more or less useless when you need more gain . snr is far from acceptable in fact you cannot make any serious recordings on quite sources .

 

[cyrano]

The AKG C451 draws a lot of phantom power, if it's an old one. How old is yours?

 

[nashkato]

The AKG C451 draws a lot of phantom power, if it's an old one. How old is yours?

old 
it´s the same with a pair of SE4400a , if not even worse