Smallhd DP4 over heating problem  (1 of 4)

Over the last year or so, i have basically stopped taking the SmallHD DP4 out on jobs. The reason is because it would usually start to fail on me after a few hours of use. The monitor would start to get warm, then suddenly it would shut down. I’d change out batteries and get no response, but if I left it alone for an hour or so it would eventually turn back on.

Smallhd DP4 over heating problem  (2 of 4)

After all this time, I decided to contact SmallHD to see if they had any solutions to offer. The first thing they said was, “It’s probably your battery connector plate”. While I knew there were multiple options for battery power with the DP4 I didn’t realize this was a point of failure. The rep instructed me to thread a 1/4 20 stud into the side of the monitor and use it to pry the back off of the unit.

Smallhd DP4 over heating problem  (3 of 4)

Apparently the power from the back plate comes in on these two pins. He said it was a good idea to clean them off every once in awhile, if they get too dirty it can create a bad electrical connection between the monitor and the battery plate casing the monitor to fail.

Smallhd DP4 over heating problem  (4 of 4)

The guy from SmallHD also told me that my heating problems were probably due to these spring clips on the battery plate itself. If these pins aren’t properly seated against the back of the monitor, heat can cause them to pull back a small amount as the plastic plate they are attached to expands, which in turn causes the screen to lose power. He said the best thing to do was to clean the ends of the pins and lightly pull on them so that they apply more pressure to the contacts on the back of the monitor.

I left the screen on for 2 hours yesterday in the heat and didn’t have any problems. I might risk taking it with me on next week’s shoot to see how reliable this fix really is. Hopefully this simple trick solves the problem.

Tags: , ,