Pocket 4K overheats SD-Card

Hi,

I tried to shoot a video, longer than one hour, with external powersupply.

The second time now the camera stopped recording - this time at only 33 minutes.

When I touched the camera one hour later, it was still hot and when I took out the SD-Card it was very hot (hard to quantify but felt like the point before it hurts to touch it). I think thats the reason why it stopped recording.

What can I do about that? Is my Pocket 4K faulty?

The fans are working normally I guess, even though there was only a little slight breeze of hot air coming out the bottom.

Thanks for any advice!

Which card exactly are you using?

Thanks for the question.

I did a few tests in a warm room:

1. With battery and Sabrent Rocket V60 500GB SD-Card
-> It worked for 1:30h, then it stopped recording. I could barely touch the card, because it was burning hot.

2. With battery and SanDisk V30 500GB MicroSD-Card with Adapter
-> It worked over 2h. When I stopped recording manually, the card was so hot that I could touch it only one second before it burned my finger (still a bit burned on my fingertip). But the card seemed to not care about it. The battery was not that hot, when I pulled it out.

3. Without battery and with SanDisk V30 500GB MicroSD-Card with Adapter
-> Pretty much the same as with battery.


So I made a few conclusions:

1. The Sabrent Card is very sensitive to high temperature in contrast to the cheaper SanDisk. Maybe buying an Angelbird V60 Card would work?

2. SD-Cards are not meant to become so burning hot. Even if the Angelbird should work, the heat will propably shorten its lifetime quite a lot.

3. When I touched the cage-mountings on the pocket 4k I burned my fingertip again instantly. So I think the stativ I am using should act as a heatsink. Problem with that is: The mounting has rubber contacts, so the heat is isolated.


My big question is still:
Is this a normal behaviour or is the cooling system broken? As I said there is coming hot air, so everything at least seems normal.

Mathis, es gibt eine offizielle Liste von getesteten und empfohlenen Karten für die Kamera.
Ich würde Dir dringend raten, Dich an diese Liste zu halten. Du findest die aktuelle Liste hier:
https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/support/faq/59025

Du solltest definitiv keinen Micro-SD Kartenadapter nutzen.

Es ist theoretisch möglich, dass die Sabrent Karte und auch der Micro-SD Adapter zuviel Strom ziehen beim Schreiben und deswegen das System über Gebühr erhitzt.

Dass der Lüfter der Kamera unauffällig arbeitet, ist normal. Jedoch die von Dir beschriebene Erhitzung nicht. Sind die Ein- und Auslässe bei Dir irgendwie blockiert?

Es ist auch nicht auszuschließen, dass die Kamera wirklich ein Problem mit der Kühlung hat (sie nutzt ein Peltier-Element zum Kühlen, unterstützt durch einen Lüfter).

Ich benutze in meinen 2 PCC4k und 1 PCC6k Pro CFast2.0 Karten von Angelbird und Transcend. Diese werden sehr warm aber nicht unangenehm heiß - auch nicht nach stundenlanger Aufzeichnung draußen in der Sommerhitze.

Wenn Du die Kamera noch nicht lange besitzt und noch in der Garantiezeit bist, dann würde ich an Deiner Stelle umgehend der Blackmagicdesign-Support kontaktieren und das Problem schildern. Ich würde vermuten, dass Dir dann die Kamera getauscht wird.

English:
Mathis, there is an official list of tested and recommended cards for the camera.
I would strongly advise you to stick to this list. You can find the current list here:
https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/support/faq/59025

You should definitely not use a micro SD card adapter.

It is theoretically possible that the Sabrent card and also the Micro-SD adapter draw too much current when writing and therefore heat up the system excessively.

It is normal that the camera's fan works inconspicuously. However, the heating described by you is not. Are the inlets and outlets blocked somehow?

It is also not impossible that the camera really has a problem with cooling (it uses a Peltier element for cooling, supported by a fan).

I use in my 2 PCC4k and 1 PCC6k Pro CFast2.0 cards from Angelbird and Transcend. These get very warm but not uncomfortably hot - even after hours of recording outside in the summer heat.

If you haven't owned the camera long and are still under warranty, I would contact Blackmagicdesign support immediately and report the problem. I would assume that the camera will then be exchanged.

Robert, thank you for your long reply.

I know about the official media list and understand the reasons why one should stick to them instead of using consumer SD-Cards. But the main point is that you have to buy it with money. And for example me as a student doesnt have the money right now. Thats why I want to figure out exactly if the SD-Card is the problem, before I buy it. I think you agree thats reasonable.

It is theoretically possible that the Sabrent card and also the Micro-SD adapter draw too much current when writing and therefore heat up the system excessively.

The power draw of the SD-Card is a good point Ill keep in mind.

It is normal that the camera's fan works inconspicuously. However, the heating described by you is not. Are the inlets and outlets blocked somehow?

That was a little bit the case, because the tripod mount is blocking the outlet a little bit. But I just did a test with the camera just laying on the right side and it stopped working allready after 20 minutes (crappy Sabrent SD-Card) and it was allready quite warm.

It is also not impossible that the camera really has a problem with cooling (it uses a Peltier element for cooling, supported by a fan).

I figured out that the mounting points for a cage/tripod probably are connected to the lower heatsink, as they have both the same temperature. The peltier will cool the sensor I guess? And transfer the heat to the heatsink. As it gets extremely hot the peltier probably works as it should. So the only problem there could be a lazy fan?

I use in my 2 PCC4k and 1 PCC6k Pro CFast2.0 cards from Angelbird and Transcend. These get very warm but not uncomfortably hot - even after hours of recording outside in the summer heat.

That is good to know!

If you haven't owned the camera long and are still under warranty, I would contact Blackmagicdesign support immediately and report the problem. I would assume that the camera will then be exchanged.

I guess I will do that, thanks.

I got two ideas you could test:

1. do a long recoding session with a very low bitrate, like BRAW 24fps constant bitrate 12:1, HD crop.
Just to see if the cards still get hot, so you know it is not depending on the write speed bandwidth.

2. Let the camera just sit switched on without recording for 1 hour and see if the cards get hot. This should show you if there is a problem with the camera cooling system.

That are really good ideas, thank you!

I tried your second idea.

2. Let the camera just sit switched on without recording for 1 hour and see if the cards get hot. This should show you if there is a problem with the camera cooling system.

The result was a barely warm card after 1-2h having the camera on and laying on the right side.

So the card is obviously responsible for heating itself up. Still the cage mounting points became quite hot to the point where someone will just not burn his finger by touching them for over a few seconds. So the card maybe doesnt get the chance to give off its heat to the heatsink...

I would be curious if someone may confirm this behavior?