Blackmagic Forum

We just received an ATEM Mini Pro and are learning the ropes but have noticed it gets very, very hot. In addition there was a user who stated that the device had become unresponsive after a couple hours (2-3) of usage and resumed working after being unplugged for a few minutes during which the device cooled off.

We are new to this product lineup but are a bit concerned the thermal management may not be as aggressive as necessary. The device does appear to have a fan and we are wondering why it isn’t going full tilt to remove the heat?

Is this a common issue that people deal with in these kinds of devices? Is there no way for Black Magic to add control for the onboard fans so that an external cooling solution isn’t necessary while maintaining a low noise profile? We realize the device is very new and may get firmware updates to correct things but are also a bit concerned we may have a defective unit.

Thanks in advance for any advice or experiences others have with this or other similar devices.

The ATEM Mini case is part of its best management, just like Apple MacBook laptop computers. Both get quite warm. You can add a laptop cooling pad under the Mini Pro to help cool the unit, if you are in a warm/hot environment situation.
Cheers

When I first got the Mini back in March I though the SAME THING.... "WOW! THIS THING GETS HOT!!"

I had it plugged in 24/7 for a few days.

Not long after that, the unit simply shut down over night sometime. I figured it was the heat and it was dead. Would not power up ANYTHING.

I called BM and after some work with them found that it decided to do a firmware update on its own (from how I understood the call?).

There is a magic sequence of button pushing whole trying to power up (have to see where I wrote that down, sorry) and it came alive again.

It was the most bizarre thing I ever had happen with a device.

I pray that this random update doesnt happen during an event!

That all said, seems like it runs cooler now? or could just be my imagination but seems much cooler....

Just got my unit in finally. I plugged it in to power.. and had it on my computer USBC port... nothing else in it, not even using it. This sucker got hot.. hot enough that I could barely hold it long. Wasn't even using it, at all. Got me worried, which is why I am here.

Why.. if it has no inputs and no outputs.. just sitting there, does this thing get so hot? I could see under load, with the internal CPUs churning maybe.. but nothing going on but plugged in.

Yah.. add me to the list of very worried there is something not quite right with thermal dynamics and cooling.

Would love for a BM rep to respond and say that it is normal, and not to worry about it.

Mine gets hottest on the bottom surface, the left third if looking at the controls properly, and the top half of that (if that makes sense....

I am also only using inputs 1 and 2 right now...

I mean.. I am OK if it is OK that it gets hot and wont have issues. If it can operate for hours like that.. cool. I'll get a cooling pad or something to put under it.

I just want to be sure that that is OK.. but I would love to understand why with no inputs/outputs.. just plugged in.. doing nothing but lit up.. it gets so hot.

Justin Jackson wrote:I mean.. I am OK if it is OK that it gets hot and wont have issues. If it can operate for hours like that.. cool. I'll get a cooling pad or something to put under it.

I just want to be sure that that is OK.. but I would love to understand why with no inputs/outputs.. just plugged in.. doing nothing but lit up.. it gets so hot.

I'm right there with you.....I was always taught "heat kills electronics".

That said, I have let mine run for a week or two straight (idle, but powered up) and no issues since I had a system update brick the thing but it was revived....

OK.. I'll go with it. It is pretty slick. I am trying to figure it all out still. I basically want to record 2 or 3 cameras and capture my computer screen.. when I do a tutorial recording. I assume I have to run the HDMI output of my computer into an input. I am hoping I can keep my display port out to my 34" gaming monitor, while using the HDMI output as input so I can capture the screen output as well.

We have had a couple of small BMD devices shut down due to overheating, an older Intensity Shuttle and an SDI audio embedder. Both recovered quickly after being rested. These days I never run any BMD device flat on a surface (the Intensity Shuttle had a foam pad on the base which created a perfect thermal seal) or inside a cramped rack, even a Mini Recorder.

What do you recommend for this device.. a gel pad under it? Or one of those laptop fan pads? I would prefer something passive

Sorry, I have no experience of cooling devices beyond laptop fan pads when older laptops used to overheat when live streaming.

Something seems wrong to me. My unit doesn’t get very hot and I’ve had no heat issues with it and have run it a lot. I can say that those laptop coolers can be very effective. I got one (off Amazon) for my MacBook Pro and it makes a big difference.

Count me in as a concerned customer. I have one camera plugged in. I have been testing it about an hour. Just doing some basic setup and this thing is HOT, HOT, HOT.

Hey BM rep? Where are you? How about some input for us concerned consumers??

FYI: for those interested in a quick solution, I placed this on my laptop cooling pad and the unit was cool to the touch in twenty minutes. I think I will buy another cooling pad just for the ATEM. Takes up some space and adds some extra noise but is very effective.

Yes, yes they are.
Cheers

We're going through summer here in Melbourne and I use the ATEM Mini Pro for teaching and general meetings because of COVID and the remote work. It's been working fine for months, but with the additional heat, the unit has been getting very hot underneath. I've been having semi-frequent lag occurring on the video (up to 2 or 3 seconds most times) which seems to occur mostly when the unit / weather is hot. Today it was happening again, so I put a bag of frozen peas underneath it and within a few seconds the sync came good, and stayed good. After 20 mins I removed the frozen peas, and 30mins later the sync issue happened again. So I put frozen raspberries under it (the peas were no longer frozen) and bam the sync fixed itself straight away.

I'm running a new 16" MacBook Pro, and don't think that's the issue. I've got my HDMI input sources all set to 50 frames per second and set the ATEM Mini Pro to 50 frames per second. So have been quite surprised with the occasional video lag, and after numerous months trying to pin the cause down it seems like frozen peas are my solution.

Recently purchased ATEM Mini Pro. Having trouble with audio/video getting out of synch. We have 3 cameras in the inputs and a Mac Mini running Proclaim. Sound comes in via Mic 1 from X32. The unit goes well for 45-60 minutes or so and then clicking sound begins, followed by 10 seconds of distorted sound, and the sound clears up, but is very much out of synch with the video. ATEM gets very hot during this process. Any suggestions as how to triage the problem?