Mackie HR824 - Hot to the touch!

[amiller]

One of my Mackie HR824s shutdown on me while I was recording last night. I touched the back of the monitor and was surprised at how hot to the touch it was. I checked the other one and it was equally as hot. After a cooling off period the monitor came back.

Anyone?

 

[bsd56]

how long were you using it for and is it in a well ventilated area?

 

[amiller]

I've had these monitors for about 6 years and they're in the same spot they've been in for the last 6 years. I had them on for about 3 hrs. last night when one of them shut down. I usually run my studio monitors a lot longer than that.

I've never noticed, are these monitors usually hot to the touch?

 

[bsd56]

from what i saw at the mackie site they are dual amp'ed so my guess would be something is wrong with the internal amp or something. Maybe the heatsinks have gotten really dirty and are no longer dissapating the heat.

 

[amiller]

from what i saw at the mackie site they are dual amp'ed so my guess would be something is wrong with the internal amp or something. Maybe the heatsinks have gotten really dirty and are no longer dissapating the heat.

Hmmmm...could be, however, both speakers are hot to the touch. The amps are independent...seems unlikely that both would start failing at the same time.

 

[bsd56]

If they are in the same area i would figure they would probably be exposed to the same amount of dust and other unfavorable things, also if you smoke in there that would make things a lot worse.

 

[amiller]

If they are in the same area i would figure they would probably be exposed to the same amount of dust and other unfavorable things, also if you smoke in there that would make things a lot worse.

Thanks, I'll give them a good cleaning and see if that helps...oh, no smoking in dis house!!!

 

[MrKnobs]

One of my Mackie HR824s shutdown on me while I was recording last night. I touched the back of the monitor and was surprised at how hot to the touch it was. I checked the other one and it was equally as hot. After a cooling off period the monitor came back.

Anyone?

I have a pair of 824s.

This only happens to me when I'm running mine really loud, for a fairly long time. And by really loud, I mean with the overload lights constantly flashing or steadily on.

Was this the case for you? If so, that's normal operation.

Usually happens to me when I'm recording bass in the control room.

Terry D.

 

[amiller]

One of my Mackie HR824s shutdown on me while I was recording last night. I touched the back of the monitor and was surprised at how hot to the touch it was. I checked the other one and it was equally as hot. After a cooling off period the monitor came back.

Anyone?

I have a pair of 824s.

This only happens to me when I'm running mine really loud, for a fairly long time. And by really loud, I mean with the overload lights constantly flashing or steadily on.

Was this the case for you? If so, that's normal operation.

Usually happens to me when I'm recording bass in the control room.

Terry D.

No, I never run mine with the overload lighst flashing at all. In fact, the levels were lower than I usually run them.

 

[MrKnobs]

One of my Mackie HR824s shutdown on me while I was recording last night. I touched the back of the monitor and was surprised at how hot to the touch it was. I checked the other one and it was equally as hot. After a cooling off period the monitor came back.

Anyone?

I have a pair of 824s.

This only happens to me when I'm running mine really loud, for a fairly long time. And by really loud, I mean with the overload lights constantly flashing or steadily on.

Was this the case for you? If so, that's normal operation.

Usually happens to me when I'm recording bass in the control room.

Terry D.

No, I never run mine with the overload lighst flashing at all. In fact, the levels were lower than I usually run them.

Then, since both of them are doing it, it's unlikely (as you said) to be an electrical failure.

As others have suggested, are the backs of them up against something that would prevent airflow, like maybe acoustic foam? They're supposed to shut off when they get that hot, so the question is why are they getting so hot.

If it appears that the backs aren't blocked or just totally filthy, then it seems likely to me that the monitors are getting some DC input or bad AC supply voltage, either of which I don't think would trigger the overload lights but would make them overheat, possibly.

What are you driving them from? A computer? A mixing desk? Are you using the XLR inputs, the balanced TRS, or the RCA?

If it's not too inconvenient (this is what I'd do if I didn't have a scope to put on the inputs), might consider taking them to another room and running something like a CD player, your stereo line outs, or an iPod through them, any source of signal other than the one you've been using. See if they play properly without overheating when you have them plugged into a different AC outlet, back heatsinks clear, and driven by a different source.

Terry D.

 

[Digital Jams]

YOu may want to pop them open if you can to see how dirty it is in their, dirt is a conductor of heat for sure.

If you are getting close to thermal runaway something is wrong if you are not working them too hard.