RD-800 users, please read!

[2Timer]

I've been using the RD-800 for about 4 years. I love it! At tonight's gig, I played in a big gazebo. During almost every song, my screen jumped to the EQ setting screen, and the bass adjusted itself down to the lowest setting completely. I've never had this happen before. Anyone have similar stories?

 

[Biggles]

My first guess is that it was caused by an indifferent electrical power supply to the gazebo.

Were you using and UPS and/or power conditioning unit in the electrical supply?

 

[2Timer]

My first guess is that it was caused by an indifferent electrical power supply to the gazebo.

Were you using and UPS and/or power conditioning unit in the electrical supply?

No, I wasn't using anything, just my usual power strip. I've played there before and didn't have this issue.
A friend said it could have been the humidity too. It was super humid last night.
While I was performing I thought it was possibly because of my subwoofer somehow, but it a good ten feet out in front of me, and this gazebo has a very sturdy, thick concrete stage.

 

[happyrat1]

What was the temperature? Temps over 80 deg F can be harsh on electronics. Temps over 90 and sh*t like you described begins to happen.

Or else cooling temps with high humidity could also allow condensation to form inside the unit. Also very bad juju.

Gary

 

[2Timer]

It sounds like we're narrowing it down to the humidity. It was probably right around the 80 degree mark, but the humidity was somewhere around 50,000%. It was hateful.
I guess there's nothing that can be done about this issue then. Or is there?

 

[happyrat1]

The only practical thing you can do is try and avoid that situation in the future.

Gary

 

[2Timer]

The only practical thing you can do is try and avoid that situation in the future.

Gary

Yeah, I know. Which sucks, because everyone wants outside music!

 

[Biggles]

That is very concerning.

Humidity would generally have to be pretty high to start to have an effect on the electronics.

50% that you quote is what you would feel as comfortable, it is above c80% that humidity starts to be come oppressive.

I would suggest that you inhibit auto shutdown and leave the keyboard switched on for a long period when you will be at home and every so often give the keys a good run through. This action would just see if the fault could be recreated

 

[2Timer]

That is very concerning.

Humidity would generally have to be pretty high to start to have an effect on the electronics.

50% that you quote is what you would feel as comfortable, it is above c80% that humidity starts to be come oppressive.

I would suggest that you inhibit auto shutdown and leave the keyboard switched on for a long period when you will be at home and every so often give the keys a good run through. This action would just see if the fault could be recreated

Actually I quoted 50,000% humidity. I tend to exaggerate! It was every bit of 90-95, though.

 

[2Timer]

Actually I quoted 50,000% humidity. I tend to exaggerate! It was every bit of 90-95, though.

And I did it at home after the gig for hours, and no problems.

 

[Biggles]

No, I wasn't using anything, just my usual power strip. I've played there before and didn't have this issue.
A friend said it could have been the humidity too. It was super humid last night.
While I was performing I thought it was possibly because of my subwoofer somehow, but it a good ten feet out in front of me, and this gazebo has a very sturdy, thick concrete stage.

Can you explain more about the power strip that you were using?

Is there an inbuilt conditioner and suppressor within the strip OR is it just a standard multi gang socket strip.

 

[2Timer]

Can you explain more about the power strip that you were using?

Is there an inbuilt conditioner and suppressor within the strip OR is it just a standard multi gang socket strip.

Just a standard strip, but I've used it in this application a number of times and never had a problem

 

[happyrat1]

Seriously, 80 F temps with 90% humidity is your answer. In the evening as things cooled off it's highly likely that some dew may have formed inside the keyboard case shorting some controls out.

I think Biggles' obsession with noisy power is a dead end.

Assuming that you were playing in a southern state like Florida or Louisiana there's all kinds of havoc that heat and humidity can play with electronics.

Gary

 

[happyrat1]

The only possible reason to even suspect the power supply would be if the venue was supplied by a generator instead of utility lines.

Gary
\

 

[2Timer]

Seriously, 80 F temps with 90% humidity is your answer. In the evening as things cooled off it's highly likely that some dew may have formed inside the keyboard case shorting some controls out.

I think Biggles' obsession with noisy power is a dead end.

Assuming that you were playing in a southern state like Florida or Louisiana there's all kinds of havoc that heat and humidity can play with electronics.

Gary

Yeah, makes sense. I'm in PA, and our summers have been insane with the humidity the past couple of years. Should I worry about damage? I do have a few more outside gigs coming up.
Thanks for all the input, everyone!

 

[happyrat1]

A bit of dew is unlikely to cause permanent damage but heat is a big problem. If you are playing under the open sun on a hot day internal chip temperatures could easily exceed 100 C leading to permanent damage.

Be careful playing in the heat and damp and it may be a good idea to pack a backup board just in case one goes south in the middle of a performance.

Gary

 

[2Timer]

A bit of dew is unlikely to cause permanent damage but heat is a big problem. If you are playing under the open sun on a hot day internal chip temperatures could easily exceed 100 C leading to permanent damage.

Be careful playing in the heat and damp and it may be a good idea to pack a backup board just in case one goes south in the middle of a performance.

Gary

Thanks! You guys are awesome. I should spend more time in here

 

[Biggles]

Seriously, 80 F temps with 90% humidity is your answer. In the evening as things cooled off it's highly likely that some dew may have formed inside the keyboard case shorting some controls out.

I think Biggles' obsession with noisy power is a dead end.

Assuming that you were playing in a southern state like Florida or Louisiana there's all kinds of havoc that heat and humidity can play with electronics.

Gary

Totally not the case Gary and if you read on you may then wish not to be so quick at dismissing said power issues.

If there was an intermittent fault or an electrical storm somewhere along the high voltage power lines then yes, excursions, spikes and transients could be introduced within the supply and maybe the electronics in the keyboard are such that they were affected.

I had this as a regular occurance at a remote site of 3000 workers that I used to manage and in fact we knew before the Power Company that line faults were occurring as our power conditioning units at were spewing alarms galore at the dedicated Computer Centre (think central computer centre for a National Bank so a huge building with rather large UPS units). Our monitoring was more sensitive than the Power Company’s comms at their nearby unmanned distribution centre and we could tell if one of their circuit breakers was about to trip, on one occasion I was even talking to my contact at the Power Company when it did trip. So these temporary excursions in electrical supply system can and do happen.

Hence why I am trying to get out of the Op if they have good quality circuit protection and not some cheap far east rip off multi socket outlet they bought for $2 from Home Depot.

Electronics need good quality circuit protection.