Blowing out your firewire port at DVinfo.net

Mizell Wilson · October 6th, 2003, 12:10 PM

Hello all,

Just passing along a customer's tribulations...

He had his firewire port blown on 3 different Sony cameras. After doing some research, he found a post at Apple describing the fact that older 6 pin to 4 pin firewire cables can become shorted and send power over on one of the 4 leads going to the camera.

If you're using older cables, consider upgrading.

mizell

Alex Taylor · October 6th, 2003, 12:47 PM

Mizell,

Thanks for that info! I'm guessing that's what happened to my Canon ZR20.. a few months ago the port suddenly wouldn't work, and I went through hell until I realized it was my camera, not my computer.. I'll keep that in mind.

Alex Zabrovsky · October 6th, 2003, 03:02 PM

Thanks for warning, but how to recognize older vs newer cables ?

Glenn Chan · October 6th, 2003, 04:14 PM

I think it's just the quality of the cable. Poor quality cables will let you insert them the wrong way and things like that (but this may only apply to 6pin-6pin firewire cables???). If you want to be safe then just power everything off before switching cables around.

Quality firewire cable would probably be Apple, Belkin, etc. The markup on those are insane though. The actual cable probably costs under a dollar to make.

Dylan Couper · October 6th, 2003, 10:34 PM

What does a blown firwire port cost to fix?

Alex Taylor · October 8th, 2003, 01:24 AM

Dylan,

I sent mine into Canon to get it replaced and it was about $300 Canadian. That was actually for a complete "checkup" of the camera, it was what they recommended.

Don Berube · October 8th, 2003, 06:25 PM

http://fwdepot.com/thestore/product_.../reviews_id/56

Alex Zabrovsky · October 8th, 2003, 11:56 PM

Sounds interesting, did you try one personally ?

Don Berube · October 9th, 2003, 11:20 AM

I have a couple, yes. I listed that url because I too have had a firewire port blown out in the past on one of my desktop G4's.

But now that I re-read Monsieur Mizell's post, he is saying that there are reports of this occuring with *older* 6-pin to 4-pin firewire cables. The FireWire Port Isolator cables from FireWire Depot are 6-pin to 6-pin only.

Hmmmmmmm...

For me, the issue of using older cables is a non-issue... Since I do so many demos in different venues and since I am always lending a cable to an associate or two from time to time, I am inevitably having to replace the cables that either get lost, taken or never returned... so all of my firewire cables are new anyways! hehe

Still, it sounds a little odd to me that the two wires that pass power on a 6-pin to 4-pin cable would actually short-out and then spill over onto one of the remaining 4 leads on the 4-pin end... you would have to be passing a heck of a lot of DC current through those leads to make that happen, yes?

I'd be interested to know which Sony cameras are being referred to by the customer Mizell mentioned. Was it a lower-end 'miniDV' camcorder such as a VX2000/ PD-150 (which utilize 4-pin 1394 ports) or was it a higher-end 'DVCam' camcorder such as a DSR-500 (which utilizes a 6-pin 1394 port) ?

- don

Alex Zabrovsky · October 9th, 2003, 11:43 AM

Well, 6-to-6 isolation cable would still work setting it between the PC and 6-pin end of 6-4 cable.
As abot shortening - I also wonder how that can occur, perhaps only with really junky cables...to burn out the isolation between the wires one would need a heck
out of current to stream (perhaps hundreds amperes), but then apparently the wires themself would melt prior to burning out the isolation. So I do not think this is electrical failure, but rather mechanical due to some kind of very poor mechanical contruction of the cable.

I do not know, perhaps it would be worthy to consider this device ? go figure... (I use new cable bought with new firewire PCI board a few weeks ago).

Well, "low end miniDV such as VX2000/PD150" ??? I wish I would be so "low-live" to own one of these "low-end" toys... :-)))

Alex

October 6th, 2003, 12:10 PM	#1
Mizell Wilson Sales: Reflecmedia Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Linden, NJ Posts: 147	Blowing out your firewire port Hello all, Just passing along a customer's tribulations... He had his firewire port blown on 3 different Sony cameras. After doing some research, he found a post at Apple describing the fact that older 6 pin to 4 pin firewire cables can become shorted and send power over on one of the 4 leads going to the camera. If you're using older cables, consider upgrading. mizell __________________ Posts before Feb 2004 were on behalf of ZGC, afterwards they're all mine!

October 6th, 2003, 12:47 PM	#2
Alex Taylor Major Player Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Vancouver, BC Posts: 390	Mizell, Thanks for that info! I'm guessing that's what happened to my Canon ZR20.. a few months ago the port suddenly wouldn't work, and I went through hell until I realized it was my camera, not my computer.. I'll keep that in mind. __________________ alextaylor.org

October 6th, 2003, 10:34 PM	#5
Dylan Couper Wrangler Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Vancouver, British Columbia Posts: 8,314	What does a blown firwire port cost to fix? __________________ Need to rent camera gear in Vancouver BC? Check me out at camerarentalsvancouver.com

October 8th, 2003, 01:24 AM	#6
Alex Taylor Major Player Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Vancouver, BC Posts: 390	Dylan, I sent mine into Canon to get it replaced and it was about $300 Canadian. That was actually for a complete "checkup" of the camera, it was what they recommended. __________________ alextaylor.org

October 8th, 2003, 06:25 PM	#7
Don Berube Moderator Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Boston, MA (travel frequently) Posts: 837	http://fwdepot.com/thestore/product_.../reviews_id/56 __________________ DONALD BERUBE - noisybrain. Productions, LLC Director Of Photography/ Producer/ Consultant http://noisybrain.com/donbio.html CREATE and NETWORK with http://www.bosfcpug.org and also http://fcpugnetwork.org

October 6th, 2003, 03:02 PM	#3
Alex Zabrovsky Regular Crew Join Date: Aug 2003 Posts: 175	Thanks for warning, but how to recognize older vs newer cables ?

October 6th, 2003, 04:14 PM	#4
Glenn Chan Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Toronto, Canada Posts: 4,750	I think it's just the quality of the cable. Poor quality cables will let you insert them the wrong way and things like that (but this may only apply to 6pin-6pin firewire cables???). If you want to be safe then just power everything off before switching cables around. Quality firewire cable would probably be Apple, Belkin, etc. The markup on those are insane though. The actual cable probably costs under a dollar to make.

October 8th, 2003, 11:56 PM	#8
Alex Zabrovsky Regular Crew Join Date: Aug 2003 Posts: 175	Sounds interesting, did you try one personally ?

October 9th, 2003, 11:20 AM	#9
Don Berube Moderator Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Boston, MA (travel frequently) Posts: 837	I have a couple, yes. I listed that url because I too have had a firewire port blown out in the past on one of my desktop G4's. But now that I re-read Monsieur Mizell's post, he is saying that there are reports of this occuring with older 6-pin to 4-pin firewire cables. The FireWire Port Isolator cables from FireWire Depot are 6-pin to 6-pin only. Hmmmmmmm... For me, the issue of using older cables is a non-issue... Since I do so many demos in different venues and since I am always lending a cable to an associate or two from time to time, I am inevitably having to replace the cables that either get lost, taken or never returned... so all of my firewire cables are new anyways! hehe Still, it sounds a little odd to me that the two wires that pass power on a 6-pin to 4-pin cable would actually short-out and then spill over onto one of the remaining 4 leads on the 4-pin end... you would have to be passing a heck of a lot of DC current through those leads to make that happen, yes? I'd be interested to know which Sony cameras are being referred to by the customer Mizell mentioned. Was it a lower-end 'miniDV' camcorder such as a VX2000/ PD-150 (which utilize 4-pin 1394 ports) or was it a higher-end 'DVCam' camcorder such as a DSR-500 (which utilizes a 6-pin 1394 port) ? - don __________________ DONALD BERUBE - noisybrain. Productions, LLC Director Of Photography/ Producer/ Consultant http://noisybrain.com/donbio.html CREATE and NETWORK with http://www.bosfcpug.org and also http://fcpugnetwork.org

October 9th, 2003, 11:43 AM	#10
Alex Zabrovsky Regular Crew Join Date: Aug 2003 Posts: 175	Well, 6-to-6 isolation cable would still work setting it between the PC and 6-pin end of 6-4 cable. As abot shortening - I also wonder how that can occur, perhaps only with really junky cables...to burn out the isolation between the wires one would need a heck out of current to stream (perhaps hundreds amperes), but then apparently the wires themself would melt prior to burning out the isolation. So I do not think this is electrical failure, but rather mechanical due to some kind of very poor mechanical contruction of the cable. I do not know, perhaps it would be worthy to consider this device ? go figure... (I use new cable bought with new firewire PCI board a few weeks ago). Well, "low end miniDV such as VX2000/PD150" ??? I wish I would be so "low-live" to own one of these "low-end" toys... :-))) Alex